CPRC
Contributor
Does anyone have experience with these relative to standard al80s? Any comments, pros/cons?
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They’re trash. Poor as stages, overly heavy as normal sidemount bottles relative to gas capacity.Does anyone have experience with these relative to standard al80s? Any comments, pros/cons?
Does anyone have experience with these relative to standard al80s? Any comments, pros/cons?
First off - that’s for straight opinion. But some f/up questions - with regard to the weight issue/overly heavy - would not that help with minimizing spine lead? What type/size cyl would you suggest for quarry and cavern fun diving? Not intending to stage dive or more technical uses.
why do you say it's straight opinion?
Let's look at some specs to see why everyone thinks they're useless
Catalina C80-holds 77.4cf of gas at 3300psi, weighs 34.4lbs, is -0.2lbs buoyant when empty, and is 7.25"x25.1"
Catalina "normal" 80-holds 77.4cf of gas at 3000psi, weighs 31.6lbs, is 4lbs buoyant when empty, and is 7.25"x25.8"
No one likes Catalina AL80's, but Luxfers are 31.4lbs/+4.4lbs/26"
So with the C80 vs standard 80, you have a bottle that lets you shed 3.8lbs from your belt but is 2.8lbs heavier. Not sure that that is worth the risk of getting the bottle underfilled because it is a "high pressure" aluminum bottle and getting shorted on a fill *almost guaranteed at pretty much every dive shop because they just see an aluminum bottle and fill it to 3k*.
Alternatively, a Faber FX100 holds 100cf of gas at 3442psi, weighs 34.3lbs, is -0.6lbs when empty, and is 7.25"x25.4". So you have a tank that is essentially identical to the Neutral 80, but holds 30% more gas. The downside is they are more expensive, but if you want the most efficient tank in terms of gas volume:net weight, HP100's are ideal.
Also neutral 80's have basically no residual value because no one wants them. Used steel tanks don't depreciate at all.
On the fun diving front, LP50s are fairly awesome.