Faber 120's too negative need other

[black1]

Need tank advice, as of now i own and use 2 Faber steel HP 120's, i bought these because the spearfishing club i dive with all use steel 120's for larger air capacity. These Faber tanks are very heavy, one of the heaviest tanks available and my trim is suffering from them, im 6'2 and 210 with broad shoulders so i can carry them fine but the negative bouyancy is the main factor for me. They are -16lbs full and -6lbs empty and i dive only warm salt water in south Florida with a 3mm wetsuit, I use no ditchable weight and it worries me that diving to 100fsw which i have done many times that one day i could have a wing failure and be in trouble. I can swim my rig to the surface when near empty but when full could be very difficult, especially safety stops without an anchor line to hold on to. My question is, what is a good 7.5 diameter tank that holds alot of air like a 120 that is not so negative bouyant and easier to handle, can you give me some sizes and makes along with bouyancy characteristics. I say 7.5 diameter because the boat we go out on is setup for this size. Thanks all.

 

[WD8CDH]

The Worthington or PST HP120 cylinders are about -10.5lb. or -11 lb. full.

Or you could stick a block or two of blue styrofoam on your rig for a little fixed lift.

 

[Fishpie]

The least negative high capacity tanks are the older HP 3500psi PST (aka Genesis) tanks.
They aren't made any more and have issues with flash rusting and passing Hydros.
I have a couple of 120's that are my first choice for single tank dives.

 

[rstofer]

The Worthington X7-120 is somewhat better in that it is only -11# when full. That's about 5# better than the Faber.

The Faber FX-120 is even better with only -9# full. This looks pretty attractive! I didn't find a price.

Richard

 

[rustyshakelford]

what type of bc are you using? there are redundant wings also available.

brett

 

[Puffer Fish]

Those are one heavy tanks.. you could dive the Faber FX 149's and carry less weight and be less negative. But those are 8 inch diameter.

Faber FX -120's, as rstofer has pointed out are the best current tanks for that aspect...and a lot lighter... Diverdirect sells them is florida.

 

[oxyhacker]

Not to nitpick, but it's probably worth mentioning that a safety stop is a redundant precautionary stop not required by the tables, and hence can and usually should be dispensed of in an emergency. It would be nuts to attempt to do one while swimming up a heavy rig after a buoyancy failure!

I can swim my rig to the surface when near empty but when full could be very difficult, especially safety stops without an anchor line to hold on to.

 

[DwayneJ]

Not to nitpick, but it's probably worth mentioning that a safety stop is a redundant precautionary stop not required by the tables, and hence can and usually should be dispensed of in an emergency. It would be nuts to attempt to do one while swimming up a heavy rig after a buoyancy failure!

Totally agree.

 

[diver 85]

Totally agree.

Depends upon other factors IMO ie total # of (deep)dives over 4 to 5 days, exertion of dives ie bad current diving with lots of physical output, age of diver, hydration state of diver to mention a few...Esp in the age(older) category, it's better to be safe than take a chamber ride.....


Just my thoughts thought....ie the older I get(58 now), the better(more cautious) a diver I catch myself being---lol---only took me over 20 years to 'wiseup'.........

 

[mkutyna]

Exertion during the dive? Are you counting the amount of exertion required to hold a safety stop while very negative?