Actual experiences asking boat operators to provide larger or multiple cylinders

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Re: those AL100's are 1) a pig of a tank and 2) are rated at 3300 psi. At 3000 psi you're only getting about 86 cu ft. (compared to about 77 with an AL80)
 
Rainbow Reef (Key Largo) told me the following:
- You can bring your own tanks... Since I was flying in I never asked if they'd fill them or if you can only bring them filled.
- You can get Al80s or Al100s from them, but if you want nitrox you can get that from them only in the Al80s, not in the Al100s. I did both, pending on what I thought made sense, but mostly air in Al100s.
- You can bring a pony and you can solo dive if so rated and if the particular boat captain (under the circumstances at the time) agrees - he/she has the last call. I did that (brought an Al19) just for 5 dives so far (three trips, one of which had the second dive cancelled due to conditions). On one the captain was kind enough to give me a sharp eyed look and the overuled a DM who felt I can not go solo in the conditions at hand.
- I had asked them this some time ago in the office by the docks when they were not busy (waiting for "the boss, whose name escapes me), but never did it. Can I just bring a stage kit, use an Al100 and get an Al80 from you, for a fee maybe and sling that instead of a pony. The answer to that was yes. Now my thought there was to use that pony to extend my time on deeper dives (which is too short, I "suck", ... on the shallow dives I make their time intervals with an Al100 ... just with 700 or so PSI left.) . Something like during the first dive switching to it at bottom and using it to 2kPSI, going back to back gas for the remainder of the dive and then on the second dive, at bottom drawing the stage/pony to 1kPSI and going back to back gas, leaving 1kPSI in the pony for emergency use (drawing that from 1k to 350PSI is a similar amount of air as drawing an Al19 to 450 or so PSI)...
Anyway, I never did it and it never occurred to me to ask if it is "verboten" to use that sort of pony to extend my short time at depth and work it with that sort of gas plan. I would guess that if soloing and planning it right and safely that might rise less eyebrows them when following a DM.
But I did not ask in that detail... and I am not quite sure one should...
 
If I ask ahead of time, a company like Kona Dive Company will have a couple of larger tanks on the boat for me. When I made reservations a few months ago, they pulled up my reservation from a few years back and said, "we see you had nitrox fills and a larger tank last time, would you like the same this time? I have found operators in Australia and Fiji were more than happy to do the same.
 
Re: those AL100's are 1) a pig of a tank and 2) are rated at 3300 psi. At 3000 psi you're only getting about 86 cu ft. (compared to about 77 with an AL80)
Pig of a tank, yes, in my case like the hog sucking the air... By my limited experience some outfits flatout deny that they are rated to 3300 PSI and need to be shown the numbers on the neck in a nice and friendly asking way to (hopefully) give you an extra few PSI... Not a big problem if you check tight away and they are still filling at the dock. Nothing to be done later or if the tanks arrive pre-filled. Got both. Even got 3300 from the get go a few times :)
 
Pig of a tank, yes, in my case like the hog sucking the air... By my limited experience some outfits flatout deny that they are rated to 3300 PSI and need to be shown the numbers on the neck in a nice and friendly asking way to (hopefully) give you an extra few PSI... Not a big problem if you check tight away and they are still filling at the dock. Nothing to be done later or if the tanks arrive pre-filled. Got both. Even got 3300 from the get go a few times :)
The only time I've used AL100 tanks was last year with Aquatic Safaris (as previously mentioned by Steve C). One tank was filled to just over 3300 PSI and the other just under. I plan on diving with them again the week of the 4th and will rent the AL100's again. I'm not such a gas hog anymore, but my wife will still outlast me on gas even though she'll be using an AL80.
 
Re: those AL100's are 1) a pig of a tank and 2) are rated at 3300 psi. At 3000 psi you're only getting about 86 cu ft. (compared to about 77 with an AL80)

Yep. My experience matches Schwob's, and presumably yours -- they are typically short filled.

Rainbow Reef (Key Largo) told me the following:
- You can bring your own tanks... Since I was flying in I never asked if they'd fill them or if you can only bring them filled.
...

I'm diving with them next week, and have shipped my HP120s ahead to the place where I'm staying. Rainbow Reef said they would fill them and bring them to the boat for me.

There are other operators in the area that are better about large cylinders (like Conch Republic, who I've used, like, and recommend) but for a variety of reasons I concluded we're better off with Rainbow Reef for this trip.
 
Typically on Cozumel and the mainland you can ask for (and pay more for) an AL100 with about 90cf in it. At home I have been spoiled by big steel tanks. I am used to coming up with 1200 to 1800 psi. In Mexico I am used to diving my AL80 longer than the majority of the divers on the boat and still having air but I really like only using half tanks and never having to think about air consumption. I ended up with 1800 psi in an AL80 for a shore dive and even though I knew I could outlast my buddy with a full AL80 I didn't like the pressure of having to watch my air carefully and not use it excessively. I'm a big tank fan.
 

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