Tank size for a young diver

[OldNSalty]

So my son, 10, says he wants to start diving soon. In all honesty it will probably be at least another year before I let him. In the mean time I was going to be on the look out for some used gear and I was wondering about the right size tank and air use for such a small person. The Al63 immediately came to mind. I am wondering, for those of you with kids that dive, will a 63 be good for just one dive to 30 feet or could he possibly get 2 out of it? Would there be another tank to consider?

For what's it worth, in the calculations, I am not worried about him having enough air for me-just himself. He would either be diving in a buddy team of 3 with both parents watching him or I would treat a dive with just him and me as a solo dive for my air concerns.

thanks

 

[decompression]

If you use a generous SAC rate of 1cuft/min then he could do two 20min dives with reserve left over. I prefer to use rock bottom in my gas planning (enough gas for you and your buddy to return) so that would have an effect on the bottom time. I would suggest taking a look at a HP 80, small size, slightly neg and more capacity.

 

[rhwestfall]

My wife (whom is 5'2") dives almost exclusively with Al63's. The only caution I would say to you is that your looking at "if it would be good" somewhat incorrectly. Practically any tank can be selected for a dive when you plan the dive and dive the plan. Included in that is a gas management plan..... At the individuals SAC, the planned depth and time, does it meet the objectives?

 

[tracydr]

How tall is he? He may have a growth spurt at about 12-13 years of age. How tall are his parents?
I'm 61" and use either an AL 63 or an HP 80, depending on if I'm diving with a wetsuit or drysuit. Both give me plenty of air and enough air if my buddy needed to breathe to get back to the surface.
I wouldn't want to do two dives on either tank, but I like my dives to be longer than 30 minutes. Although, when diving shallow, either tank lasts me a long time. So, it would really depend on the depth of the dives more than anything.

 

[Crush]

I'd think that you should be able to get two shallow dives in. BTW, why not use a transfer whip / tank equalizer to top up his tank (between dives) from one of your (presumably multiple) 80L tanks:

 

[Rhone Man]

Kids usually have pretty small SACs once they get comfortable (prior to that, like any new diver, they tend to churn through gas). My 11 year old son uses a 50 cu ft.

I remember diving with an 11 year old in the Philippines who was using an Al 80, and would come back to the boat with about 2100 PSI after every dive.

 

[OldNSalty]

Great info-thanks everyone.

I don't recall how tall but he is only about 70lbs and we parents aren't exactly giants. I like the idea of an HP 80 and/or fill whip. Of course, he wanted to know why i just couldn't get another pony and double them up

 

[jonnythan]

Steel 72s are also nice. Plus they're cheap and you can find them everywhere.

 

[fire_diver]

My son is ten and just got certified. He is using 50s. I could stick a larger tank on him but this is about having fun.he can carry the 50 OK on his own.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

my kid just "grew out of" his 63. It is a good size for kids. Just went out of hydro... $35 looks perfect inside and ok on the outside..


This is some video of him wreck diving in 80 ft when he was 10 (wearing that 63 and a pony bottle).

[video=youtube_share;w2NcsMdOWLA]http://youtu.be/w2NcsMdOWLA[/video]