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I will probably be doing mostly choose dives when I come back but want to get done wreck driving in and the course recommend doubles, so that will ber in the spring. I thought 117/9 because if I get a low fill I am still at 100cf still. have never tried to to carri doubles but I am guesting I can handle about 100 of great without much problem. will look at both when I get back. Maybe one of each and when I decide I need doubles I wil know which is better for me.
If you are about 5' 9" , strong guy and want to get into wreck/tech diving I would consider some LP 100's PST, or equivalent. You can always band two LP 100's for a nice doubles combo. When I dive shallower wrecks I wear a single Faber, or PST 100 overfilled and sling a 80 AL bailout and wear a 12 , or 18 lb stainless Fred T plate. This combo lets me do away with a lot of hip weight when I have to wear a drysuit. With deeper stuff I use a CCR and wear a 12 lb plate with the Megalodon rebreather.
The AL sling bottle should be a Luxfer tank because they fly nicely in place vs something like a Catalina which is bottom heavy. The redundant bottle provides nice insurance + -4 lbs and becomes a standard piece of gear as you progress in wreck training.
Wreck/tech is something u want to do later on. Planing now a but so I don't have to buy all new gear. But really just getting back into diving do that is a ways in the future. Why the lp100 and not hp 130? Aren't they pretty much the same?
The one thing about LP tanks is you can usually always get a good fill no matter where you go. Some shops don't always fill HP tanks very well, especially if they're hot and they don't let them cool down. If a shop overfills an LP it will give you a lot more air but to be honest, I don't know many around here that will overfill LP tanks but I'm sure they exist.
I also have a set of double LP95s. For the record, I'm 5'6" and I find them very heavy and awkward; I prefer the HP100s for doubles.
In many locations it is not "Uncommon" to find a fill station operator who is either too dumb to check the max working pressure and fills everything to 3000, or is willing to say screw it and fill your LP tanks to 3000. Hell in Florida I've had my LP's filled to 4000 at some places. all really depends on your local shops.
Wreck/tech is something u want to do later on. Planing now a but so I don't have to buy all new gear. But really just getting back into diving do that is a ways in the future. Why the lp100 and not hp 130? Aren't they pretty much the same?
What happens with wreck diving is that people tend to get more involved in it and the better stuff is deeper. The shallow stuff ends up being picked over, or the viz. is dodgy. With wreck you will inevitably end up with more gear - lights, bailout etc. When I teach wreck I try to steer students towards a good foundation which is always a set of useful tanks that could be twinned into doubles.
Additionally, if you go on a day excursion you'll probably need two tanks minimum. If you decide to sell your tanks - LP 100's are preferred by a lot of folks. Not much of an issue flipping them. Not so much the HP 130's which I found were weird ( Asahi )??? The Beuchat ones were weird too. Weird is not good because at the end of the day it will cost you time and money. There is a natural evolution in terms of what gearsworks the best ; it's simple enough to see some pics of DIR/HOG-minimalist OC divers with their single tank setups for ocean and wreck.
I think the hp119 ate the way to go for me. Will check them our when I am in boston. They look similar to the lp95 I had beforeso I think I can handle them as doubles.
I use PST 72's LP, 90's LP as independent doubles and 104 LP as a single tank.
I also dive any of these as singles.
Lately I’ve been thinking of selling some of my steel 72’s and the 104 and buying 2 smaller tanks to use as ID’s instead of a single. I like the idea of have 2 independent air delivery systems with primary regulators mounted on each one. IMO it beats having an octopus, AIR type of secondary or even a pony bottle. Even the 2 72’s are a little heavy for shore diving. With the 2 90’s I can just get off the boat! Maybe 2 50’s as ID’s instead of a single 104 would be right? I’m still in the thinking stage
All steel, HP AND the same size tanks! Sucks changing weight, tank band adjustments when changing over tanks. (e.g. Switching from Aluminum 80 to Steel LP 112..)
Have DIN 1st stages for tech and use Din to yoke adaptor for single LP tanks. What a pain.
I dive with double 80s at 3450psi and find them perfect in terms of weight vs capacity. I am not sure I would be able to lift double 119s off the ground at all.
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