Tanks for Doubles.

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For weight/capacity in fresh water I use:

Drysuit with 10lb BM/SM rig - no weight belt or harness

85's for regular open water & deco dives (sometimes add 2lb soft weights to knee pockets for extra warmth or stage bottles)

108's for overhead and dives requiring more reserves (never need extra weight)

AL80's as stages only

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If I were diving the cold NW dry in salt water I think I would want 95's or greater for the extra weight; the extra capacity is bonus :wink:
 
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I dive doubled HP80's with a drysuit. With the HP 80's I only need 8-12# of lead depending on how much undergarment I want to wear and how low I plan on running my tanks. 8# is usually enough but the extra lead is nice for being able to add extra air to my suit on those long, cold deco stops. I am 5'11" and go about 165#. Have fun! PNW diving is AWESOME!
 
I am looking to buy myself some tanks for a doubles set -up. Previous I have been diving mostly in Asia and have used AL 80 (11.4 LT) Tanks for my twins (I am also wear a 5 mm wetsuit) .

I am prepare to dive with a drysuit in the Pacific NW here in the near future and wanted to get my own tanks for diving near home.

I am wondering with the drysuit, should I only be looking at steel tanks, or will AL work the same with a dry suit? What are the pros and cons? Thanks for your time!

Al80 doubles work. We have 2 sets at home. They take alot of lead in saltwater, not so bad in fresh. They aren't really very much gas and for a decent length of bottom time are basically limited to ~130ft plus or minus. My SAC rate is reasonable at 0.45-0.5ish. They aren't going to work very well in the >150ft range here. Managing multiple stages can be done but its a pita with gloves etc.

lp85s/hp100s are very popular and enough gas down to 180ft ish and 25min BTs or so.

lp95s/hp119s are reasonable and compact down to about 210ft.

lp108s/hp130s are really heavier and more gas than most OC people actually need. They trim out good and are nice to actually dive, just brutish on land and boat ladders.

I'd get the drysuit and 2 single steel 100s or 119s. Learn to dive that combo before worrying about doubles.
 
Best way to go is to use Tank that you can reasonably purchase, you can trim almost anything to work including dreaded AL100s. I have doubles in HP120s, HP100s, AL100s.
That being said I prefer LP Steels due to ease of Mixing your own Tri-mix at lower pressures. Now we have a new O2, HE booster at work so mixing doubles at HP is not a problem. Also any extended trip to deep wrecks needs multiple sets...
AL80s are about the cheapest way into a set of doubles, cant beat the AL80 cost.
 
I am diving 2 x 12L steel tanks. Normal steel backplate, trilaminate dry suit, no weights (apart from lamp battery). Currently, I am diving this configuration in Tenerife with water temperatures 20 centrigrade with a T-shirt serving as underwear. With almost empty tanks and an almost empty stage (7L aluminium) tank the 3m (10ft) deco stop is still ok in a light swell, but, I really have to empty my wing for this. And, I do not eat beans for breakfast;-)

Back home in colder waters I dive the same configuration but with proper (Weasle) underwear. Luckily our seawater is very low in salt, so less buoyancy.
 
i see a lot of people recommending 108s for more weight. go with that 104/hp130s if that's what you're looking for. I had 108s for years and just ditched them for 104s
 
i see a lot of people recommending 108s for more weight. go with that 104/hp130s if that's what you're looking for. I had 108s for years and just ditched them for 104s
108's are going to require additional weight if they're near empty even with a drysuit and nitrox...I can't imagine using them for helium.
 
Too bad PST went belly up. I'd love to get some lp104s. I have some Faber 108s and they are (comparatively) buoyant.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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