So far this has been the most confusing part for me. There are Steel and Aluminum then if I understand correctly 3 different (possibly 4 if you count the DOT exempt) pressure and 2 reg mounting styles all before we even talk about doubles 
Here is my situation so lets see if we can get this sorted out. I tried looking for some similar threads cause I am sure they are on here but I was not able to find them. If you have a link I would be more then happy to read it.
I am trying to get set up for 2 of us, me and the GF. We just got our OW late this fall. In class we used jacket BC's, Scuba Pro regs with Air 2, and I believe the tanks were steel and we started with about 2400 psi each time (I dont recall exactly). The tanks we had were slightly smaller then an AL80. After OW we rented gear from a different shop (was easier to get it picked up then the shop we did the class with) so we could get some practice in on our own. She used a jacket BC and I used a rear inflate. This time we had Apex regs with octo's and were using AL80 tanks with 3200 psi in them. This time it seemed we had much more dive time before we were out of air. I know this could be for several reason like being more comfortable, less stressful situation, moving at our own pace, ect.
Since then we have been buying our own gear. It is all in transit right now. We bought BP/W set ups and HOG D1 reg sets.
Where we live it is over an hour one way to the closest dive shop. There is one where I work and he was made me a really good deal when we rented from him before but if I rent from him I have the gear out 5 days. So we would like our own tanks. I assume that if you wanted to do more then one maybe 2 dives over a couple of days we are going to need at least 2 tanks each. I can get air fills locally with the local dive team but if we travel a little shops are few and far between in my area.
So lets start with an easy one. DIN vs Yoke mount. I am not sure if there is a price difference in them or not. The regs we got are DIN mount and come with Yoke adapters. If we are diving our own tanks is there any reason not to just use the DIN? I assume that when you travel that Yoke is more common and to bring the adapter, is this true?
Next is steel vs aluminum. I have read a lot about how steel is better for buoyancy since it is always negative and will need less weight. It also seems like the overall life of them is better. Problem I run into is price. I am looking at 4 tanks. For AL80's that is about $700, but to go to steel the same size it is almost 2x as much. Next would be an issue of traveling and setting up our buoyancy. Are steel tanks usually readily available for rent when traveling? If not then each dive trip we make would would have to redo our buoyancy, or am I making too big of a deal out of this? I have semi been looking at used tanks on CL but I have no idea what to look for and would really like 4 matching tanks, or even 2 of the same for her set vs my set since she may not need as big of tanks as me.
Of course last comes down to that whole pressure thing. Which one and why/why not. I have not had the chance to yet, but I will be checking with the dive team to see what pressure they can fill to since I assume it is compressor dependent. If they can not fill HP is there any reason to buy HP tanks?
I know there is a lot of questions in there and thanks for you time.
Here is my situation so lets see if we can get this sorted out. I tried looking for some similar threads cause I am sure they are on here but I was not able to find them. If you have a link I would be more then happy to read it.
I am trying to get set up for 2 of us, me and the GF. We just got our OW late this fall. In class we used jacket BC's, Scuba Pro regs with Air 2, and I believe the tanks were steel and we started with about 2400 psi each time (I dont recall exactly). The tanks we had were slightly smaller then an AL80. After OW we rented gear from a different shop (was easier to get it picked up then the shop we did the class with) so we could get some practice in on our own. She used a jacket BC and I used a rear inflate. This time we had Apex regs with octo's and were using AL80 tanks with 3200 psi in them. This time it seemed we had much more dive time before we were out of air. I know this could be for several reason like being more comfortable, less stressful situation, moving at our own pace, ect.
Since then we have been buying our own gear. It is all in transit right now. We bought BP/W set ups and HOG D1 reg sets.
Where we live it is over an hour one way to the closest dive shop. There is one where I work and he was made me a really good deal when we rented from him before but if I rent from him I have the gear out 5 days. So we would like our own tanks. I assume that if you wanted to do more then one maybe 2 dives over a couple of days we are going to need at least 2 tanks each. I can get air fills locally with the local dive team but if we travel a little shops are few and far between in my area.
So lets start with an easy one. DIN vs Yoke mount. I am not sure if there is a price difference in them or not. The regs we got are DIN mount and come with Yoke adapters. If we are diving our own tanks is there any reason not to just use the DIN? I assume that when you travel that Yoke is more common and to bring the adapter, is this true?
Next is steel vs aluminum. I have read a lot about how steel is better for buoyancy since it is always negative and will need less weight. It also seems like the overall life of them is better. Problem I run into is price. I am looking at 4 tanks. For AL80's that is about $700, but to go to steel the same size it is almost 2x as much. Next would be an issue of traveling and setting up our buoyancy. Are steel tanks usually readily available for rent when traveling? If not then each dive trip we make would would have to redo our buoyancy, or am I making too big of a deal out of this? I have semi been looking at used tanks on CL but I have no idea what to look for and would really like 4 matching tanks, or even 2 of the same for her set vs my set since she may not need as big of tanks as me.
Of course last comes down to that whole pressure thing. Which one and why/why not. I have not had the chance to yet, but I will be checking with the dive team to see what pressure they can fill to since I assume it is compressor dependent. If they can not fill HP is there any reason to buy HP tanks?
I know there is a lot of questions in there and thanks for you time.
