What size tank should I get I'm Confused.

[Lead_carrier]

Listen up here Tager - you just flat-out are going to use more air than other people. Get the LP 121's and you'll be fine. I dive with them properly filled with 170 cubes of gas - I just like knowing that I have plenty of gas for my needs and anyone else in my vicinity.
In your case, it'll mostly be for just your needs.
They weigh in at 58 pounds loaded, but you won't notice that. Have fun.

or overfilled. Not every shop outside of Florida will overfill them Tom. Most all that I have seen will only go to the rated pressure. Right or wrong, hook or crook, that's just the way it is. If you're lucky enough to find the shops that overfill then that's just some gravy to go on the biscuits.

I do agree with you that LPs are the way to go tho.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

Listen up here Tager - you just flat-out are going to use more air than other people. Get the LP 121's and you'll be fine. I dive with them properly filled with 170 cubes of gas - I just like knowing that I have plenty of gas for my needs and anyone else in my vicinity.
In your case, it'll mostly be for just your needs.
They weigh in at 58 pounds loaded, but you won't notice that. Have fun.

Wow Getting Alot of good info thanks guys, I've pretty much decide to go the LP Steel tank route, just because I should be able to get them filled to the rated preasure anywhere and the weight is good because i want to work down to a 15lb weight belt.

or overfilled. Not every shop outside of Florida will overfill them Tom. Most all that I have seen will only go to the rated pressure. Right or wrong, hook or crook, that's just the way it is. If you're lucky enough to find the shops that overfill then that's just some gravy to go on the biscuits.

I do agree with you that LPs are the way to go tho.

I'll be happy either way to be honest, I just don't want to be the guy cutting my buddys dive short because i'm out of air. and the price differnce is not that much in the steel 100's to the 120's

One problem that I see a lot that contributes to overweighting is that people don't know how to properly intiate a descent.

Remember, all air out the BC, ankles crossed, hands quiet, exhale .... exhale .... exhale some more... once you're 3-4 feet under, then you can inhale again.

What do you mean "having trouble diving"? If suit compression is causing you to feel overweighted at 30', you should probably take that 10 pounds and leave it on the boat. If you've said, I missed it, how much lead are you carrying?

Rachel

This weekend I was carring 37lbs I was doing the intial Sink Dive alright but once i was nuetral and swiming with my buddy he would follow the contor of the lake bed down deeper and i would stay straight and level, right on the thermal cline. It was very frustrating because I was neuteral but I couldn't get deeper, and it was at the perfect depth were if i wasn't careful I would come up and the wet suit would become bouent up I'd go. Anyway most of this will go away with practice i'm sure. its like any other skill. I'm increadably rust and i'm fighting my new wetsuit. most of my wieght is near my mid section so i'm going to move some and see if it helps my balance in the water.

 

[Lead_carrier]

This weekend I was carring 37lbs I was doing the intial Sink Dive alright but once i was nuetral and swiming with my buddy he would follow the contor of the lake bed down deeper and i would stay straight and level, right on the thermal cline. It was very frustrating because I was neuteral but I couldn't get deeper, and it was at the perfect depth were if i wasn't careful I would come up and the wet suit would become bouent up I'd go. Anyway most of this will go away with practice i'm sure. its like any other skill. I'm increadably rust and i'm fighting my new wetsuit. most of my wieght is near my mid section so i'm going to move some and see if it helps my balance in the water.

Don't take this the wrong way Tager, I honestly think you should go back to your instructor and go through the bounancy section again. Unless it is on agency that gets flamed on here a lot and they make your try to buy the peak bouyancy class. You should have had your bouyancy down extremely well before you finished class.

If you get neutral at depth then you should be able to go deeper. Just release a bit of air from your bc. Your wetsuit will continue compressing and you'll get more negative.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

Don't take this the wrong way Tager, I honestly think you should go back to your instructor and go through the bounancy section again. Unless it is on agency that gets flamed on here a lot and they make your try to buy the peak bouyancy class. You should have had your bouyancy down extremely well before you finished class.

If you get neutral at depth then you should be able to go deeper. Just release a bit of air from your bc. Your wetsuit will continue compressing and you'll get more negative.

Respectfully don't take this the wrong way lead_carrier But honestly I would be diving with another 10lbs of weight but I'm trying to work on getting my buoyancy better which will leads to frustration with a cat 80 with a variation of 6lbs of buoyancy between the full and empty air pressure it requires some practice to get used to, and I have a brand new 7mm wet suit that required me to add 8lbs of lead just to sink and returning to a pool with my instructor while it would be fun to play in 8 feet of water would serve no purpose. I think, I need to just do what I’m doing and work it out, and put more dives in, but thanks for the input. I'm the first to admit I need more practice, and more experience but I know how to hit the air dump and the air release, both of which should not be necessary when you are neutral at depth and you wish to dive, because the water pressure will compresses the BC and your wet suit making you less buoyanent, so my problem was not buoyancy it was balance because every time I would try to dive I would “head up” because I had to much weight low on my body and tank. I know the theory and the practice well it takes practice and getting the setup-up right. Some times I feel like I’m back in the boy scouts again do you have the merit badge yet? Nope but I’m working on it.

Thanks again for the help everybody I really do appreciate it.

 

[strider]

Rather than trying to "dive" a little deeper if you are going along at depth and neutrally buoyant, just try exhaling a little more than normal and don't immediately take in a breath, wait a moment then start inhaling slowly as you are descending. After you have gone a few feet down add a tiny puff to your BC or inhale a little more than normal to slow your descent and then fine tune your buoyancy again with your BC and lungs.

Unless I am kicking down a steep slope I usually do this to move up or down in the water and my fin kicks are moving me along horizontally.

Another tip for fine tuning your buoyancy that I have used. If you have a good pocket or your weight pockets can be opened easily and safely underwater try this at the end of your next dive.

I will carry some of my normal weight in 1, 2 and 3 pound bags that I can easily play with at the end of my dive in about 15ft of water with 500psi. I will sit there with no air in my BC and I will carefully set down a one pound weight and take a few normal breaths. If I am negative I will pick it up and set a two pound weight down, take a few normal breaths. I will keep going until I find the perfect amount that keeps me down with little air in my tank.

Then go to your log book and write that weight down and the tank and suit you were using. It's nice to keep a couple notes like this around so that when you use up your tanks on a trip and need to rent a tank or something you know exactly what your perfect weight should be.

 

[Atticus]

Hi Tager,

I'm 6'4" and 255 lbs, so I understand about being a big guy and during my first 100 dives or so it seemed like I went through air faster than the people around me. I like TSandM's first post - I think she was spot on. Your air constumption will get better as you do more and more dives. As your experience surpasses that of your typical dive buddy you'll be the one wondering why you're only doing half a dive when they call it.

That being said, if you are going to purchase a new tank I really like low pressure steel. If overfilling is difficult to obtain or makes you uncomfortable then you might choose an HP 130 and understand that some days (like on a boat) it's going to be an LP 100 due to fill pressure.

Personally I'd stay away from the heavier HP tanks and alu 100's. The weight vs. buoyancy tradeoffs don't make me happy.

This table may help you make your decision: http://www.huronscuba.com/equipment/scubaCylinderSpecification.html

 

[PerroneFord]

...returning to a pool with my instructor while it would be fun to play in 8 feet of water would serve no purpose.

You need to re-eavaluate this statement. Some of the most important lessons in buoyancy come at this depth. When I am REALLY trying to challenge myself, this is EXACTLY where I go. Moving myself around at 75-100ft is childs play compared to trying to keep my buoyancy right in my instrutors 10ft pool. Try doing an ascent from 8ft to 2ft and stopping at every foot for 30 seconds. When you can do that, your buoyancy at depth will no longer be a problem. I PROMISE you that.

 

[SparticleBrane]

37 pounds of lead seems to be a common thing going on here, I just posted in another thread about it. 37lbs is...a lot of weight. IF you ever had to ditch, you'd probably SHOOT up to the surface.
In a 6.5mm two-piece I dive with 18 pounds total--12 on a weight belt and 6 from my ss backplate.

 

[wreckchick]

Also remember that tank swing is tank swing. The ONLY difference between a steel 80 and an aluminum 80 is the tank's inherent buoyancy characteristics. The compressed air inside it still weighs the same. In fact, by switching to higher volume tanks, you're looking at MORE swing, not less. Steels are great for getting weight off the belt, but the swing issue is moot.

Rachel

 

[TheRedHead]

Tager, I think you should take your new big steel down to Florida and get rid of as much weight and neoprene as possible and learn how to control your bouyancy with minimal weight. You've got all these factors overweighting you due to the lead you are carrying to compensate for neoprene compression and a postively buoyant tank.

You would be an ideal cantidate for a BP/W that would put the weight over your lungs where you are the most bouyant. I love steel tanks and I only dive with 2 lbs of weight and have little air in my wing at the end of the dive. Tager, you really can't have too much air. It's like having too much money.