Going from steel to aluminum

[WD8CDH]

Originally Posted by underh2o

AL80 great thing is in the blackwater I dive 90 % of the time I can not see my guages. I always dive a pony bottle and I been known to suck a tank empty YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITH A STEEL. Then grab the pony and come up.

Sounds like you need a J valve.

On some of the SAR dives that I have done, I would never take the regulator out of my mouth.

[Lone Frogman]

Originally Posted by underh2o

I dive steel 100's doubles and singles. Love them. But I do SAR. I dive AL80 then. I always dive over weighted when not joy diving. This way I stay low and deep on the bottom. AL80 great thing is in the blackwater I dive 90 % of the time I can not see my guages. I always dive a pony bottle and I been known to suck a tank empty YOU CAN NOT DO THIS WITH A STEEL. Then grab the pony and come up. but then a gain steel carry their own weight(you use less weight) like compudude said. AL80 are esier to manitain but steel are still better. Most people start with AL then go to steels. But, you need to make the final decision. You can always sell steels and make a good portion of your money back. But like everyone said you need to try AL before you buy.

I can't imagine that style of back water diving. Diving till you run out of air in backwater. Who did you get your training with? On our dive team, if you come up with less than 1000psi, you may find yourself off the team. Our dive times are limited to 20 minutes or less depending on air. I dive with hp steel 100's. Never get close to using half the air.
I find by putting my SPG in a clear plastic bag filled with clean water and sealed off on my hp hose with a zip tie. Depending how bad the water is, you may not even need the bag. You can shine your light on your gauge to illuminate it and then press it against your mask to read it.

[longtailbda]

I use Al for diving with traveling and for stage bottles. For local fun dives I prefer sticking with steel due to weighting.

[jupitertreasures]

Why would you go from steel to AL....unless you travel with your tanks.
Most folks go the opposite route....from AL to steel.

[mm2002]

The only reason I've heard of anyone going from steel to al was to have more ditchable weight. In your case, though, from steel 80's to al 80's, the difference wouldn't be huge (around 4-5 lbs). With HP 100's or larger, you'll likely have no ditchable weight (depending on diving conditions, exposure protection, etc)

[thor]

Just out of curiosity, how did you end up starting to dive on steel tanks?

[rednose83]

Originally Posted by thor

Just out of curiosity, how did you end up starting to dive on steel tanks?

I'm not the OP but one on my LDS uses steel tanks for OW classes.

[Damselfish]

ditto, it's been a long time but the LDS I did OW with we used steel. I then bought AL because they were cheap, but if I'd kept diving locally for longer I imagine I'd have moved back to steel. (Cold water - in warm water I'm pretty much overweighted with a steel tank.)