Appropriate size tank for PSD?

[CT Dave]

I am new to public safety diving. I am a member of a volunteer group in Connecticut. One of our officers uses only 63 cubic feet tanks. He explained that he does so because he has a short torso and it is more comfortable when sitting on the edge of our boat waiting to dive. He said the team limits diver bottom time to 20 minutes for safety reasons and to preserve attention span. It seems that the smaller tank makes sense. I rarely use up an entire 80 cubic feet tank when diving, even on long or repetitive dives. Although I'm taller than he is, the shorter tanks would seem to be more comfortable out of the water for me as well. Is there a reason to use the larger as opposed to the smaller tank? Thanks in advance.

Dave

PS I dive with a 30 cubic feet pony bottle. I don't know if that information affects anyone's opinion.

 

[Gary D.]

What ever works and makes you happy. If an 80 is to big go smaller, if it's to small go bigger. As long as you have a fair amount of air left over at the end of the dive you've got enough.

Welcome aboard and "DO NOT let peer pressure push you into anything".

Gary D.

 

[Boater Dan]

Dave:

First, welcome to the board. Hope the time spent is of value. There are some individuals with tremendous experience who can provide you with their guidance on PSD.

I personally dive with a 98 or a 112 LP Steel tank. There are several reasons I do. First, I couldn't pass on the price. I purchased both on E-bay for $225 for the two tanks. They had not yet passed their first Hyrdo and did not have a scratch. I am 6'5" and 280 lbs, so the size of either is not an issue for me. I am not in the best of shape (although round is a shape) and tend to burn air faster than some of my dive buddies when doing rec diving. The main reason I did look into the larger tanks was in Public Safety Diving, nearly every dive I have done is in waters where you cannot see or read a gauge, are completely unfamiliar with the situation, and do not know if there are any entrapment hazards. I felt that in the event of an entanglement, the larger tanks provided me with an extra cushion to try and rectify the problem on my own before running into air problems. I dive with a 19 ft pony to allow me to ditch and surface if necessary, but I felt the larger tanks provided me with an extra margin of safety to allow the rescue diver to perform their task should the situation ever arise.

This type of diving has it's risks and you try and minimize those with redundunt air sources, underwater comm units, training, and experience. Anything which provides me with a potential edge is fine with me. With that said, a 112 cu. ft. tank on my son would be difficult for him to dive. I weigh 280 and he weighs 185.

Good question and hopefully others will chime in as well.

Dive safe!

Dan

 

[roguediver]

My team also dives AL80, but we just orderd two new E100 steel tanks. They are the same size as an AL80. We are going to check them out and see what if any thing is better, other than the more air, which is all ways a good thing.

Jeff