LP85 or Al80?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

$60 is a very good price for a steel 72, especially if it is galvanized.

For a new tank, the LP85 is the closest in physical size modern tank to the venerable old steel 72. It's only 1/10" larger in diameter and just barely longer. Due to slightly thicker walls, the LP85 has slightly better buoyancy for most people, at least if not diving without a suit. They also have a slightly higher fill pressure so it's like a LP72 with a "legal" overfill. IMHO, either is a step up from an AL80 and they are my 2 favorite LP tanks for singles.

Still, I prefer HP steel tanks over LP steel tanks. The FX71 (actually closer to 72CF at rated fill) is a super nice compact tank and only 6.74" diameter. For more capacity, I usually recommend skipping the HP80 except for short divers and would go directly to the HP100. Slightly smaller than an AL 80 and with better buoyancy. If under-fills are common, an HP100 will still hold as much air as an AL80 if filled to 2640psi.

And at a somewhat more acceptable 3000 psi in that HP100, you are looking at 87 cu ft.
 

Back
Top Bottom