ligersandtions
Contributor
I was going to link you to the exact article that TSandM linked - NWGratefulDiver's Gas Management article is very informative and will explain to you exactly what your buddy was meaning when he said you would "be a bad buddy for diving it" (a steel 72, that is).
What kind of exposure protection are you wearing (wetsuit or drysuit)? If you are diving wet, a big, heavy steel tank (like an HP130) may not be your best bet, though it may also not be an issue (without a drysuit, you don't have redundant buoyancy, so if you have a catastrophic wing failure, you need to be able to swim your entire rig up to the surface and remain above water without help from your wing).
As a small girl (5'2"), I dive an HP130. If I wanted a smaller tank, I would definitely buy an HP100. I love the buoyancy characteristics of both of these tanks (they both allow me to take a good amount of weight off my belt, versus an Al80) and I find that they trim out almost effortlessly. There are other tanks that I'd consider (like the LP95's mentioned above), but I don't have much/any experience with them.
What kind of exposure protection are you wearing (wetsuit or drysuit)? If you are diving wet, a big, heavy steel tank (like an HP130) may not be your best bet, though it may also not be an issue (without a drysuit, you don't have redundant buoyancy, so if you have a catastrophic wing failure, you need to be able to swim your entire rig up to the surface and remain above water without help from your wing).
As a small girl (5'2"), I dive an HP130. If I wanted a smaller tank, I would definitely buy an HP100. I love the buoyancy characteristics of both of these tanks (they both allow me to take a good amount of weight off my belt, versus an Al80) and I find that they trim out almost effortlessly. There are other tanks that I'd consider (like the LP95's mentioned above), but I don't have much/any experience with them.
