Mustard Dave
Contributor
You can never have too much gas. Not having enough gas can be a bit of a problem though.
Here in the UK, the most popular size seems to be 232bar 12 litre steels (roughly 100 cubic feet). For deeper dives within recreational limits, many use 15 litre cylinders (120 cubic feet). Often you see women and kids with 10 litre (80 cubic feet) as they are a little easier to handle.
Most the lads at my club dive twinsets (me included) and again, 12 litres seems to be the popular size. One bloke has a set of twin 15s in his garage. He borrowed them off another fella who ditched them as they are too heavy. Twinsets work well in the UK. I would not want to be deeper than 30 metres in cold water without a redundant air source. If I'm just doing a sedate bimble at one of the inland sites with a buddy on a single, it just means I don't have to put it in for a fill after the first dive like they do. It is a pain in the arse on a RIB though.
When we go to Malta (an annual trip at my club), most of us ask for 15s. They usually have to borrow them, but the dive centres there tend to help each other out so it isn't a problem for them if we give them notice. The simple reason for this as it gives us longer in the water. There's no harm in strapping the biggest cylinder you can handle onto your back, whatever your SAC is like.
Here in the UK, the most popular size seems to be 232bar 12 litre steels (roughly 100 cubic feet). For deeper dives within recreational limits, many use 15 litre cylinders (120 cubic feet). Often you see women and kids with 10 litre (80 cubic feet) as they are a little easier to handle.
Most the lads at my club dive twinsets (me included) and again, 12 litres seems to be the popular size. One bloke has a set of twin 15s in his garage. He borrowed them off another fella who ditched them as they are too heavy. Twinsets work well in the UK. I would not want to be deeper than 30 metres in cold water without a redundant air source. If I'm just doing a sedate bimble at one of the inland sites with a buddy on a single, it just means I don't have to put it in for a fill after the first dive like they do. It is a pain in the arse on a RIB though.
When we go to Malta (an annual trip at my club), most of us ask for 15s. They usually have to borrow them, but the dive centres there tend to help each other out so it isn't a problem for them if we give them notice. The simple reason for this as it gives us longer in the water. There's no harm in strapping the biggest cylinder you can handle onto your back, whatever your SAC is like.