gopbroek
Contributor
Well…. this thread has taken its SB wander off topic but I am really interested in the AL80 verse S120’s debate. Christi / Dave what type S120 tanks are being used and what is the buoyancy of the S120’s verse AL80’s?
I am assuming Dave and Jeremy run the PST 3500 PSI tanks with an E-1.3 / F -10.3 lb. buoyancy spec as opposed to the generic AL80 with an E +4.4 / F -1.4 lb. buoyancy. The AL80 config normally puts me at an hour plus on Lion Fish hunts with excursions to 110+ and average depths to around 50’, bunny runs to Columbia shallows will give me 90+ minutes with 1000 PSI in the bottle.
I am a relatively new diver (2.5 years / 250 dives) and I am a fat medium height guy (50+) who is not in good shape. I have always dived AL80’s (other than a couple herd dives with 65’s in Maui) and only recently invested in a download cable for my computer so I could track my ‘SAC’ rate. For warm Caribbean water my present configuration runs @ 9 LBs weight with an AL80 and my SAC is .39 to .44 depending on the activity. As I understand it with a S120, I would need to drop 5 lbs. weight to maintain buoyancy with a minimum bottle (which I like to do) but it would put me very heavy on the initial point in the dive and due to the heavy bottle my CG would shift high to my back, which explains Christi’s roll statement.
Currently I am very happy with Tres Pelicanos and Servando or Jorge as DM and Servando is the Lion Fish killer / spotter ‘extraordinaire’. One of these days I need to book a trip with Dave or Jeremy to check out the 120’s but as it stands I am happy with the AL80 and often run against DECO with the AL80 (EANx) bottle and I am not sure what I would do with the additional gas on a 120.
I am assuming Dave and Jeremy run the PST 3500 PSI tanks with an E-1.3 / F -10.3 lb. buoyancy spec as opposed to the generic AL80 with an E +4.4 / F -1.4 lb. buoyancy. The AL80 config normally puts me at an hour plus on Lion Fish hunts with excursions to 110+ and average depths to around 50’, bunny runs to Columbia shallows will give me 90+ minutes with 1000 PSI in the bottle.
I am a relatively new diver (2.5 years / 250 dives) and I am a fat medium height guy (50+) who is not in good shape. I have always dived AL80’s (other than a couple herd dives with 65’s in Maui) and only recently invested in a download cable for my computer so I could track my ‘SAC’ rate. For warm Caribbean water my present configuration runs @ 9 LBs weight with an AL80 and my SAC is .39 to .44 depending on the activity. As I understand it with a S120, I would need to drop 5 lbs. weight to maintain buoyancy with a minimum bottle (which I like to do) but it would put me very heavy on the initial point in the dive and due to the heavy bottle my CG would shift high to my back, which explains Christi’s roll statement.
Currently I am very happy with Tres Pelicanos and Servando or Jorge as DM and Servando is the Lion Fish killer / spotter ‘extraordinaire’. One of these days I need to book a trip with Dave or Jeremy to check out the 120’s but as it stands I am happy with the AL80 and often run against DECO with the AL80 (EANx) bottle and I am not sure what I would do with the additional gas on a 120.