Should I stick with Steel 120 Tank??

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Some very awesome points. Thanks everyone!! I had 36lbs of additional weight on me. 2lbs on each back pocket of my BC and 16lbs in each weight pouch. (using the steel 80) Very good point that I'll need the weight regardless, so might as well leave it in the tank. I LOVE the idea of a cart, that is a fantastic idea. I think once I am out of the training dive phase and can do things at my own pace, I can get a feel for everything.
 
Some very awesome points. Thanks everyone!! I had 36lbs of additional weight on me. 2lbs on each back pocket of my BC and 16lbs in each weight pouch. (using the steel 80) Very good point that I'll need the weight regardless, so might as well leave it in the tank. I LOVE the idea of a cart, that is a fantastic idea. I think once I am out of the training dive phase and can do things at my own pace, I can get a feel for everything.
Wow, that seems like a lot of weight, especially with a HP80. What were you using for exposure protection?
 
Sounds like an over-weighted new diver. Start working on diving with less weight. Manage that air pocket in the BC. At the end of the dive, just before you stand up (you said shore dive), try to sink. If you can you are too heavy. If not, don't add any air and take the BC off and feel around for how much air you have trapped in it. I bet you will be surprised at how much air you have in your empty BC.
 
I was wearing a new 7mil BARE wetsuit, hood and gloves. (Suit was new, hood and gloves were not) I read somewhere that new suits are a little more buoyant, so maybe that will change as I use it more. I did check weight after the dive with 500psi left in the tank. Completely emptied the bc and laid flat. I was hovering just off the bottom...as I was breathing in I would start floating to the surface a little...then back down after but never really hitting the sea floor. I started off the dive with 32lbs of ballast but wasn't enough and I was floating, so we added an extra 4 lbs and that worked. I was told that weight should be 10% of body weight plus 8lbs as a starting point. Which was the 36 pounds. We started lower than that at 32 due to the steel tank, but ended up having to add once I was in the water. Diving wise, I felt fine with the weight and was able to balance out neutral. I'm fluffy, so that probably doesn't help :)
 
Some very awesome points. Thanks everyone!! I had 36lbs of additional weight on me. 2lbs on each back pocket of my BC and 16lbs in each weight pouch. (using the steel 80) Very good point that I'll need the weight regardless, so might as well leave it in the tank. I LOVE the idea of a cart, that is a fantastic idea. I think once I am out of the training dive phase and can do things at my own pace, I can get a feel for everything.

V...

Perform standard buoyancy check either in the shallows...or in the pool...preferably with assistance...start with the smallest weights first...you should be dialed in within five minutes...avoid calculations...too many variables...

You should be able to drop ten pounds almost immediately...further...be careful not to overload your weight pockets...if they have quick-disconnect buckles and are front loading...gravity will release the connections if the pockets are overloaded when you're horizontal...you'll then find yourself in an uncontrolled ascent...

A lot of instuctors like students negative...easier for them to get you under...not so good for you...you'll find yourself inflating and deflating your BCD...to stay neutral as your depth changes...your BCD ends up breathing more air from your cylinder than you will...

Best with your training...

Warren
 
My first tank was a steel 120. I dumped it after a couple of years because like the OP, most of my diving is shore. That's a heavy tank. I just own 4 AL80s now.
 
36#??? Instead of that two wheel cart, you might want an ATV!!

That new 7mil will take some weight to sink but I'm sure given time and experience you'll shed a lot of that rapidly.
 
My first tank was a steel 120. I dumped it after a couple of years because like the OP, most of my diving is shore. That's a heavy tank. I just own 4 AL80s now.
A 3442 steel 120 will weigh around 40 lb with the valve. An aluminum 80 will weigh around 34 lb with the valve but you can leave 5 or 6 lb of lead off your belt with the steel tank. Not a bad tradeoff for moving from 77 cubic feet to 120.
 
I was wearing a new 7mil BARE wetsuit, hood and gloves. (Suit was new, hood and gloves were not) I read somewhere that new suits are a little more buoyant, so maybe that will change as I use it more. I did check weight after the dive with 500psi left in the tank. Completely emptied the bc and laid flat. I was hovering just off the bottom...as I was breathing in I would start floating to the surface a little...then back down after but never really hitting the sea floor. I started off the dive with 32lbs of ballast but wasn't enough and I was floating, so we added an extra 4 lbs and that worked. I was told that weight should be 10% of body weight plus 8lbs as a starting point. Which was the 36 pounds. We started lower than that at 32 due to the steel tank, but ended up having to add once I was in the water. Diving wise, I felt fine with the weight and was able to balance out neutral. I'm fluffy, so that probably doesn't help :)

You sound switched on dialed in and doing everything correctly man

and definitely keep the 120 and lugging any sized gear is always hard work

full.jpg


Lugging my 120 with my 30lbs ish weights and all my other gear especially in summer, was always invigorating
leading to a purple expanded head, lungs screaming and my heart thumping out of my chest like in the cartoons
but the best was being forced accidentally through upcliff momentum to skittle tourists that insisted on talking
and blocked my path

overrated that talking

keep on keeping on
 
A 3442 steel 120 will weigh around 40 lb with the valve. An aluminum 80 will weigh around 34 lb with the valve but you can leave 5 or 6 lb of lead off your belt with the steel tank. Not a bad tradeoff for moving from 77 cubic feet to 120.

And the 80 is just as big as the 120, so its just as unwieldly. I don't like alum 80s bc they are so damn long,
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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