Aluminum 80's doubled

[DudleyNMU]

Hello,

I was just wondering what all you guys think abolut aluminum 80's that are doubled. I plan on getting into doubles soon. I was wondering what are the pro's to aluminum 80's. I know they are cheaper than steel but will they work for any kind of extened dive. lets say 150' range. This may sounds like a stupid question but i was wondering when do you guys use your 80's and when do you use you bigger cylinders. Any help would be great i am very intrested in making the jump but wanna have some info first. thanks divers...

 

[Sebastes]

My buddy and I have been using doubled aluminum 80 tanks for 12 years now. We could have gone to double steel 104's but we had the 80's. We routinely do 150 FSW extended range dives with deco with no problem. The question you really need to ask is will you have enough gas to do the dives you want with an adequate safety margin. That may be double 80's or double 104's or whatever. I am going to assume that if you are going to be doing these type of dives that you will have or already have some training and that you could ask your instructor what type of tanks that they recommend for the diving you plan to do. Just my $0.02 worth YMMV.

Mike

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

So you'll have 160 cubic feet. Sounds like a discount way to get into tech I suppose. Why not just get yourself some nice huge steels and be done with it?

 

[Sideband]

You are going to need extra weight on the belt with the 80's to compensate for the positive swing at the end of the dive. A single 80 needs about 4 pounds so you will need about 8 pounds extra with the doubles. That's like lugging around a set of doubles plus a sack of potatoes.

Joe

 

[Puffer Fish]

You are going to need extra weight on the belt with the 80's to compensate for the positive swing at the end of the dive. A single 80 needs about 4 pounds so you will need about 8 pounds extra with the doubles. That's like lugging around a set of doubles plus a sack of potatoes.

Joe

That would be my issue also. I would go with steel

 

[Rick Murchison]

Aluminum doubles are particularly well suited to warm water diving where you don't want to mess with a drysuit. The issue is redundant buoyancy - with steels, you can wear a drysuit or carry a liftbag; with aluminum your weightbelt qualifies.
I wouldn't want to use aluminum with a drysuit as I'd have to carry more weight than I'd want to.
Rick

 

[OWSI176288]

DudleyNMU,

It depends on what type of diving you plan on doing. And I noticed you're from Michigan.

Al80's work best and balance out best with little thermo protection, say a 3 mm wetsuit due to their buoyancy characteristics. Plus you don't have to worry about seawater corrosion with AL80's. So....I would only go with the AL80's if your planning on primarily diving very warm seawater, or the caves of Mexico in a light wetsuit.

I would recommend low pressure steel 95's or 108's if your planning on diving a drysuit in L. Huron or L. Erie. Just my two cents worth.

 

[JimC]

Double 80's are a GREAT way to get into tech diving.

When you are ready to upgrade, you can turn them into stage bottles and re-use the manafold.

 

[matt_unique]

Double 80's are a GREAT way to get into tech diving.

When you are ready to upgrade, you can turn them into stage bottles and re-use the manafold.

I use doubled alum 80's with manifold for deco dives to 160'. I already had two 80's and 154 - 160CF allows for a decent deco dive. I also dive dry and use the necessary weight to account for the shift. It's not a big deal.

If I did not already have the 80's I would have purchased 100 steels. I purchased a manifold that can be used on HP steels when/if I decide to purchase twin steels. The 80's work great as deco bottles as well.

--Matt

 

[PerroneFord]

I just bought a set of AL80s doubled (my first doubles) for many of the same reasons listed here. They will be used for saltwater mostly, and I am diving wet. I wear no weight now with single tank AL80 setup, and the few pounds I'll wear with this setup won't be much of a hinderance.

160cuft should be plenty for a light deco dive to 150ft, assuming carrying at least one deco bottle, and if you're turning on thirds, you should be golden regardless. The difference between twin 95s and twin 80s is less than the deco bottle. And I wouldn't want those without a drysuit anyway.

If you are going to be doing drysuit diving, I would go with steels though. Use the extra weight to your advantage.