Aluminum bigger than 80?

[scubafanatic]

If you look at all the possible tanks you could get, an Al 100 has to be the worst... a luxfer is roughly 27 tall, by 8 inches in diameter. it weighs in at 41 lbs, and when empty is 3 pounds buoyant. Compared to say a Faber FX 100... which is 25 inches tall, by 7.25 inches around, weighs in at roughly 34 pounds and is zero buoyant. That means all setup, the Faber weighs around 10 lbs less for the same amount of air. The Worthington is around 4 lbs better than that. Even a Worthington 119 cfm tank is lighter to carry and smaller (as is the Faber 117).

You have to go all the way to the Faber 133 before you get a tank of similar size and weight.

AL100's aren't exactly toxic waste, if you travel to dive and want a bigger capacity tank, many dive ops will only offer AL 100's as their biggest tank option, so sometimes you'll be thankful to get 'em! I can dive AL 100's and really not notice any appreciable difference over the AL 80's underwater, but I'm pretty used to diving bigger capacity steel tanks too, so the somewhat higher weight/bulk is pretty unnoticable to me.

 

[scubaops]

That's a good idea... my dad and I both got al80's but he goes through air about twice as fast as me.. when he's at 700, I still have about half a tank left. I dunno, some broad... I make a habit out of putting pictures of other people as my avatar..

well she is gorgeous who ever she is.

here are the specs for the 100's im looking at Weight Empty = 46.2lbs Buoyancy Full = -7.8lbs Buoyancy Empty = -0.4lbs am i wrong here but -buoyancy mean it will sink, right?

 

[aquaregia]

I would (and did) buy several steel 72s. I usually pay about $50 including hydro+vis. My six 72s cost me less than one of my buddy's HP100s. At 30', a 72 is still just fine for an hour-long dive, even with a crazy gas consumption rate.

 

[compton384]

I think he really just wants to know if you're 'single'......

Well, he'd just have to look at the single board and see that I'm there..

 

[scubaops]

Well, he'd just have to look at the single board and see that I'm there..

then off to the single board i go

 

[aquaregia]

Well if that's not an encouragement to be bold, I don't know what is.

 

[halocline]

Well if that's not an encouragement to be bold, I don't know what is.

I agree, but I would caution scubaops to remember that she's looking for someone with a big tank...so apparently size does matter!

Compton, don't get an AL100. To paraphrase a real man, you'll regret it, maybe not today,maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. If you just need to do more dives between fills, bring more tanks. If you need more capacity for a single dive, get a steel HP100.

 

[scubaops]

its not the size of the tank its how you use it. maybe she doesnt want to spend a lot of money. i can get 3300psi al100 for 170 new. if it takes more work to run them im up for it. anyone care to comment on the -buoyancy mean it will sink?

 

[eelnoraa]

I like AL 80s- the reason we were looking for something more was that the lake we want to dive is over an hour away from any dive shop, so that's a 2 hour or so round trip just to get fills. We don't live there but we don't just go for the weekend usually either.

Sounds like you need more tanks, not a bigger tank. If AL80 is enough for you to hit NDL, then having AL100 won't help. You won't have enough air to do a decent 2nd dive anyway.

I would (and did) buy several steel 72s. I usually pay about $50 including hydro+vis. My six 72s cost me less than one of my buddy's HP100s. At 30', a 72 is still just fine for an hour-long dive, even with a crazy gas consumption rate.

Old steel 72s are very good choices if 72 cf is enough for you. Remember, AL80 only contains 77 cf. And steel 72 can be found dirt cheap. If you want newer tanks, keep a eye on CL for LP85 or HP100.

 

[Leadking]

Buy a HP 100 steel tank, you'll thank me!