Almost ready to buy 2 Faber galvanized LP 85's - sound right?

[Lorenzoid]

I don't own a HP tank, so I have no firsthand experience with trying to get HP fills, but wouldn't dive shops in the major dive areas in FL have no problem with that? It's been my impression that the HP100 is an extremely popular tank, and that problems getting a full fill are a thing of the past in major dive areas in FL. In other words, the HP100 is sort of the modern gold standard for a tank of this size. Wrong?

The lower price on the LP85 is certainly a consideration.

I don't think you would have a problem finding a buyer for either if you should lose interest in diving.

 

[divad]

If you weigh 150 lbs. your double 85s will be be about 55? lbs lighter than you.

 

[J322Y]

If you weigh 150 lbs. your double 85s will be be about 55? lbs lighter than you.

My plan was to use them singly.

 

[tursiops]

Is that true with 3000 psi for both types or 3000 in the HP and 2640 in the LP?

3000 in the 3442 tank gives you 87 cu ft. 2640 in the LP85 gives you 85 cu ft. You have to overfill the LP85 to win the contest.

By the way, you won't find a new HP100....that is the designation of an old tank no longer made, and is mistakenly applied to the 3442 tanks, which Faber unfortunately calls F7-HP100 for the 100 cu ft version. They are slightly more expensive than the LP85s; hey, they hold more gas!
Mind you. I prefer the LP85s for their size and weight, but then I carry two of them (sidemount) and overfill them. That is not your game yet.
You won't go wrong with either cylinder. Just avoid trying to do two wreck dives on one of them!

 

[divad]

My plan was to use them singly.

Then I would just buy cheap disposable AL tanks.

 

[J322Y]

Then I would just buy cheap disposable AL tanks.

I was going for better buoyancy characteristics.

 

[divad]

....weight for it....

 

[tursiops]

I was going for better buoyancy characteristics.

Depends on what you mean by this.....
Can you explain your concern?

 

[J322Y]

Depends on what you mean by this.....
Can you explain your concern?

I read something...

 

[tursiops]

I read something...

Well, there is a lot of nonsense on the web about AL80s.....because when they are empty they are actually buoyant. So people say they don't want the buoyancy shift from negative to positive, which is silly. ALL TANKS get lighter when you use up the air in them, like maybe 5-6 pounds lighter for the tanks we are talking about. So they ALL get lighter at the end of a dive. At the beginning of a dive, if you put some lead on your belt/in your pockets so you are nice and neutral, then at the end of a dive you will be 5-6 pounds buoyant. Bad juju. So, you always weight yourself to be 5-6 pounds heavy at the beginning of the dive, so you become neutral at the end. OK? Now, if the tank you are using is steel, then it is heavier in water than is the aluminum tank, so you need to put less lead on your belt/in your pockets so you are weighted properly at the beginning of the dive. Nice. that is why people like steel tanks....you can carry less lead on your belt or in your weight pockets. But what we are talking about is just a few pounds, not 15 or 20, so it is not really that big a deal. An AL80 weighs about 1.4 pounds in water when full; the LP85 weighs about 6.7 pounds, the high pressure 100 about 8.4 pounds. So, if you have a LP85 instead of an AL80, you can take 5 maybe 6 pounds off your belt. Big deal. The AL80 costs $149, the LP85 costs $279. That is a big price difference (time two for two tanks) for just 5-6 pounds difference in lead you are carrying.