Choosing Tanks

[Nwcid]

Nobody has touched on my question about finding DIN vs Yoke and steel vs aluminum while traveling (any where we have to fly).

 

[Jorgy]

Its only money.... and you can't take it with you

Diving on Saturday.......time to dust of the drysuit.......

M

 

[Jorgy]

Almost all you will find is Yoke AL80 as rentals - there are a few exceptions but not many......

In any event your weighting will be different as you are most likely divining in warm water vice 50-55 degree water.....

I have many regs DIN for my local diving (my LPs have DIN valves) and a Yoke for my warm water travel reg.......

M

 

[Nwcid]

Ok, that helps and make sense. As the FNG there is a lot to learn. Feel like I am picking up most of it well though.

 

[danvolker]

DIN is less likely to have the reg knocked off, if you bump in to an overhead--as in a shipwreck or cave...it does have a nicer feel too...

You really don't want an 80 cu foot tank unless you dive exclusively air...If you go Nitrox, as most divers will, as soon as you get to 90 and 100 foot deep dives, the 80 will not allow you to stay down as long as you will be able to by NDL , and even if you were good enough on air to make it last, you would have no where near enough reserve for your buddy near the end of the dive while still at depth....the 80's were fine for the old air days, but they stink for the world of nitrox and diving to 100 feet or so.

My favorites are steel lp 120's, by far.

You want to avoid a really heavy steel tank, like many of the HP 100's, unless you are a dry suit diver ( exclusively), because they will be much too heavy at depth with a thick wetsuit...and even in warm water, without wetsuit, they are so negative that you would have to use a monster wing to make them neutral.....you made the smart choice of buying the BP/wings, so you will want to be able to use low profile and streamlined wings....18 pound or 30 pound lift wings.... for the 100's, you may be able to lift them OK with a 30, but it will mean swimming around with a huge volume of air in the wing, and that is stupid.

 

[Nwcid]

Ok, I think I just figured something out that I was having a major hang up on. HP and LP tanks have a physical inside size difference. So if I am understanding this right say an LP100 would, for example, hold 3 gallons of water but an HP100 would only hold 2 gallons. They both would hold the same amount of air cause in the HP it is "forced" in tighter ie HP.

So if I have this right then depending on what the pressure fill was you might only have 80 or 90 cu ft of air.

So then that begs the question is an under filled HP better then a filled LP because of size?

 

[danvolker]

the size is really no big deal between a hp 100 and the LP tanks near it in volume. Even my lp 120, is easy enough for my wife Sandra to carry around, and she much prefers it for u/w photography ( what she does) so she can maximize underwater "opportunities".
I am very big into being "slick" in the water, and eliminating drag.....If I thought the lp 120 slowed me down significantly, I'd be unhappy with it..but it really moves underwater like an 80 al.

Unless you are talking about a diver that is really tiny, like a small child or a woman close to 4 feet tall, the size of the tank will rarely make much difference in the water...on land, those with back problems may well have some issues with the bigger volume 100's and beyond.

 

[Nwcid]

Ok, that makes sense.

But was I correct that the internal physical size is not the same?

 

[TSandM]

I don't know what you would be using for your LDS, but none of the Seattle area shops have any trouble giving good fills on HP tanks.

If you are diving locally, you want steel tanks. Aluminum is cheaper, but you have to carry as much as six pounds of extra weight just to sink the tank, and they are physically heavier on land than, for example, HP100s.

The HP100s are probably the single most popular tank in the Puget Sound area, for a lot of reasons. It's enough gas to do many, if not all of our popular shore dives. It's a small and relatively light tank for the volume. And if you eventually go to doubles, they are great that way, too. That's why they're expensive -- they're in demand.

I started with 2 LP 95s. They're very workable tanks. LP fills are easy to get. The tanks are larger and heavier than the 100s, but I learned to carry them. They are a very reasonable gas supply for most of our local dives. They have a reasonable resale value, but not as high as the HP100s.

120s are too long for most people. I see some women using steel 80s, but they are very short tanks, and it's a pretty small gas supply.

Buying used, you have to pay attention to when the tanks were last hydroed and when they were last VIPed. Tanks which are close to hydro are cheaper, because they may not pass (or regain their plus rating), so you are taking on a risk. Tanks which are out of hydro and out of VIP are typically cheap, but you may be throwing the money away altogether, if they are condemned for pitting or don't pass hydro. That said, a fair number of people either get out of diving, or upgrade their tanks, so used tanks are pretty readily available.

Bottom line: I would recommend against buying aluminum for PNW diving, unless it's all you can afford. Don't worry very much about HP versus LP. Do look at used tanks, but watch for danger signals (like out of hydro). Do consider larger tanks, because small ones may do you well now, but they won't satisfy you for very long.

 

[Nwcid]

TSandM for local fills it will be the local dive club compressor. I will get more info on it hopefully tomorrow.

As far as LDS if we had one I dont think I would be jumping on buying tanks. But a 160 mile 4hr round trip to the closest shop sucks.

I think I have it pretty well beaten into me now I will be looking at steel only.