swimjim
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:56 am

72's are, pardon the pun, the bomb. Single or doubles they are my favorite tanks. I do have a double LP 108 set. I've never had the turtle thing happen, but they can be a bugger to climb a dive ladder with! :shock:

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Ron
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:53 am

I think it's a function of where the majority of your ballast is with respect to location. When I wear my double 100s, I don't wear any weight. Between the doubles and the plate, literally all might weight is where the tanks are. If I roll over on my back, it's very hard to roll back. It reminds me of righting a kayak when you tip it. With a heavy drysuit, I don't seem to have as much of an issue. Double 72s never do that to me for some reason.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

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SurfLung
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Sep 30, 2016 11:43 am

Image Image
- Since this discussion has turned into a doubles vs singles forum, I have to put my two cents in about my blessed little Twin 38s. Oh, how I love my little 38s. They ride so nice. They put my regulator right against my back. They're perfect in buoyancy... They are PERFECT.

- I was reminded of how much I love diving my 38s a few weekends ago when we were up at Fortune Pond. I had a set of Twin 72s I was trying out and they were comfortable to wear both walking around and diving. I had my HP80 all decked out with a vintage back plate and back BC and it was comfortable and worked really great, too.

- But the last dive of the weekend I put on those little gray 38s with no BC, no gauge, just my Voit 50 Fathom VCR2 and reserve rod. Holy cow! I was diving and swimming and flying so freely over the Fortune Pond cliffs and bottom terrain... I just have so much fun with my Twin 38s.

Okay... I will now return this forum to more serious discussion! :)
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

kworkman
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Sep 30, 2016 5:44 pm

I prefer smaller doubles to any single. I hated the AL80, the HP120 is too long and the 130 is WAY to heavy. I had 2 HP100s which were fine as singles but just dont like the way singles feel on me.

I have two mini double sets which are very comfortable. I tried 72s but they were to long as well. I just doubled up some Al63s so we will see how that goes. I also have a set of triple 40s that needs used too.

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DaveMann
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:25 pm

After making the original post I bought the AL 63s. They are newer tanks (this decade), and have VIPs and hydros that are only two months old, but that didn't really scratch the itch. Since then I bought 6 old steel 72s that I've been working on. I just couldn't choose between the aluminum and steel tanks - so I bought both.

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USdiver
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:13 pm

DaveMann wrote:I just couldn't choose between the aluminum and steel tanks - so I bought both.

Wise choice. You are definitely one of us now. Feed the Addiction.
Too DAAM Many double hoses, It's not a hobby, it's an addiction.

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Ron
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:40 pm

Fact George! My garage is like a boarding school for wayward scuba tanks :lol:

I'm about to go dive the Sound. I'll see you in a bit :)
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

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DaveMann
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Sat Oct 01, 2016 8:08 pm

USdiver wrote:
DaveMann wrote:I just couldn't choose between the aluminum and steel tanks - so I bought both.

Wise choice. You are definitely one of us now. Feed the Addiction.
I call it - having GAS.

Gear Acquisition Syndrome. :wink:

Boiler81
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Wed Jan 04, 2017 10:23 pm

Are you diving a 120 with a double hose? If so, how do you find the balance and length? I'm 6' with a very long waist. I'm considering purchasing a 120 for use with my Kraken.
slonda828 wrote:So this is just me, but I don't double any small tanks. for 120 cubic feet, you could just buy one steel 120. It's easier to VIP, you don't have to worry about the 3 piece doubles manifold leaking (if you use a 3 piece), etc. Double 72s are awesome. They are 144 cubic feet, and if you jam them a little bit, then they are double 160s. 120 cubic feet of gas just isn't enough gas for me to warrant making doubles which makes inspecting my own tanks a pain in the ass, carrying doubles, etc. Keep in mind that double 63s weigh 64 pounds without bands or a manifold, and a single 120 weighs only 39 lbs. My double 100s weigh about 75 pounds on land.

If you want doubles just to have them, then by all means do not let me discourage you. For vintage tanks, I only use double 72s. They are cheap, their buoyancy characteristics are good, and they can be overfilled a tiny bit if you like. Aluminum tanks tend to have bad buoyancy characteristics. As an example, both Luxfer and Catalina 63s are +2 lbs when they are empty. Assuming you have heavy bands, and a heavy manifold, then they will be neutral when empty which isn't super useful for ocean diving. Double 72s are still negative when empty with decent bands and a decent manifold on them, which for Puget Sound is super useful. Again, depending on where you live maybe having neutral tanks when they are empty would be a boon.

I am like Bryan on this matter. As a general rule, I avoid aluminum tanks. I also avoid doubles unless the dive warrants the gas. I don't use little doubles, because unless they provide an isolation manifold for redundancy they are only more failure points, and doubles generally are a pain in the ass. I say this as a dude who owns 3 sets of doubles. I know we are kind of past the OP's point at this point, but we do tend to have some good tank discussions on here and this certainly seems like one :)

YMMV.

Oh yeah, bonus nachos for the HP 120. You can cascade a HP120 @3500 PSI to top off your LP steel 72s. Roger Van Frankoooo showed me that one :)

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Ron
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Jan 06, 2017 7:28 pm

I've used a 120 with a kraken. I mostly use HP 100s from XS scuba, but I have also used 120s. I actually don't get the whole idea that tanks are somehow harder or easier to dive. I always dive in a military freefall position, so tanks never mess up my trim. Maybe I'm an outlier.
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

Boiler81
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Re: Your Opinion: Al 63 vs Steel 72

Fri Jan 06, 2017 10:01 pm

Thanks, I am going to try to rent one in FL at the end of the month and give it a try.
slonda828 wrote:I've used a 120 with a kraken. I mostly use HP 100s from XS scuba, but I have also used 120s. I actually don't get the whole idea that tanks are somehow harder or easier to dive. I always dive in a military freefall position, so tanks never mess up my trim. Maybe I'm an outlier.

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