Which tank to buy?

[Nemrod]

If you want steel doubles, you can set up the old 72s. They balance well and are not so heavy. They can be dived without a BC so with a wetsuit they will be fine as they would in bare skin. You can still find nice 72s if you look around, heck, sometimes people will give them to you. N

 

[emttim]

Hmm, yeah I'd rather get the HP if the alternative is overfilling LPs constantly. I don't plan to use doubles right now; I just plan to use a single. I e-mailed my instructor and he suggests a HP 100 himself.

Another question, should I keep my first tank air or dedicate it to nitrox? Having a nitrox tank ready to go would be nice, but on the other hand, I obviously can't use air in it. However, I can get a EANx21 blend which is the same damn thing, just a few bucks more per fill. I would primarily be using this tank for pool sessions as a DM candidate, Lake Tahoe, Monterey and Channel Islands. To the best of my knowledge, everywhere I go will have Enriched Air-capable dive centers so that's not an issue.

 

[zen_man]

Another question, should I keep my first tank air or dedicate it to nitrox? Having a nitrox tank ready to go would be nice, but on the other hand, I obviously can't use air in it. However, I can get a EANx21 blend which is the same damn thing, just a few bucks more per fill. I would primarily be using this tank for pool sessions as a DM candidate, Lake Tahoe, Monterey and Channel Islands. To the best of my knowledge, everywhere I go will have Enriched Air-capable dive centers so that's not an issue.

Depends on your diving really. I personally would say to have your first tank air and then get another one dedicated to Nitrox. But, it really all depends on your diving. I went through the same thing on my first tank and decided on air since that really is 99% of what I breathe.

 

[BKP]

I have the Worthington HP 100s and considered the same questions as you. I decided on HP for various reasons, and I'm ultimately pleased with the decision.

There's a very good article that might give you some direction:

Dive Rite Express -- How to Select a SCUBA Tank

 

[charlesml3]

Since you have less than 50 dives under your belt, this is the tank you should get:

-None of the above.

You really need to do some more diving and figure out exactly what you want to do. Will you be diving on vacations? Warm water? Cold water? Do you want to move into Technical diving?

Until you have a good idea of what you want to do, any advice on which tank to buy is premature and ill-advised.

You're getting a lot of recommendations from experienced divers who like something for a particular reason. There's nothing here to suggest that their reasons are in-line with yours.

Tanks are way cheap to rent so keep doing that until you really know where you're going with this sport. I'm fairly certain that if you leap out and buy a tank now you'll end up abandoning it fairly soon.

-Charles

 

[TravisD]

Since you have less than 50 dives under your belt, this is the tank you should get:

-None of the above.

...with the counter argument that Tanks are one of the few things in Scuba that seem to hold some value. If renting tanks is keeping you from getting in the water (due to time constraints, or availability) than owning any tanks is better than none. And an investment in a steel tank will probably end up costing you very little should you decide to trade up for a different size next season.

I don't buy the "only good if you can get the pumped to 3500" argument for the steel tanks. Check the charts and see how they're rated. Worst case is you might sometimes have less gas, but in the event that a full fill is available you get the benefit.

We bought tanks with about 10 dives under our belts. It meant that we got to dive about twice as much as we would have otherwise due to not making a weekend dive into a 3 day process of picking up tanks, diving, then returning them on monday, causing one of us to be late for work. We went HP 80's since the buoyancy characteristics were nice, and the cost (after some negotiation) was not much higher than AL80's. HP 100's would be nice (and my first choice), but the cost difference meant we could get 4 HP 80's or two HP100's. (buying for two people, gotta keep things "even", so no, the cost was not half...)

Still though, see what tanks your local shops rent and try as many of them as you can if it's reasonable to do so. And, don't underestimate the power of being ready to buy - being in the shop and saying "make me an offer I can't refuse" can shake out some deals if you're in the right place at the right time. They might be looking to move a couple of thanks that have been sitting around for a couple of months, or adding a couple more to an impending order that will give them a price break.

 

[dannobee]

I don't buy the "only good if you can get the pumped to 3500" argument for the steel tanks. Check the charts and see how they're rated. Worst case is you might sometimes have less gas, but in the event that a full fill is available you get the benefit.

You'd buy the argument if you dived off of a California liveaboard dive boat where the tanks are filled to 2800-3000psi hot, then cool down to <2600psi. Your HP80 suddenly becomes a 60 cu ft tank, and guess what, you'll have to live with it for the 3 days that you're on the boat. Would you feel comfortable planning your dives with 60 cu ft of gas?
Would you go hunt lobsters with it?

 

[Jimmer]

You'd buy the argument if you dived off of a California liveaboard dive boat where the tanks are filled to 2800-3000psi hot, then cool down to <2600psi. Your HP80 suddenly becomes a 60 cu ft tank, and guess what, you'll have to live with it for the 3 days that you're on the boat. Would you feel comfortable planning your dives with 60 cu ft of gas?
Would you go hunt lobsters with it?

So buy an HP 100/120/130. Problem solved.

 

[dannobee]

Or an OMS LP135/Faber LP131.

 

[TravisD]

Just getting ready to say that, Jimmer. My wording was going to be along the lines of "I'd buy the HP tank that gives me the volume I need at the LP fill", if that's the likely scenario.

I guess to clarify, the HP 80 was just an example, that worked for me. Buying a LP tank seems to be cutting your options off, when a short-filled HP tank of the appropriate size can provide the same air, and a similar size/weight.