Steel tanks vs. Alum.

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

mainedvr

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
648
Reaction score
71
Location
Southern CA
# of dives
200 - 499
I am on the prowl for a SM set up to see if its for me and have seen several deals on used gear. Just wondering what set ups (DR, Xdeep, etc....) work best (if there is such a thing) with heavier steel tank or alumimun and doubles or singles. And is there a way to go that supports both so there is no need to have two separate sets of gear.
 
My experience with the xdeep is that it will handle close to anything that is within its lift capacity. Now I'm not sure what you're calling "heavier steel", as some steel tanks are simply garbage to dive with (not even a matter of BM or SM), but I don't think those reached the US too often.

That said, I prefer al tanks.


Edit: It also works fine with single tanks (al usually, but seen it done with lighter steels), as long as you kind of know what you're doing, but that's the case for all rigs I guess.
 
Last edited:
the xdeep is one of the better ones at handling both steel tanks and aluminum tanks. monkey diving an al72/80 or lp72/85 (with some clippable weights) is workable, but you may want to look into a pair of smaller tanks (al40s/lp45s/lp50s)
 
consider what environment you are diving in. if you are diving cold water in a drysuit etc, make sure the system can hold the amount of weight you need if you choose to use allum.

xdeep will do both and probably has the best weight system out there.

i would pick up a system that works for the way you will dive the most to start. for example, if you are mostly diving cold water using steel or allum, then get a rig for that. then if you decide to travel you can always pick up another rig and set it up just for warm water using allum. that is what i did. i started with an xdeep stealth and then picked up a used hollis sms50 for travel. a lot of people complained about the sms50 but i have used it with allum and light steels, doubles and singles, and it does just fine for me.
 
Aluminium cylinders get floaty bottoms during the dive and must be trimmed out. Steel cylinders stay negative for all the dive. If you don't have to negotiate restrictions, steels are quite comfortable - just clip them on and forget about them. But if you have to unclip the bottoms and bring them in front to get through a restriction, steel tanks will sink and make it difficult to maintain your trim. Thus, when diving with AL cylinders, you need a rig which allows to trim out the floaty bottoms. Xdeep Stealth 2.0 Tec arguably is the best SM system on the market right now, but Apeks, Razor and Diamond can handle AL tanks, too, with their sliding rings on the waist band. As far I've observed, it is more complicated with such systems as Hollis. For steel cylinders the important thing will be the lift capacity.
 
LP85's are a good split down the middle, another great benefit the fill whip monkeys fill them to 3200lbs here, same as they filled my HP's and AL's.
 
XDeep make the best solutions for those who'd be using both steel and aluminium tanks.

Many 'Florida style' (steel tank) rigs don't deal with aluminium very well. Lack of spine adjustment, no front/rear D-rings, inability to focus lift and weighting over the hips and inappropriate bungee methods and/or mounting points are where they tend to struggle. They do, however, tend to offer copious lift.

Mexico style rigs are optimal for aluminium tanks, but some have insufficient buoyancy for heavier steels... or suffer a 'beach-ball' effect when filled to capacity.

XDeep rigs offer the flexibility and options of a Mexico-style approach, but cleverly shape the wing to avoid 'beach ball' problems. They are extensively used by both cold-water and tropical divers.... and finally getting recognition in the USA having proven their performance quality overcomes certain "must be made in the USofA" prejudices :)
 
availability is the issue for xdeep, not some imagined US bias. they aren't carried by any of the big net retailers like DRIS/Leisurepro and few LDS in the US. dive rite/hollis/apeks at least is somewhat visible at more LDS. razor tried to get more visibility by putting gear demos on at LDS and providing store displays, but it doesn't seem to have worked out. my LDS removed their razor display after about 4 months, doesn't seem like there was much interest. xdeep isn't being considered because most US divers have never heard of them.
 
availability is the issue for xdeep, not some imagined US bias. they aren't carried by any of the big net retailers like DRIS/Leisurepro and few LDS in the US. dive rite/hollis/apeks at least is somewhat visible at more LDS. razor tried to get more visibility by putting gear demos on at LDS and providing store displays, but it doesn't seem to have worked out. my LDS removed their razor display after about 4 months, doesn't seem like there was much interest. xdeep isn't being considered because most US divers have never heard of them.

Not to disagree, but the rest of the world doesn't seem to face those issues. I know plenty in SE Asia that ordered directly from Poland.

I'm assuming that most sidemounters and cavers are active on social media, groups and forums. Hard to believe they wouldn't have heard about XDeep over the last few years.

What I have seen over the years was an active regional dive community/culture resistance to brands like Razor, and later, XDeep also. Lots of quite baseless arguments by 'key opinion formers' why Mexican style rigs "can't work" for Florida divers etc etc. You get my drift...

My observation is that in the last 12-24 months, XDeep seems to have broken past those barriers and gained more approval amongst a culture of divers who've traditionally only considered home-grown brands favouring the 'Florida-style' approach (DiveRite, Hollis, OMS etc).
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom