What is the best Tank for CA diving?

[cys]

The smallest steel tank that keeps you in the water for the same time as the average of your buddys' times.

 

[415Gem]

In a word: drysuit.

Then the answer to the original question becomes: steel 72 tank.

Evolution made them that way ... so they could enjoy eatin` everyday

 

[MyDiveLog]

I do a lot o So. Cal diving (mostly beach diving) and dive with an HP80 tank that works very well for me. It has great bouyancy characteristics and is shorter than an AL80 (I don't like the tank hitting my butt or the reg bumping me in the head when I dive). The downside are:
1) Cost ... steel tanks are 2 to 2.5 times as expensive as an AL tank. Because dive shops use them as loss leaders you can get a new AL80 for $95. A Steel tank will run you $200 - $275.
2) Steel rusts ... quickly. If you DO get a steel tank, NEVER run it down to 0 lbs. A guy at my shop did that (going for that last lobster!) and, a week later, got a mouthful of rusty water when he flipped over on a dive. The tank rusted that quickly, his computer and gauges were ruined ... an expensive proposition. I've had mine for 3 years and never had a problem.
3) An HP tank will mean a DIN valve, which means you'll need a simple converter on your reg when you are using LP tanks ... not a big deal.
4) I've never had a problem in a dive shop getting good fills, which someone alluded to. Dive boats, however, are another issue.

Were I to do it again I'd get a new tank just coming on the market: a Steel LP 80. It has all the benefits of a Steel tank, but is full at 2700 PSI. It's the same diameter an an AL80 ... Unlike my HP80, which is slightly larger in diameter than an AL80 and doesn't always fit in the "pre-molded" wells on the dive boats.

Someone mentioned buying a dry suit ... it's a lot more expensive than a tank, so I don't really think it's an either/or thing. Even so, if you'll be doing mostly beach dives a wetsuit is fine. If you'll be doing primarily boat dives, where you don't heat your core body temp up by walking to the site, working you way through the surf, and doing a surface swim, then a dry suit makes sense.

Good luck! Let us know what you buy & how it works out!

Phil

 

[Mo2vation]

...then get the biggest steel tank you can safely and comfortably dive.

I dive the PST E8-130. Its a waterheater. I don't get the whole get a tiny tank thing.

Beach diving, however - I totally get that. Diving my 130 is a bit of a schlep. I hate beach diving anyway - schlepping this tank doesn't make it any more fun. Its quite doable, but not as easy as skipping over the sand with an HP80 baby-bottle.

Why wouldn't you want to enter the water with the most gas you can comfortable and safely manage?

With the waterheater, do come up wif more gas than my buddy? Sure. So what? Gas isn't that heavy, and I like the peace of mind knowing I got mad gas if the kelp hits the fan. I am the bailout. But careful planning, preparation and diving with discipline has led to no accidents or issues where I need it.

I'm not a big guy - 5-8 175, and the e8-130 is by no means probibitive. Arnaud dives a 119, and we're only about 400 - 600 pounds apart usually by the end of the dive (depending n how much he or I hoover.) That's not a wacky difference by any means.

With some buddies, its over 1000 - and to me the great BT always makes it worth it. I dive to dive - I don't dive to SI or schlep back and forth for fills and stuff. I want to go in, and I want to stay in for as long as I safely can.

With the waterheater I get great BT and recieve the favorable buoyancy characteristics of Steel. With a 72 or 80 or anything else, I'd only get one of those.

I don't get the whole tiny tank thing.

K

 

[MyDiveLog]

I'm not sure I'd call an 80 cubic foot tank 'tiny', but I get your point ... especially with a dry suit and boat diving. Most of my dives are beach dives in a wet suit. After about an hour and a half I start getting a bit water-logged and, in the winter, cold. I also tend to find that, when diving with a buddy, I usually have a lot more air at the end of the dive than they do, so an HP 80 makes sense for me.

 

[Mo2vation]

I'm not sure I'd call an 80 cubic foot tank 'tiny', but I get your point ... especially with a dry suit and boat diving. Most of my dives are beach dives in a wet suit. After about an hour and a half I start getting a bit water-logged and, in the winter, cold. I also tend to find that, when diving with a buddy, I usually have a lot more air at the end of the dive than they do, so an HP 80 makes sense for me.

If you're a sipper, and your beach dives are averaging 15 - 25 feet, your 80 will last for days. I'm hip.

Most of my dives (beach or boat) average 35 - 45', with max at 85 - 120-ish, and range from 45 - 70 minutes. Usually, I get out cuz buddy's can is empty or I gotta pee.

That's why they make them in so many different sizes!

We should get together some time. You coming to Cat with the SoCal group?

K

 

[IndigoBlue]

I'm not sure I'd call an 80 cubic foot tank 'tiny', but I get your point ... especially with a dry suit and boat diving. Most of my dives are beach dives in a wet suit. After about an hour and a half I start getting a bit water-logged and, in the winter, cold. I also tend to find that, when diving with a buddy, I usually have a lot more air at the end of the dive than they do, so an HP 80 makes sense for me.

I wish that the thickest wetsuits made were 3mms. Then for colder waters, divers would stay out of the water until they could save their pennies for a proper drysuit. Unfortunately capitalism always caters to the market. Even when doing so is less than ideal.

 

[Robert Phillips]

I wish that the thickest wetsuits made were 3mms. Then for colder waters, divers would stay out of the water until they could save their pennies for a proper drysuit. Unfortunately capitalism always caters to the market. Even when doing so is less than ideal.

TROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!