AL Doubles: Catalina or Luxfer

[ringmod65]

Pros? Cons? Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[scuga]

I think that Luxfer is going out of business or something. IMHO either would be fine but if it were me I would get Luxfer.

 

[fdog]

After a bit of a hiatus, Luxfer is back in the scuba business.

Either will be fine as long as you don't get the "neutrally buoyant" cylinders - their extra weight defeats the purpose of aluminum doubles (having a balanced rig).

As an aside, the Catalinas are a smidge more butt-heavy than the Luxfers, so this may affect your trim a bit - this is a small difference when they're on your back, not as big as the difference when slung, and to be honest I have not noticed.


All the best, James

 

[brucet]

I would say Catalina, I seem to recall an issue with Luxfer tanks some time ago, which the dive shops will not do air fills on certain models of their tanks. I'd just prefer not to buy any. Me personally, I prefer steel.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Having owned both, I'd go with Luxfer.

The issue with the Luxfer alloy was resolved years ago. Modern Luxfer alloys are not prone to neck cracks.

As fdog stated, their bouyancy characteristics are IMHO superior. I also had finish issues with a set of Catalinas I owned.

 

[lobstah]

Both will serve you fine as doubles. Luxfers can be broken down later to be used as deco bottles/stages. Catalinas are not too great for that.

 

[deepstops]

As stated, the buoyancy is nearly the same but they trim quite differently. That being said, I find Catalinas make better back gas cylinders (especially doubled) and Luxfers make better stage bottles.

 

[Fishpie]

Don't worry about paint the chipping just get unpainted tanks.
The worst offenders were the clear coated Catalinas.
I've seen allot of new ColtriSub Marked Catalina (M4002) tanks around lately.....there must be a sale going on.

 

[ringmod65]

Great advice.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Colliam7]

After a bit of a hiatus, Luxfer is back in the scuba business

I was not awre of this. It is good news, indeed. Is that across the entire range of cylinders that they have produced in the past? Or, are they concentrating on a specific segment of the AL cylinder market?