100cf steel tank or 19cf pony?

[utiladude]

I have an extra regulator Oceanic CDX5 GT3 that I want to use it as an extra source of air but I need to buy a 19cf pony bottle.

On the other hand I can sell the reg and buy a steel 100cf tank not as redundant but more practical and in the long run cheaper since the Oceanic reg need to be serviced every year.

I like the 100cf tank better but at 50 and sore back not sure if the 100cf tank will be too heavy for me. Not sure which option is the best once.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
(I dive in Lake Michigan, Milwaukee with 80cf Alumn)

 

[elan]

Worthington X7-100 I will actually be lighter thus easier on your back than your aluminum and have more gas

 

[OldNSalty]

One 100cf tank is not ideal to me. I like to aquire tanks in groups of 2 or 3 because that is how I usually dive.

I would (and do) go with the pony as it offers up the redundancy that you referenced. I don't think the maintenance is as a big an issue as I don't feel the need to get my pony reg serviced every year.

Of course, given that you are diving up north and if you only have one tank now anyway, maybe the 100cf bottle would be best.

 

[SkimFisher]

I'd go with the 100 as well

 

[eelnoraa]

I have an extra regulator Oceanic CDX5 GT3 that I want to use it as an extra source of air but I need to buy a 19cf pony bottle.

On the other hand I can sell the reg and buy a steel 100cf tank not as redundant but more practical and in the long run cheaper since the Oceanic reg need to be serviced every year.

I like the 100cf tank better but at 50 and sore back not sure if the 100cf tank will be too heavy for me. Not sure which option is the best once.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
(I dive in Lake Michigan, Milwaukee with 80cf Alumn)

True that the tank itself is heavier. But with AL tank, you need to carry more weight to compensate for its buoyency character, so at the end, I think steel HP 100 will be lighter weight overall.

 

[JohnB47]

I'm 62 and have a bad back, so last year when I decided to get back into diving after an extended surface interval, I bought an HP 100 to replace my old 72's. I felt that I needed to do that because my 72's are no longer + rated, so they really only hold 64.7 cu. ft., and I wanted enough air to keep up with a buddy diving with an 80.

This year, I have added an HP 120. I decided to get that because I want to do some beach dives that require a fairly long swim out to the site, and I want to be able to do it without swimming on the surface all the way. I have not used it yet, so I am hoping that the size and weight won't be too much for me.

Now I am also getting ready to add a 13 or 19 cu. ft. pony for deeper dives, since there is a lot of deep wreck diving in my area. If I am only diving to 60' or so, I feel confident that I can get to the surface without an alternate air source in the case of a total failure of my gear. But if I want to dive much deeper than that, with an "insta-buddy" on a dive boat, I want a redundant air supply.

So it depends a lot on what kind of diving you are doing, and how fast you burn up air. If you want to go deeper than you feel you can get to the surface without air, and you don't always dive with a well-known buddy, you may want to get a pony tank. On the other hand, if you just want to extend your dive time, maybe the HP 100 would be of more use to you.

As a couple of others have said, the HP 100 will let you carry less weight overall than an AL80. But if it is still too heavy, you could get an HP 80, and have even less weight to carry - and still have as much air as the guys with the AL80's.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

The pony offers a completely redundant air source. That should definitely be considered.

With regard to the HP100 tank...
The dry carry weight (tank + gas+ lead/ballast) of a HP100 will be less than that of an AL80. If you check out the tank specs, you'll see that a Worthington X7 contains approx. 6.5 lbs. of "extra" ballast relative to a Catalina S80 AL80. This means when you switch to the X7 HP100, you should be able to take off 6 lbs. of lead weight from a weight belt or weight-integrated pockets (assuming that you were weighted correctly for the AL80). Referring back to the tank specs page, you'll see that the full weight of the X7 is only about 3 lbs. heavier than a full Catalina S80. This means that essentially you get to carry 25% more gas, yet the entire rig weighs about 3 lbs. less (dry carry weight) than when using a Catalina S80.

 

[BigHarryDiver]

I'm 56 1/2 years old and have been diving a 100CF HP Steel tank for the last 3 years. I don't have any known back problems and have not had any issues with it being to heavy, even when I strap my 19CF pony to it.

 

[jhupka]

my 40 cf tank cost about $150 so I am sure a 19 would be cheaper and you still need the reg for that too, so I would say keep the reg and buy the pony

 

[fire_diver]

Look at it this way, if you buy the pony you then have 2 regs to service every year, and 2 tanks to vis every year.

The Worthington (XSScuba) X7 HP100 tanks are the same land weight as an AL80, but still -2 negative when empty. The AL80 is +4 bouyant.

You are better off all the way around with the HP100.