First Doubles Setup

[DA Aquamaster]

I'll second the AL80 suggestion. They are much cheaper than HP 100's and are taller but weigh about the same and have better bouyancy traits for a warm water wet suit diver.

And as noted above, if you go farthe, they convert readily to stage bottles and the manifold and bands will work just fine with nay 7.25: diuamter tan such as E7 or X7 series steel doubles.

In short they are optimal for your current bouyancy needs, are inexpensive and will not result in you buying anything you can't use if you upgrade later.

 

[vel525]

I'll second the AL80 suggestion. They are much cheaper than HP 100's and are taller but weigh about the same and have better bouyancy traits for a warm water wet suit diver.

And as noted above, if you go farthe, they convert readily to stage bottles and the manifold and bands will work just fine with nay 7.25: diuamter tan such as E7 or X7 series steel doubles.

In short they are optimal for your current bouyancy needs, are inexpensive and will not result in you buying anything you can't use if you upgrade later.

DA Aquamaster, I see that you are local to me. Do you dive with a club or a group locally? I don't really dive locally so have not met many local divers.

 

[c6six]

I may get 80's first too. Do you recommend getting neutrally buoyant al 80's??

 

[DA Aquamaster]

No...get plain old Luxfer AL80's. The neutral 80's are tail heavy and they do not work well at all as stage bottles in the event you advance to more technical diving. They are not worth the extra money.

 

[c6six]

ehh, I thought that the neutrally buoyant ones were better for stages/decos??

 

[Flightlead]

I would share this as my main concern as well. I have 2 sets of Worthington doubles, a pair of 119's (actually 95's that are HP rated)

slightly off topic but if you are talking X8's I don't think they are the same tanks as the LP95. they have a different physical internal volume and the outside is also slightly dimensionally different. originally I thought they were the same too, but they aren't.

 

[ianr33]

Concerning the regs: Can you not get a DIN conversion kit? Normally around $50 per reg?? Cheaper than buying new regs.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

ehh, I thought that the neutrally buoyant ones were better for stages/decos??

A normal AL 80 will float up slightly and trail very nicely when used as a stage. A neutral 80 ends up just hanging there and is too heavy to trim well at the beginning of the dive.

 

[c6six]

Well that is certainly good to know. Thanks for that info.

 

[serrada]

In the ocean, with a wet suit steel tanks are the wrong way to go IMHO. You risk being way too negatively buoyant at depth if you have a bc failure. Also, throw in a full deco bottle and it only adds to your weight.