all4scuba05
Contributor
for those of you who dive with the steel 72, if you did the same dive with AL80 how much longer would you be able to dive?
steel 72's vs AL80
- Thread starter all4scuba05
- Start date
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
Wayward Son
Contributor
Not a lot. There's actually about a 5 cubic foot difference in capacity. I'll take every minute of bottom time I can get, but the real diff between these tanks is small.
7 minutes 26 seconds on average 
But I'd need more weight with the AL 80.
But I'd need more weight with the AL 80.
mossym
Contributor
i'd take the advantage of te steel tanks over the extra air any day...shorter more comfortable dive!!
mike_s
Contributor
If you're diving withsome who is an air hog and they have an AL 80 and you follow "propper buddy rules" then you'll come up when they do. So if they use
more air than you, then using an AL 80 doesn't really benifit you at all.
I used to dive with someone who used air up much more than I did.
He'd dive an AL 80 and I'd dive a steel 72 and I'd still come up with more
air than he did for example.
more air than you, then using an AL 80 doesn't really benifit you at all.
I used to dive with someone who used air up much more than I did.
He'd dive an AL 80 and I'd dive a steel 72 and I'd still come up with more
air than he did for example.
gstroupe
Guest
IMHO the boyancy benifits of the steel 72's outweigh (no pun intended) the slight difference in BT you might get with the AL 80's. I love my 72's, I can dive in a full 7mm with hood, boots, gloves, etc with 10lbs of lead!
jerryn
Contributor
My steel 72's have lost their + so they are 65's. My Al 80's rarely have a cold fill so figure them to be 72's...beach dives max depth 35 ft, 10 minutes
Jerry
Jerry
With double 72's (at 2475 psi) I can plan on 20 minutes at 150 ft with a 1/3 reserve. With double 80's I can plan on 25 minutes with a 1/3 reserve, si the difference is really pretty small.
teknitroxdiver
Contributor
For DA Aquamaster's example dive, I have 39 minutes on double 72s with 1/3 reserve; on 80s, I have 43 minutes with reserve. So, that's only 4 minutes difference.
I'd get the 72s; however I would also conisder the availability of a hydro shop that can keep the + rating after the first hydro. Like jerryn said, they become 65s without the + (assuming you 'obey' that rating), so that would limit me to 35 minutes; still not much of a difference, but that makes it 8 minutes from an 80.
I'd still get the 72s....
I'd get the 72s; however I would also conisder the availability of a hydro shop that can keep the + rating after the first hydro. Like jerryn said, they become 65s without the + (assuming you 'obey' that rating), so that would limit me to 35 minutes; still not much of a difference, but that makes it 8 minutes from an 80.
I'd still get the 72s....
Similar threads
