▚ DECISION PAGE ▚
Steel vs Aluminum Tanks
Buoyancy, trim, and why your rental AL80 floats at 50 bar.
An AL80 starts slightly negative and ends positively buoyant — that end-of-dive float is why your safety stop gets squirrelly with 50 bar left. Steel stays negative throughout, carries more gas in a smaller package, and lets you shed lead from your belt. Editorial only: cylinders don’t ship as normal online orders — buy local, with current hydro and VIP.
▚ STEEL (E.G. HP100)
Enthusiast/dealer-channel gear — we keep this side editorial rather than link a marketplace listing that may not be the real thing.
▚ ALUMINUM (AL80)
Enthusiast/dealer-channel gear — we keep this side editorial rather than link a marketplace listing that may not be the real thing.
▚ DISCLOSURESome links on this page are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we may earn a commission when you buy through them — at no extra cost to you. It never changes the price you pay, and it never changes a verdict.
Head to head
| Axis | Steel (e.g. HP100) | Aluminum (AL80) |
|---|---|---|
| Full / empty buoyancy | Negative → still negative | Slightly negative → positive |
| Lead on your belt | Less | More |
| Size for 80 cu ft class | Shorter, denser | Fatter, taller |
| Where you meet them | Cold-water locals, tech | Every warm-water boat |
▚ TRAINING NOTEDive within your training and certification. This is gear research, not dive instruction, and not a substitute for training from a certified instructor. Service intervals and no-fly figures cited on this site are illustrative — follow your manufacturer’s manual and your agency’s / DAN’s guidance.
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