Cylinder for sidemount

[tr909]

I wonder,what is best cylinders for SM,
AL or steel? I dive with drysuit in cold water.

[Swede]

I wonder,what is best cylinders for SM,
AL or steel? I dive with drysuit in cold water.

Most of us in Sweden dive with steel, but some dive with old alu tanks that are a bit heavyer and stay negativ even when thay are emty. Most of the answers here will give you different types of cf tanks and that is not always posible to get them in Sweden.
I recomend the 12l 232 bar, thay are slim and sits nice in the water... and they are sheap. just split a set of twin 12 and plug them. During our expedition in Bjurälven we at first doved with 4l 300 bar or 6l 300 bar. but for this year most of us will bring 12l 232 bar.



Cheers
Markus

[atedeschi]

steel tanks, then tank size depends on the gas you need. I have dove with HP120s, LP108s, and LP85s. 120s i used just because what I had access to, lp108s because thats what I had as doubles, but to heavy to carry on land. Now I am diving lp85s, and gives me a decent amount of air.

[tr909]

I have double steel 12 liter 232 bar,i think it is hp 85-90 in the Us,maybe they work?

[FW]

I wish there was a good table comparing US and European tanks.
From memory (I might be off a few percent)
Faber (OMS) 46cu ft tanks are 7 Liters
Alumimum 80 Cu ft tanks are about 12 Liters
HP100 Cu ft tanks are also about 12 liters
Faber (OMS) 85 Cu ft tanks are about 13 Liters.
Pressed Steel 104 Cu ft tanks are 16.6 Liters
Faber (OMS) 108 Cu ft tanks are just under 17 Liters

[tr909]

Ok then i have 80cf will they work,trim and balance?

[FW]

Ok then i have 80cf will they work,trim and balance?
If you look in the second post, Swede says he uses 12L tanks.

[tr909]

Ok,but i have a got a advice from another swedish Side mount diver,that alu 80cf if best for us who dive with drysuit and much undergarments.

[battles2a5]

I'm new to SM, but I think one of the great things about it is that you can dive pretty much anything. You may have to make small tweaks to your rig for ballast and trim, but just about anything will work. Steels, alum, fat, skinny, long, or short.

[ardhill]

I dive in Ireland - usual water temperature approximately 6 degrees Centigrade, thus a drysuit and undersuit when I can.

In my opinion, use steel.

They are negative so you need less lead, and they trim just great.

7's are common in the UK and Ireland, as as 12's when you need more gas.

[SMB]

Ok,but i have a got a advice from another swedish Side mount diver,that alu 80cf if best for us who dive with drysuit and much undergarments.

I would recommend 12l 232 bar steel for sm tanks and Al80's for stages

[NorthWoodsDiver]

We have mostly aluminum 80's around here (12L) so I plan to use them as much as possible for SM this year but I currently have some steel 72's (LP) and they are set for sidemount all the time.

The steel tanks are nice but it depends on your weight needs. I dive cold water but I have the intention of being able to totally remove all my cylinders and stay neutral to slightly negative should the need arise.
T

[tr909]

Ok u have Convinced me,i will split my double 12 l 232
Thanks for your help Sidemount friends.
Waiting for pics of the Razor harness on your website SMB!

[SMB]

We have mostly aluminum 80's around here (12L) so I plan to use them as much as possible for SM this year but I currently have some steel 72's (LP) and they are set for sidemount all the time.

The steel tanks are nice but it depends on your weight needs. I dive cold water but I have the intention of being able to totally remove all my cylinders and stay neutral to slightly negative should the need arise. Thats why I went with steel but in the case of the aluminum 80's you may have to add some weight to the tanks to get them to sit nice when they start to get empty.

T

Oh no not this one again.....ballast weight if required should be on the diver not the tanks.
sm config moves your equipment load much lower on your body which is why you need buoyancy lower down and many people have to add weights to there shoulders to trim them out properly.
Adding weights to the butt of sm tanks is just going to make this inherent problem much worse.
There are many other reasons NOT to put weights on Al80 sm tanks which you can find in my other posts if you want to do a search.
Much better to just add another attachment point further forward on your harness to pull the butt end of the tanks down when they get light and keep them in horizontal plane.

[SMB]

Ok u have Convinced me,i will split my double 12 l 232
Thanks for your help Sidemount friends.
Waiting for pics of the Razor harness on your website SMB!

I will let you know as soon as they are up.
In the meantime you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvS3muJUVWA

[Squirrel Girl]

I dive in Ireland - usual water temperature approximately 6 degrees Centigrade
Ah, an insane person. :p

I dove 12° C last weekend and it was as low as I ever wanna go!

I knew a diver named Paul from Ireland. He was from Dublin, so I'm guessing it's not you?

(Sorry for the thread hijack--it is almost St Patrick's Day ya know)

I like any sized steel tanks and distributing weight around as needed.

Anybody have a good way to make drop weights (I mean attaching clips securely and being trim) for diving light tanks? It would be nice to pop some weights on without threading, and threading, and threading the webbing if you swap tanks for whatever reason.

[SMB]

Ah, an insane person. :p

I dove 12° C last weekend and it was as low as I ever wanna go!

I knew a diver named Paul from Ireland. He was from Dublin, so I'm guessing it's not you?

(Sorry for the thread hijack--it is almost St Patrick's Day ya know)

I like any sized steel tanks and distributing weight around as needed.

Anybody have a good way to make drop weights (I mean attaching clips securely and being trim) for diving light tanks? It would be nice to pop some weights on without threading, and threading, and threading the webbing if you swap tanks for whatever reason.

A sm diver should be weighted to be neutral without tanks and the ballast should be on the diver.
That way you do not need to change weights when using different size tanks you will just need more or less lift from your bcd.