Gas Suppliers

[Tug]

Does anyone around Boston (North Shore to be specific) do their own blending? I'm thinking of trying to get an argon bottle for this winter and was wondering if you had any recommendations as to a supplier. I may be getting a compressor in the spring and blending my own gas so I may be getting oxygen this coming year as well.

I believe South Shore divers does argon fills, any other shops around that fill tanks as well?

thanks in advance

 

[Mr.X]

To be honest - I've not found argon to make too much of a difference vs. packing on another thin layer underneath the drysuit. In fact, a well known British deep diver swore that argon was the tops. A skipper on a well known Scottish tech boat replaced the gas in his argon bottle with air before he splashed in for one longish dive. When the deep diver came up everyone asked him how the argon worked. He said it was the best thing on planet Earth whereupon the crew and captain started to laugh uncontrollably.

I just use air even on those super long deco. dives in the NE and Alaska. In fact I used air for ice diving and one ball freezing dive in Alaska in February with times running one hour or more. One thing that does help are nice dry gloves.

As per where to find argon - maybe some local boat welders can get a big J bottle?

Best,

X sometime resident of lovely Cape Ann

 

[Tug]

I am probably going to get one of my inflation cylinders filled and see if it works for me. That said, I am also looking for future needs...

good story about how people think it affects them

Lewis

also an ex Cape Ann resident... god I'm going to miss the resident pasking sticker

 

[Mr.X]

I am probably going to get one of my inflation cylinders filled and see if it works for me. That said, I am also looking for future needs...

good story about how people think it affects them

Lewis

also an ex Cape Ann resident... god I'm going to miss the resident pasking sticker

Cheers! Argon is fun stuff and make sure to evacuate your suit completely before filling it with argon. Don't want to lose any of the precious stuff. Also it makes for some fun science experiments with balloons. Once I even breathed the stuff just to see what happened....eeeck.

Best and someday you'll have another Gloucester Parking sticker!

X

 

[Rainer]

Argon works IF you first purge the suit a few times to get out all the air before you dive. I keep a separate argon bottle for these surface flushes. I noticed a difference in MA, but for our warmer (50sF) waters in SoCal, I no longer bother.

As for gas suppliers, we were blending in Cambridge when I was there for school a few years back. We were going down to RI for O2 and He (no questions asked there). Wasn't so bad as we'd get in a few dives while down before coming back. Ideally, though, you'll find a more local supplier.

 

[Mr.X]

Argon works IF you first purge the suit a few times to get out all the air before you dive. I keep a separate argon bottle for these surface flushes. I noticed a difference in MA, but for our warmer (50sF) waters in SoCal, I no longer bother.

As for gas suppliers, we were blending in Cambridge when I was there for school a few years back. We were going down to RI for O2 and He (no questions asked there). Wasn't so bad as we'd get in a few dives while down before coming back. Ideally, though, you'll find a more local supplier.

Come on' man. If you're at Cambridge some of them Haaarvard guys oughta' be able to supply you with some nice gases. That or MIT? Crazy you have to go to RI for straight O2, but certainly understand the lack of knowledge and hassle related to CCR/tech diving at the North Shore. I had some shop owners telling me how LAR V's work + when they didn't even dive RB's? Sometimes crazy stuff and almost not worth it to get some measly amounts of oxygen.

Cheers,

X

 

[Rainer]

MIT. We actually kept the T bottles in a buddy's lab since they blended in with the gas bottles already there. Great campus as no one even bats an eye when you wheel around lots of gas (including doubles and deco bottles...).

Yes, would have been much nicer to have found a local supplier, but all wanted either a business license or a medical license for the O2 (at least the places in Cambridge). We were going to RI anyway for the dives, so it wasn't too much of a hassle. Definitely worth exploring closer options, though.

 

[AfterDark]

Argon is a common welding gas. Any welding supply store will have it.