Comment by wileydragonfly
1 day ago
I grew up pretty spoiled by riches, being certified in the Caribbean, but diving quickly lost its allure to me. You start losing color quickly at depth and it’s like staring into an aquarium while risking your life.
Are the tanks still 40lbs or has technology finally caught up to them?
Still steel (or sometimes aluminium) and heavy. Carbon-fibre tanks are still extremely esoteric and rare in diving.
There's also not much point to making tanks lighter, since you need weight anyway to counteract the buoyancy of the air, your wetsuit, etc.
Tanks haven't really changed, although I don't know why anyone would be concerned over 40lbs. What has really improved are dive lights. You can get LED primary lights now that are quite bright with excellent battery life so you can see all the colors.
https://halcyon.net/products/focus-2-0-primary-light-corded
I was concerned because I was mostly shore diving. I hadn’t considered LEDs being used for dive lights and appreciate the link.
I've done shore dives with double tanks that weigh over 100lbs. Seriously 40lbs is nothing to be concerned about.