Neutral al80’s anyone?

[tbone1004]

Thanks guys. I do own a pair of hp100s, guess I could get one valve swapped to a right. Need to consider that idea.

Tbone- earlier i meant “thanks” for the straight opinion. Truly appreciate all you guys taking a moment to give a few cents.

MichaelMC - great summary chart for me to consider. thank you. My gut tells me to purchase and practice (locally) with tanks that are the most commonly rented else where.

I guess the better question is whether you intend to rent tanks when you travel to sidemount dive or if you plan to take them with you. If you intend to travel, especially to anywhere in the Caribbean/Mexico, then buy a few AL80's and learn sidemount with those. If you intend to take your bottles with you, the HP100's are great tanks and you already own them.

 

[MichaelMc]

I started with and have 40s so that I'd know how to handle 80s. I've dove 80s once in the pool as a test before a potential trip and found they were just big 40s, nothing really special about the shift, beyond the land weight and more empty buoyancy each. But I prefer my 50s to my 40s as the 50s are more gas and less bother in the water.

On travel, you may face not having mirrored modular valves. So travel may mean a bit of adjusting of your setup. Getting comfortable with sidemount, in general, would be the first priority I think.

 

[CPRC]

Appreciate the responses. I’ve got some decisions to make.

 

[sskiver01]

How much gas do you want?

AL40s: easy to rig/unrig on land, need to readjust underwater as empty,
LP50s: tad heavier on land, more efficient on gas/weight and more gas, just stay put underwater.
AL72s: slimmer than AL80s
ST72s: good gas for weight
AL80s: available all over
LP85s: more neutral steel, good if can get cave fills
HP100s: lots of gas and very gas/weight efficient

I'd argue the 40s and 50s are the easiest to learn with, as they are small. They are roughly the gas and encumbrance of single backmount. So you are just adding sidemount, not also considerably more weight. (Ignoring cave filling the 50s.)

A downside of 40s and 50s is some shops charge a fill per tank. Which could get annoying over time. One shop here charges nitrox pe cuft, or two 40/50s for one on a fill card, so there is not a fill tax for tiny sidemount.

Just wondering if you actually dive the al40’s I was thinking of it as I have them, but heard lots of well you know. I also have LP50’s 2 sets one for sidemount and one set for doubles mostly for beach cause weight. Not complaining I’m just curious.

 

[tbone1004]

Just wondering if you actually dive the al40’s I was thinking of it as I have them, but heard lots of well you know. I also have LP50’s 2 sets one for sidemount and one set for doubles mostly for beach cause weight. Not complaining I’m just curious.

If most of your sidemount diving is done with AL80's due to travel, AL40's behave similarly enough that you can go back and forth without changing your setup. LP50's hold more gas and let you take about 3lbs each off of your belt compared to an AL40, but because of that they behave different and you have to change the way you dive.
My primary tanks are LP121's and LP85's, so for me if I want baby tanks the LP50's allow me to change between all three of those tanks with 0 changes in my configuration both on my harness and on the bottles, and also keeps the procedures the same. For me to sidemount AL80's requires a big change in equipment and procedures so AL40's don't make sense.
If I was doing a lot of sidemount diving when travelling or in the Mexico caves, then I would use AL40's and AL80's

 

[MichaelMc]

Just wondering if you actually dive the al40’s I was thinking of it as I have them, but heard lots of well you know. I also have LP50’s 2 sets one for sidemount and one set for doubles mostly for beach cause weight. Not complaining I’m just curious.

I have a set of sidemount 40s and a set of sidemount 50s. So a two dive day normally means diving each and switching some lead around in my harness between. Though I'd rather just have four 50s for capacity, consistency and the below minor differences.

I'd say the biggest practical difference is less air in the 40s. Beyond that there are smaller differences for my cold water beach diving for which I've about 25 sidemount dives between the 40s and 50s.

40s:
Easier to handle while still getting used to clipping in and out on land, particularly when I'm cold and fumble handed after the dive.
Have to switch mid-dive if want them to stay in trim. Which means more attach points or a sliding one on the waist.
If you forget to switch away from in front, exit with tanks in front of the leg is awkward or even hazardous in surf etc.
Floating up on the surface while turtle backing or messing with other gear is a bit more annoying than the 50s which stay sunk.
Easier to play with for bottle drills underwater for re-stowing hoses etc as more neutral.
Less thought that they will sink to the depths if dropped passing up to a boat.

50s:
The flip side of the above.

I'd rather have 50s, but for the land encumbrance, I think 40s are easier. Their extra lead is handled by your back and legs, not also your arms. AL30s or LP27s might be even easier for the new diver, but less useful in general. Could be fun though.

The 40s are fine. Just the 50s are nicer. If you've got 40s, I'd put rigging kits on them and use them.

 

[tbone1004]

@MichaelMc the LP27's are going to be way too short to do anything useful with and the AL30's are not that much better than 40's so I wouldn't bother with them to save a couple inches in length

 

[sskiver01]

Thanks yeah I’ve dove 80’s there fine there a few places I dive that are way long walk and way to many stairs so I got the 50’s for but to train it might be nice to use the 40’s when I don’t feel like lugging the 80’s on the long walk and stairs!

I have a set of sidemount 40s and a set of sidemount 50s. So a two dive day normally means diving each and switching some lead around in my harness between. Though I'd rather just have four 50s for capacity, consistency and the below minor differences.

I'd say the biggest practical difference is less air in the 40s. Beyond that there are smaller differences for my cold water beach diving for which I've about 25 sidemount dives between the 40s and 50s.

40s:
Easier to handle while still getting used to clipping in and out on land, particularly when I'm cold and fumble handed after the dive.
Have to switch mid-dive if want them to stay in trim. Which means more attach points or a sliding one on the waist.
If you forget to switch away from in front, exit with tanks in front of the leg is awkward or even hazardous in surf etc.
Floating up on the surface while turtle backing or messing with other gear is a bit more annoying than the 50s which stay sunk.
Easier to play with for bottle drills underwater for re-stowing hoses etc as more neutral.
Less thought that they will sink to the depths if dropped passing up to a boat.

50s:
The flip side of the above.

I'd rather have 50s, but for the land encumbrance, I think 40s are easier. Their extra lead is handled by your back and legs, not also your arms. AL30s or LP27s might be even easier for the new diver, but less useful in general. Could be fun though.

The 40s are fine. Just the 50s are nicer. If you've got 40s, I'd put rigging kits on them and use them.

 

[MichaelMc]

@MichaelMc the LP27's are going to be way too short to do anything useful with and the AL30's are not that much better than 40's so I wouldn't bother with them to save a couple inches in length

I was thinking more of just the weight and big heavy things hanging in front on land. Not that that bit of weight is the big difference in cold water diving, but in warm water for say a teen it might be an easier path.

 

[halocline]

No one likes Catalina AL80's,

I have Catalina AL80s and I really like them. They're better for doubles, they're better as single tanks, and they're better for my SM set up.