Are 100cu/ft AL tanks common in rental shops?

[decompression]

Firstly, having your wife get an Al 63 tank is some of the worst advice I've heard, bordering on criminal

"Criminal" Now that is funny right there.
"Give a child a hammer and everything he encounters requires pounding."

No where in the OP did I note that this beginning couple wants to do more than simple warm water ( ie. no overhead, no decompression) resort diving. Thousands of these dives are done every day with an excellent safety record. His air consumption (sac rate if you prefer) will improve with practice (but so will hers) and will probably always be a controlling factor of dive length. A non-technical diver's buddy obligations DO NOT include carrying extra gas to augment his buddy's supply, so there is no reason for her to lug a larger tank of unnecessary gas. I see absolutely no problem with his renting bigger tanks if he can, or her using 63's if he cannot.

Rock bottom.


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---------- Post added December 6th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ----------

I'm a very new diver and I'm trying to figure out solutions to a few issues I'm encountering.
One issue is I use a lot of air. I think the main reason for this is I'm a bigger guy with a more athletic build. My wife is rather petite and compared to me she uses very little air, so it seems like we'll be limited in our dives to my tank pressure.

My question is this, are AL 100 tanks common in dive shops? I can carry the extra weight without issue, I'm just curious if many shops have them or are they very rare to see in rec diving? The notion of having 20% more air sounds very good to me!

thanks.

Having trouble finding simple, warm water dives in the above.


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[Basking Ridge Diver]

Having trouble finding simple, warm water dives in the above.

Thanks scared silly, I'm not looking to buy as I don't see myself doing much local diving, hopefully i'll be able to get 10+ caribbean dives in a year. With my experience level I see my wife and I doing mostly guided dives with a DM as we travel. I'm planning on reaching out to the dive shops we'll be using but I was just curious if the AL 100 tanks are common at all (especially in the caribbean).
If I were to use a 100 cu/ft tank how would I expect my weighting to change? Steel and AL?

Try and keep up...

 

[decompression]

Thanks scared silly, I'm not looking to buy as I don't see myself doing much local diving, hopefully i'll be able to get 10+ caribbean dives in a year. With my experience level I see my wife and I doing mostly guided dives with a DM as we travel. I'm planning on reaching out to the dive shops we'll be using but I was just curious if the AL 100 tanks are common at all (especially in the caribbean).

If I were to use a 100 cu/ft tank how would I expect my weighting to change? Steel and AL?

Oh....there it is....yes, because all carribean dives are shallow....they never take divers deep because the vis is so poor.

Listen, advocating bringing less air on a dive with 2 newbies is stupid. Especially with an admitted air hog. Just because people do it every day is also, "misguided". You and halocline need thicker skin and take a breath before posting. Sorry, I'll stay on the side of safety and common sense.
If she is going to reduce the size of her tank and Op is diving with her, then you should of said here's how to figure out rock bottom so this is how you will safely plan your dive.


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[dumpsterDiver]

Firstly, having your wife get an Al 63 tank is some of the worst advice I've heard, bordering on criminal

"Criminal" Now that is funny right there.
"Give a child a hammer and everything he encounters requires pounding."

No where in the OP did I note that this beginning couple wants to do more than simple warm water ( ie. no overhead, no decompression) resort diving. Thousands of these dives are done every day with an excellent safety record. His air consumption (sac rate if you prefer) will improve with practice (but so will hers) and will probably always be a controlling factor of dive length. A non-technical diver's buddy obligations DO NOT include carrying extra gas to augment his buddy's supply, so there is no reason for her to lug a larger tank of unnecessary gas. I see absolutely no problem with his renting bigger tanks if he can, or her using 63's if he cannot.

Where did you come up with this? Isn't providing a bail out air source the primary benefit and function of a dive buddy?

Seriously, this is a CRITICAL issue. I can EASILY ascent with 300 psi in my tank from 100 feet, but if a panicked 285 lb former lineman is sucking on my octo at 300 psi and 100 feet, we are both in a life or death situation.

 

[tursiops]

deleted

I see no reason to argue with decompression, since he is never wrong.

 

[keyshunter]

Where did you come up with this? Isn't providing a bail out air source the primary benefit and function of a dive buddy?

Seriously, this is a CRITICAL issue. I can EASILY ascent with 300 psi in my tank from 100 feet, but if a panicked 285 lb former lineman is sucking on my octo at 300 psi and 100 feet, we are both in a life or death situation.

Please read it again, carefully.
What you described is an emergency situation--at least for a panicked newbie.
The point is that there is no reason for a buddy to carry extra gas for the purpose of extending the dive of a hoover. When the hoover's supply gets down to the previously agreed point, the dive is over regardless of how much extra gas his buddy is carrying.

 

[decompression]

Not to mention, the inaccuracy of SPG's and the inability of a first stage to function around 120-150 Psi. 300 psi is way to close for a safe ascent.


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[noj3333]

Well if anyone cares about an update, or if there's a future search about this... it seems like many dive operators in the Caribbean offer 100cu/ft tanks. I asked specifically about aluminum tanks because I doubt many would have steel tanks. I asked several operators, on St. Croix, Grenada, Bonaire, and Curacao. All of the dive ops offer 100cu/ft tanks, some for no additional charge, but most want $10 more per tank.
I don't mind paying the $10 more, it's a pretty small charge to allow the group (me included) to stay in the water for another 15+ minutes.