I dive a PST HP E-8 119 and love it. Same size as the LP95s. On my frame, it is very comfortable and the bouyancy characteristics are good. I looked at the E-7 120 but since I was used to LP95s I decided to stay with that size.
Diving Larger tanks.
- Thread starter Michael_Lambert
- Start date
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metaldector
Contributor
First the obvious, more air. As stated previously, having more air is never a detriment. Secondly, its weight is negative (steel vs alum) so less weight is required to dive. Third, it can be over pressured for cave fills if necessary.
Now I dive a PST130 with a 3 mm wet suit into Florida springs and do not need any weight at all! When diving my drysuit with steel 95's no additional weight is required. Diving my double AL80's with the drysuit requires at least 25 lbs of extra weight or I bouncing off the cave ceiling.
If one is never going to do deep dives, long dives, penetration dives, large tanks and doubles probably aren't going to be required.
Recently and dive buddie who dives frequently with me using AL80's bought a steel 95. We dove to 115 ft for 10 minutes then proceed to do our normal cavern dive. Usually we have about a 35 minute dive because of the limitations of his AL80. This time we did 45 minutes, and he ended with over 1000 pounds of air. Wow! was all he could say. (He also dumped 6 lbs. off his weight belt.)
Conclusion: You can dive longer, have more air supply, and wear less weight with a bigger steel tank.
Now the negative: Steel tanks cost more than alumimum tanks. A new aluminum tank around here is about $120 while steel tanks are $270 to $399 depending on whom you buy from. That's all the negatives I can think of folks.
Now I dive a PST130 with a 3 mm wet suit into Florida springs and do not need any weight at all! When diving my drysuit with steel 95's no additional weight is required. Diving my double AL80's with the drysuit requires at least 25 lbs of extra weight or I bouncing off the cave ceiling.
If one is never going to do deep dives, long dives, penetration dives, large tanks and doubles probably aren't going to be required.
Recently and dive buddie who dives frequently with me using AL80's bought a steel 95. We dove to 115 ft for 10 minutes then proceed to do our normal cavern dive. Usually we have about a 35 minute dive because of the limitations of his AL80. This time we did 45 minutes, and he ended with over 1000 pounds of air. Wow! was all he could say. (He also dumped 6 lbs. off his weight belt.)
Conclusion: You can dive longer, have more air supply, and wear less weight with a bigger steel tank.
Now the negative: Steel tanks cost more than alumimum tanks. A new aluminum tank around here is about $120 while steel tanks are $270 to $399 depending on whom you buy from. That's all the negatives I can think of folks.
RonFrank
Contributor
Michael_Lambert:
The right tool for the job! I have a buddy that is big, and uses more air then most. He dives AL100's, and that put's him at about the same footing as the rest of us using AL80's. With an AL80 he was having to call the dive early, so that is a good move on his part.
I don't use larger tanks because I don't need to. If I were to get a E100 steel I could move some weight, but after a dive I'd likely have not quite enough air to do a second full dive. I do dive bigger tanks when I dive deeper. If the dives are a flat profile at 80' or more, I generally try and get 100's if I'm diving Nitrox not because I could not hit my NDL on AL 80's (I could, or would come close) but because I like to not worry about air, and Nitrox does extend the BT.
When diving a shallower profile, AL80's are fine. I was coming up with 1500psi or sometimes more on an AL80 when diving 30~40 foot reef profiles for the max dive boat mandated 60minuts. So why pay more for tanks that hold more air when I'm not even using what is in the 80, but don't really leave quite enough to do another dive off the same tank?
I like the bouyancy characteristics of the E7-100 and I would dive it all the time if I could rent one on dive trips which require air travel. Diving with only 2 lbs on my tank strap is worth the extra expense and heavier tank. I weigh 129 lbs. Steel tanks are not just for big guys. 
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