What cylinders work as slung stages / bailouts?

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Both the Kyarra and M2 are regularly dived within recreational limits and ideal on Nx32%. Gas tends to be the limiting factor so yes, twin 12's would be a good configuration for these dives. Both are well served by frequent charter boats (Divers Down / Swanage Charters and Wey Chieftain / OHDC) respectively. Fortunately all of these are hard boats with lifts and most are cats, so ideal for divers, particularly with heavy kit. If you're looking to do some light deco, I'd still say a 7L Ali cylinder would be perfect for both of these sites.

Bottom time on the Kyarra is limited as you have to hit it on slack tide otherwise it tends to rip through pretty hard. I've seen the skipper on one dive tear a couple of guys a new one for overstaying their welcome :).
 
Al40's and AL80's are pretty much the standard. I have an oddball AL30 inherited in a swap, I do use it for light deco <10min or so.
 
Twins and 7 for those kinds of dives I reckon
 
.., and what I can sneak into the flat without my girlfriend noticing,..

A lamp shade should work perfectly !!

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I’ve been mostly diving with a 300b 12l but have experimented with using an Ali80, in a training quarry, like independent doubles.

sorry to hijack thread, but nice boat in your avatar OP. J/109?

Yep J/109, done about 6000nm offshore racing on it in the last 4 years. Just come back from the Fastnet too.
 
I’ve been mostly diving with a 300b 12l but have experimented with using an Ali80, in a training quarry, like independent doubles.



Yep J/109, done about 6000nm offshore racing on it in the last 4 years. Just come back from the Fastnet too.
Very nice... and very jealous!
I've done my fair share of pulling strings on 105s and 109s here on long island sound. I've been sailing a 34' late model bleach bottle for the last 5 years since the wife said she wanted to cruise. Of course I can count zero hands how many times we've actually overnighted. So I made an offer on a awesome race ready j100, with a brand new suite of stratis sails and two new kites, new mast mounted nexus displays, factory carbon pole, carbon mast, below deck AP, etc. Spent weeks negotiating and finally came to a deal. Was going to do the paperwork to give the broker my boat to be listed when the wife said she loves our boat and promises to do more sailing with me if we keep our boat. You know how many times she's been on it since? One.
That j100 would have been a great little boat to do some shorthanded beer can and short distance races with.
FML :(
 
I’m limited on space, and what I can sneak into the flat without my girlfriend noticing, so I’m trying to make considered choices and ones I can justify (like I got a second set of regs for you when we go diving on holiday.....).

If she does notice the doubles, explain that it’s A LOT more safe :D
 
You could initially go independent 12s, easier to store, easier to hide as a purchase and can use them in thirds to provide redundancy until you can sneak a 7 in.
 
Also depends on what the dive needs. For a shallow no-deco bailout my go to bottle is al AL40 with air.
Deeper, longer. AL80 with a good bottom mix and an AL40 of something very rich.
I was looking at doing a quick dip while on a business trip and was thinking that little AL13 would be all I need but never got a chance to try it.

The AL40 really is my go to choice. It was a good choice when a little stage of O2 is needed when doing a little deco. And it carried over nicely as a bail out. It's light, compact, and just works good.

Recently I was traveling and the shop didn't have any 40s there were appropriate. Used an AL63 (short version of an AL80). It worked just fine. Sometimes you just have to use what you can get ahold of. Neutral buoyancy characteristics are high on the list of reasons for picking one cylinder over another. Something that is heavy is always tugging on you. You HAVE to keep it as it is part of your weighting. Those aluminum cylinders are light enough that you can weight yourself to not have them and it isn't an issue. This allows for dropping them off, or handing them over without screwing yourself up. I have some steel 100s that are negative, always. I never plan them as removable tanks in the water, not as a bail out nor as a stage. But they are great on my back. They would also make for a great drop bottle off the boat as you know it will hang where you put it and not want to float on you.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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