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Dan_Solo · 05-29-2002, 07:27 PM,

I have a bunch of tanks but on most MN dive trips I'll bring 2 to 4 tanks (AL80s). Up in Crosby, I don't want to have to drive back to brainard for air after every couple of dives so up there, four tanks works good for me. When I go to square lake I'll bring two tanks with. I'd like to second ccuda's remarks on the luxfer aluminium tanks. If you buy a used luxfer tank, have it checked out and make sure it's not made of the suspect alloy. The new tanks are fine. You probably wont get hurt by an exploding tank but the guy in the dive shop who fills it might ... which is not nice :-[ I have a new Luxfer AL40, a couple of Catalina AL80s, an AL 13, some steel 50s, and a couple of OMS C108 (112cu. ft.). Dan

Scottg · 06-10-2002, 12:32 PM,

I recently dove with a couple of guys that had what they said were steel alloy 100 Scubapro tanks. They were pretty short and fat. I liked the idea of a little extra time and the physical charactoristics. Anyone know where i can get these in MN?

06-10-2002, 04:37 PM,

Scott - The "Short-Fat" 100's are probably steel 95's and yes the are short & fat. Pro's are more air & the benefits of bouyancy with steel. Con's are that they are just short enough that if you use a double tank banded BC that the bottom strap can conflict with the boot of the tank. Also, when you do in fact strap the BC to the tank, the bottom of the BC bladder can sometimes hang below the tank so when you set the whole assembly on the ground (after taking off the BC from a dive with all gear still in place) the BC bladder can get "pinched" from the the tank boot sitting on it. This is probably not the most desireable but you can certainly work with it and make your own system of not letting this happen. The other option is to go ahead for the similar cost but a few more pounds and do a 104 cu ft pressed steel or 112 OMS (Faber) and these are 26" tall tanks which seem to eliminate the issues I mentioned. The extra 2" in length really helps as I do use a double banded Halcyon MC system. However, any of the fat (8" diameter tanks) are big. My kids ask me if I'm taking the "pigs" with me vs. my AL80's which I also have! Good luck & good diving... Pete