steel 80, or 100?

[Rafael]

today i got a couple 120's from Paul at PG dive, you should contact him, he has the best deals in town, plus free air.

Good luck and congratulations in your certification.

 

[douglasville diver]

This is something I have to chine in on ,I trained on al 80's, after cert. my instructor loaned me hp 104,s for about 10 dives, { I fell in love} Then all of a sudden he started letting me use LP 95,s {without telling me} You go from a 3200 psi fill to a 26 or 2700 psi fill .
He says volume is the key , that basicly it,s the same tank if you breath it right
consumsion rate
Now I'm looking at some steel 130,s 3445 psi ,tested @5000psi
Big $
I,m still confused ,I'm comfortable with the hp I love the big # on the spg but if I learn to control my breathing , will the lp's serve me just as well?

 

[jpcpat]

I debated and researched for months. Finally went with a LP Steel 80. Here's what it came to for me:

A LP Steel 100 is about the size and weight as the AL 80 I trained on, with 25% more air. Only downside is higher cost. I looked at a HP tank, but it wasn't much smaller and was not much lighter, though it had better bouyancy. In my area, dive boats often can't go beyond 3000PSI, so the 100 turns into an 80.

 

[paulthenurse]

Why do you say this?

I know people who dive yoke with HP and LP tanks, and who also dive DIN with HP and LP tanks.

Please explain why you think the HP's "require" a DIN fitting.

Mike Rushton

Ok, well for starters I'm no-ones equipment specialist. That said, everything I've read, and the folks at the LDS's that I've spoken with, all seem to be saying that HP tanks are too HP for yoke first stages. The concern seems to be that the yoke valve ring is more likely to extrude, it only has a small amount of metal around it to contain the ring. In a DIN fitting the O-ring is deep inside the valve and contained and thus is FAR less likely to extrude because there is no-where for it to go.

FWIW, I don't own DIN fittings, and like I said, I'm no-ones expert. I'm just a guy who likes to dive and I've done a fair bit of it over the past year. I consider myself well down on the overall learning curve, not because I'm stupid but because the more I learn, the more I realise how much I don't know and want to learn. I'm currently in the process of setting myself up with doubles and I will be using yoke regs because that is what we have.
Paul
FWIW, the Sox won tonight so all is right with the world

 

[Ken abucs]

I've considered purchasing 100's but everyone I dive with has 80's, my thinking was that I'd just be coming up with extra air.

Do you folks find that to be an issue?

If you run into trouble, who would you rather be, the guy with 25% more air, or the one with a 5 LB lighter tank. More air is better. Hey, you might even get to save your buddies life!

 

[UnixSage]

i have no idea which direction i want to go. bp/w or jacket style bc?

In my opinion BCD should be an early purchase because of fit. I am a BP/W diver. I used jacket BCDs during training, and fell in love with the BP/W. Mostly because of fit, I too am a "husky" diver. If you need the bigger tank now then maybe I am giving bad advice but in my opinion get the stuff that is sized (BCD, exposure suit) and rent the other stuff. And always try to beg/borrow a test swim with one. You would be suprised how open divers are to allow you to use their gear when you are try to figure out what you want. Your LDS may help to.. If they rent all the types it makes it easy. Good luck

 

[ScubaMike14]

This is something I have to chine in on ,I trained on al 80's, after cert. my instructor loaned me hp 104,s for about 10 dives, { I fell in love} Then all of a sudden he started letting me use LP 95,s {without telling me} You go from a 3200 psi fill to a 26 or 2700 psi fill .
He says volume is the key , that basicly it,s the same tank if you breath it right
consumsion rate
Now I'm looking at some steel 130,s 3445 psi ,tested @5000psi
Big $
I,m still confused ,I'm comfortable with the hp I love the big # on the spg but if I learn to control my breathing , will the lp's serve me just as well?

You WILL learn to breathe better the more you dive. It may be a huge difference, it may be small, but it will happen. The LP's are great, and they carry a TON of air. I love my 95 and can dive all day (2 or 3 recreational dives) with just the one tank, never needing to get a new fill.

You are going to be VERY, VERY hard pressed to find a shop that can fill a HP tank beyond 3200 pounds, maybe 3400 or so. Compressor pressure just doesn't get high enough. They also get incredibly hot when filled, even slow, and it takes about 2 to 3 hours to fill them (if you want an accurate, good fill). They need to cool, then be topped off, then cool again....you get the idea.

Again, this is just my opinion regarding what you should buy. My shop only sells LP tanks, but we have customers who own HP tanks.

Mike Rushton

 

[Cold_H2O]

I am a 5'1" tall woman. I own 2 HP 80's that I have dove since 98. I love them.
Nice size for me to dive and lug around on land. Lots of air.

Recently I have been diving a buddies HP 120. It is a large tank for someone my size.
Felt strange to dive it the first few times. I have been diving it alot lately. Loving it.

I never worry about being the one with the most air or ending a dive with a lot of air left in my tank compared to my dive buddies.

I think of it as a great safety margin. Nice to know that I will have more than enough and will be able to assist my buddies if they need me.

 

[Scott5644]

today i got a couple 120's from Paul at PG dive, you should contact him, he has the best deals in town, plus free air.

Good luck and congratulations in your certification.

It's better to have too much air than not enough

 

[joeabroad]

"A LP Steel 100 is about the size and weight as the AL 80 I trained on, with 25% more air. Only downside is higher cost. I looked at a HP tank, but it wasn't much smaller and was not much lighter, though it had better bouyancy. In my area, dive boats often can't go beyond 3000PSI, so the 100 turns into an 80."[/QUOTE]

I also looked at this issue--but at 3000 PSI the HP 100 turns into an 89, not an 80, which is still lots more air and fine with me. Underfilling also puts less pressure on my yoke regulator. Best of all worlds. Paul at PG Dive gave me a great price, too. I bought my two at the end of the season last fall, so I'm getting a little anxious to put them in the water.