Cozumel dive ops with hp119s or hp120s?

[Mossman]

Mr. Dillehay,

I was aware that you were not on the island when we dove with Aldora in 2001 and it's obviously been longer than any statute of limitations except that for murder. Hence, your offer of replacement dives or my money back is about the most exceptional act of customer service I've ever experienced. That said, I meant my "money back" request as a joke since it has been so long, I do not expect you to apply your 2012 guarantee to 2001 dives. I'm diving with Living Underwater in April, but your generous gesture definitely put Aldora back in my sights as an alternate to return to in case Jeremy ever pisses me off On the other hand, if you'd like to donate my dives to some worthy cause like the HSA or donate the money to some worthy cause like the Coz Red Cross or that poor paralyzed DM from Scuba Mau, that's cool too.

BTW, the bad drop wasn't Aldora's fault. The port was recently re-opened only to larger boats, so Aldora got us on a larger boat, the Yellow Rose of Texas IIRC. Nice boat, bad drop. DM was Oscar (also IIRC), nice guy, but inept. It wasn't his fault about the drop, but having the group of divers hold hands, that was kind of weird.

Thank you Dave, you really are one of a kind in the dive industry.

Dear Mossman,

Yes, you can have your money back, or replacement diving. Just tell me which you prefer by PM.

As for a short dive fighting a current to get to the wall, that can happen when currents do strange things, and many times a DM can do nothing about it. And we have never claimed to be perfect, but I can tell you that we do try our best everyday, at least for the past 10 years.

As others on this board know, we had a 2 year stretch of time that Memo Mendoza and I were not on the island all the time and Jorge Marin was in charge. That ended ten years ago, and I can assure you that things have been much better since. Indeed, we now have our own compressors so don't have to rely on Meridiano, and we personally fill each tank to 3450 or more. We also have 8 boats (none are rental boats) and as you have seen above, we do a pretty good job of separating divers as to skill and interest. Plus, we do not charge extra for the big tanks as you surmised.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[scubawife]

Yes, he used to fill them much higher than he does now but years ago someone made an issue out of it in a fairly public forum. Undercurrent, I think, which is where he gets a lot of new clientele. He bowed to the pressure and has been filling to the technically approved limit since then.

That's my understanding as well. I dive a 95 with Living Underwater. I'm still getting well over an hour on the deep dives and coming up with air to spare, so, whatever the fill, I'm fine with it. I do fine on an AL80, but the steel LPs that LU has are just more comfortable for me, my back doesn't hurt, and I like having the extra air for the deep dives... just in case I might need it some day.

 

[kixy1]

but the steel LPs that LU has are just more comfortable for me, my back doesn't hurt

The larger, steel tanks don't bother your back as much as AL80's? Can you explain? I don't really need a larger tank as my air consumption is ok, but I have steered away from ops with the larger tanks because I'm worried I might hurt my back...

 

[scubawife]

The larger, steel tanks don't bother your back as much as AL80's? Can you explain? I don't really need a larger tank as my air consumption is ok, but I have steered away from ops with the larger tanks because I'm worried I might hurt my back...

These tanks are much more comfortable for me. They feel better balanced on my back and sit more comfortably. With an AL80, the way they sit for me always hurt my lower back after a couple days of diving. Having the tank be slightly negative is also more comfortable at the end of the dive then a positive AL tank, at least for me.

I've with other shops who use different steel tanks and they were not comfortable for me. Those tanks were short and larger around, but I don't know what brand they were. Not all steel tanks are the same.

I don't need the extra air the LP95 gives me, but it is nice to have for the deeper dives, and there is added safety knowing the extra air is there if you ever do need it. I also just really enjoy diving with Living Underwater. If for some reason they went to using the standard tank, I'd probably stay with them. Most shops I dive with in other places use AL80s and the lower back discomfort is just part of multi-day diving for me.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear kixy1,

We have HP 120s, HP 100s and HP 80s. The 100s are smaller and lighter than aluminum 80s while still holding 25% more air. The HP 80s are TINY. We normally use the 120s on men and the smaller 100s on women, and 80s on junior divers. As mentioned earlier, the HP tanks have excellent buoyancy characteristics, in that they are never positively buoyant and when empty weigh less than 4 lbs more than an aluminum 80—that means you can take at least 4 lbs off your weight belt.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[scubafanatic]

Yes, he used to fill them much higher than he does now but years ago someone made an issue out of it in a fairly public forum. Undercurrent, I think, which is where he gets a lot of new clientele. He bowed to the pressure and has been filling to the technically approved limit since then.

Let Jeremy know the 'technically approved limit' is 2640 psi.

Thus a LP 95 @ 2400 psi = 86 cu. ft. and a LP 120 @ 2640 psi = 109 cu. ft. An AL80 @ 3000 is really about 77 cu. ft, so a LP95 @ 2640 is only giving you about 11% more gas than a AL80 @ 3000 psi.

 

[MMM]

The larger, steel tanks don't bother your back as much as AL80's? Can you explain? I don't really need a larger tank as my air consumption is ok, but I have steered away from ops with the larger tanks because I'm worried I might hurt my back...

This is just a theory, but maybe it has something to do with the weight being centered over your back. The heavier tanks mean you don't need to wear as much weight around your waist or in your pockets. That weight around your waist is probably why many people with a lot of weight around their waist/belly suffer from sore backs. Maybe a physician or other health professional such as physiotherapist can comment. I also suspect it might be a somewhat different issue if you were having to walk a fair ways with a steel tank on your back to do a shore entry versus backrolling into the water.

 

[MMM]

Let Jeremy know the 'technically approved limit' is 2640 psi.

Can you point me to a link somewhere that confirms this? Then I will. Thanks.

 

[Ron Lee]

Can you point me to a link somewhere that confirms this? Then I will. Thanks.

If you know the brand/style tank you should be able to get the info. Here is one low pressure steel tank that has a 2640 psi value

XS Scuba 108 Cubic Foot Low Pressure Steel Scuba Tank LP108 with reviews at scuba.com

 

[Ron Lee]

Here is one brand of high pressure steel tank showing a 3442 psi value

Buy XS Scuba 120 Cubic Foot [cf] hp steel tank X7-120 with reviews at scuba.com