Christi:
To my knowledge they still use only HP tanks and convert everyones regs to DIN if not already DIN. I could be mistaken of course.
I do know that Liquid Blue uses HP Worthington XS Scuba cylinders, but they do not require DIN conversion. LB is a great shop if you are looking for personal service and big tanks
www.liquidbluedivers.com They also have information about their specific tanks on their website.
Hi Christi,
I just viewed some very recent photos a lady posted here with respect to her latest trip with Aldora, and I closely examined both the topside and UW shots of divers.....all the topside shots of geared up tanks on the boat showed all the regs mounted as DIN, which indicates either all the divers brought DIN regs to Coz, and/or all the regs were converted over to DIN on-site.....also, from what I could tell of the tanks on the boat, they appeared to be 7.25 " diameter tanks, not the big/fat 8 ' diameter 120 steelies, which appears to confirm, as best as I can tell, HP tanks, as you indicated.
I had read reports a while back where divers reported they used those big LP 120 steelies, but it appears that is no longer the case.....appears they've gone to HP 100/120's........... I used to own/dive a couple of those LP 120 Fabers, but sold them a couple years ago, those things are just too big, cumbersome for anyone but the biggest,strongest divers.
...what's throwing me off some is I saw a photo of an Aldora diver UW diving a FLAT bottomed tank, which is very clearly an ALUMINUM tank, as there's no such thing as a flat bottomed steel tank...... so I almost wonder if Aldora lost their big steel tanks in the hurricanes and have been forced to go with cheaper AL tanks to replace their inventory ?
...... I know LiquidBlue uses HP 100/120's, 2 of my 4 Coz trips have been with them, although when I dove with them they had the PST HP tanks, I know they've transitioned over to Worthington's even since PST went bankrupt.
... I do agree with some of the observations made here with respect to the challenge of providing/stocking DIN kits, so I'm wondering how they can manage to inventory DIN kits for so many different regs.....but this somehow apparently what they're doing as I saw no sign of the use of those screw-on DIN-to-Yoke converters.
...I've got a couple of older regs that I can use that are outfitted with 232-bar DIN kits plus those DIN-to-Yoke screw on converters, to handle either HP or LP tanks, although most of my regs are Yoke-only as I rarely get to dive HP tanks in the Carribbean.
...Christi, as usual, I appreciate your helpfulness and insight, I know you also offer bigger tanks ( AL 100's ) ...I've used AL 100's twice on the T&C Explorer ( 2 one-week trips) .... I don't actually have a pending Cozumel trip in the works at this time, but if I return to Cozumel I'd certainly like to do a trip with you sometime, I know you come highly recommended here on Scubaboard.
Thanks again,
Karl
P.S. ....it was my experience to never really get a good HP fill with Liquid Blue....fills were in the 3100 - 3300 psi range, and as Aldora and Liquid Blue get fills at the same place, with the same fill pressures, why is it perfectly fine for Liquid Blue divers to dive Yoke-1st-stage regs on those "HP" tanks, while Aldora goes to all the trouble of requiring DIN 1st-stages ? I never felt in danger diving Yoke regs with Liquid Blue, so while I'll admit a DIN 1st-stage is more secure, it seems like overkill relative to all the other Coz dive op's...is Aldora a bit more safety-conscious, or am I missing something ?