What should I expect...

[BVI Diver!]

I have done all my dives in tropical water with a dive skin. I'm starting to dive off of the coast of Ca now. I'm about 225 pounds and was using about 16 pounds of weight in tropical waters. What can I expect to add with a 7mm wetsuit off the coast of Ca.

I also wanted to know if anyone has experience with Sherwood ALUMINUM COMPACT NEUTRAL 80 Tank. I like the price and the fact it's neutral.

Most of my local dives will be no deeper than 80 feet. Should I go with steel trank, or is this Alum tank worth it? Thanks for the replys in advance.

 

[dgallo]

Well, I don't know what your weight is, but I'll tell you my experience with the compact 80 in CA water.

I dive with a 1-piece 7mm suit and a hood, I exclusively use a compact 80 and I carry 16 lbs of weight (I weigh 195 lbs). I've been down to 100 ft and have had no problems. I kick down a little bit on my initial descent, but I don't have to fight my buoyancy.

They are good tanks. People may tell you to get steel just to do the creative accounting with your weight, but I don't see a significant difference there. The real advantage you get with steel is the PSI rating and the actual cubic feet.

A compact 80 is only 77.4 cu ft at 3300 PSI. You don't always get that kind of a fill from the boats here in So Cal, so steel is a good alternative. Unfortunately, steel is almost twice the cost of a compact 80.

- David

I have done all my dives in tropical water with a dive skin. I'm starting to dive off of the coast of Ca now. I'm about 225 pounds and was using about 16 pounds of weight in tropical waters. What can I expect to add with a 7mm wetsuit off the coast of Ca.

I also wanted to know if anyone has experience with Sherwood ALUMINUM COMPACT NEUTRAL 80 Tank. I like the price and the fact it's neutral.

Most of my local dives will be no deeper than 80 feet. Should I go with steel trank, or is this Alum tank worth it? Thanks for the replys in advance.

 

[coreypenrose]

More weight, thicker suit, worse vis, kelp, surf, surge, current, more variety of life. I'm told that many topical people tend to really cork in their last 15 feet when they dive the CA coast for the first time - they underestimate just how buoyant a proper cold-water setup can be as they work their way back to the surface. Also, I’m told that many topical dive boat dives are led by divemasters – out here, boat dives are generally unguided and you are left to your own devices.

That said, diving of the California coast is awesome - some of the best diving around can be found right here in our own backyard. Where are you going to be diving?

As far as the Al 80 tank, I wouldn't use it. I dive with a Steel 95 - more air and the big steel tank allows me to take a few pounds off the weightbelt.

Finally, go and check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/ as well as the CA sections of this board - you ought to have more responses there.

Edited for errors

 

[ScubaFreak]

We can all tell you what weight we are, what setup we use, give different formulae to determine the ideal amount of weight you should use, but at the end of the day, the best thing you can do is go to a pool, and take some different weights, and the wetsuit you plan on diving with. Go through the whole buoyancy check procedure, and see what feels best. I cant speak about cu. ft or psi cos i'm metric and work off litres and bar! But i can tell you that a steel tank will help you by removing some weight from your belt and won't become as positively buoyant as an aluminium tank at the end of the dive.

Dropping weight from your belt also comes with being more comfortable in the water. A new diver with the exact same dimensions as me, will probably require lots more weight than I wear, but with experience, that weight can be removed from the belt as the diver has become more relaxed and comfortable under the water.
Then as you hit the seawater, you will probably only need a minimal amount of extra weight to compensate for sea water, maybe 3-5lbs.

anyhoo just my $0.02

SF

 

[kjundvr]

I have quite a few dives in California mostly in Monterey. Ca diving is great and if you can get over the added gear worse vis ( normally 15-20ft) in my area and the extra wave action its the best.

As to your tank question, I dive both types, steels are great in that they are always negative, however they require a bit more maintenance aka they rust w/o proper rinsing. This can be a be a problem if you have a tank boot on it, most people forget to take the boot off and rinse off the tank where the boot sits. As to the sherwood tank you are referring to, its made by luxifer and in my opinion is the best tank I have ever used. It is indeed neutral in fact I find it a bit negative but then I never completely drain the tank. It has the benefits of a steel and an aluminum tank including being cheeper than steel. However there is a problem when you get a fill its working pressure is 3300 psi and most places will assume that it is a normal aluminum tank and will only fill it to 3000 so you are missing out on ~8cf of air. Not all that much unless your breathing rate is high so when you get a fill hake sure you let them know to fill to 3300 ( I circled the pressure rating stamp in my tank and wrote in big letters fill to 3300psi).

And your weighting, I weigh about the same as you and I do agree with the previous post there is not a formula that will work every time. For reference I wear 36lbs but I could drop down to ~30 but I dive with students. You can try 10% of you body weight plus 8 to 10lbs The best thing to do is a weight check. Put all your gear on and what you have estimated you need weight wise. Go to shallow water <10ft let all the air out of your BC, make sure you have your reg in, when all the air is out your head should be just below the surface, if you are sinking very slow you are should be ok. If you sink fast remove wt and vise versa.

With any luck this helps you just a bit. Happy diving and remember You can bite through kelp ( it taste good I must say).