What size tank (Steel) would you purchase for nitrox fills?

[floridanewbe]

only you can say whats best for you i 100% agree with you. You are also correct about 8.4 i stand corrected i took the numbers from leisure pro. Wothington says 8.4 they must know .
However i was not saying what would work for you i was trying to answer the poster of the thread ulfhrdinn.

[Tigerman]

tigerman
I agree its not wise to take your steel tanks on vacation

I do think it ranks up there with bringing the lead weights :p

[NWGratefulDiver]

I thought we were talking about ulfhedinn 5.10 and 210 lbs a air hog. the height diff is only 1.5 inchs but you get a extra 11 cu ft (130-119= 11).

Air hog is a curable condition ... all it takes is diving.

Whatever the specifications say, you can feel the difference when you dive them. I'm speaking as someone who owns five of each size. It's not a big deal ... but as a matter of preference, you'd prefer to own the one you like diving better.

From a practical perspective, even the biggest air hog isn't going to use more than about 90-100 cubic feet of air on a dive in SoCal ... you'll run out of thermal units before you run out of air ... particularly in a wetsuit.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Dsix36]

Another concern is the cost of fills. Some shops charge by the cubic foot of the tank and it doesn't matter if the tank is still half full or not, you pay for a complete fill. A bigger tank is not always the most economical choice.

[scubaholt]

DanV
Yeaaah.... Overfilling an LP by almost a 1000psi probably isnt the smartest advice Ive seen lately....
Plenty of shops will fill it....Sure thing..everybody at the fill stations have a death wish.
80 too small for 80+fsw WITH nitrox...Yeaaaah!
Ulfhedinn....Do yourself a favor and get some more dives before spending your hard earned bucks.
Oh yeah, careful with some "expert advice" around here!

[Rainer]

Man, a ton of advice non-specific to SoCal.

You can get decent HP fills almost everywhere here. Some shops charge more for a HP fill (>3000psi). Almost no shops charge based on CF (at least for air or nitrox). Almost no shops will overfill LP cylinders.

The VAST majority of our shore dive sites are shallow (biggest exceptions are LJ Shores and Vets, where you can get some real depth). For shore diving at all other sites, 100cf is almost always enough. For Laguna and Malibu dives, that's probably plenty overkill (we often got *two* dives off a single HP100 at some of the sites in those areas). For boat dives, down to 100', it's nice to be able to maximize NDLs on the most common nitrox blend (32%). At 100', you have 30 min of NDL time on 32%. At a not-great breathing rate of 0.75 cf/min/ATA, that's 90cf. Min gas at that depth is about (conservatively) 40cf. Thus to safely maximize NDLs at 100', you'd be best off taking a HP130 (90+40 = 130).

For deeper recreational dives in SoCal, almost everyone I'm diving with (from very small women to large guys) is using HP130s. No one I know (short, tall, skinny, etc) has any trouble trimming them out (this isn't true for the longer HP120s which some shorter divers have a problem with). It's nice to have everyone on the same cylinderes as it makes computing turn pressures a snap (for more aggressive recreational dives). Some of the local boats with compressors can only fill to 3000psi, which means a 130 is still offering you over 100cf even when underfilled to this pressure. 130s overkill for the shallower sites (though have enough gas for two shorter, shallower dives), but very nice for the deeper stuff, especially for someone who might be breathing heavy.

If you stick with the HP130s made by PST or Worthington, they are only -2# empty, the same exact weight as a HP100.

ALL THAT SAID, for a new diver with your dive count (0-24), I wouldn't worry too much yet about the need for tons of gas. No real reason to be diving deep at this point, and your consumption rate is almost surely going to fall (possibly dramatically) as you continue to dive and gain comfort and experience, making the cylinders you use now last longer. If and when you decide you're ready to head deeper or stay longer, then think about stepping up to a bigger steel cylinder.

Have fun!

[RonFrank]

For fills in the Deerfield area use Fill Express. Most shops charge for a full fill every time and you just pay. But Fill Express is awesome in that regard. I wish more shops worked it like fill express.

Then again if you dive the charter boats in the LA area they don't charge for fills, it's built into the trip price with the exception of Nitrox. I can not remember the up-charge for nitrox, but it wasn't bad.