Faber HP 133 for single tank?

[INDiver6174]

Just looking for a little advice. I’ve put out a marketplace feeler for what looks to be a pair of in hydro Faber Hot Dipped HP 133s for a great price.

The heaviest cylinder I’ve used was a steel HP 100. As a big guy my first thought is if you can carry more air why not? But curious if anyone has any pros or cons to the 133s to share? I know they’re definitely heavy on land. Any significant buoyancy or trim issues to watch out for? I’d be diving them single tank on BP/W.

Thanks for the help!

 

[johndiver999]

I have one or two. they work. A big fat tank. More air is generally nice, but do you need it? Do you max out the no deco limits with a smaller tank?

Perhaps you have a whip or hose to transfill tanks? You might well be able to get three No deco dives from two tanks, if you transfer. That can be a considerable cost savings if you dive a lot. I have a hp 149 too, just don't use it that often, but I can generally get two dives with it if I steal a little from another tank - sometimes even three dives on the big tank, assuming you have a pony that makes you more comfortable drawing the main tank down. A smaller tank is more fun to dive with.

The extra volume/weight of gas makes a noticable difference in weighting on these large tanks. I can often skip a weightbelt for the first dive (in relatively warm water) , especially if they are pumped to around 4,000 psi.

I always get a kick out of people talking about how they perfectly fine tune their buoyancy weighting and trim, but with the large tanks and big swing in weight, I never seem to be able to fine tune anything, although it is not something I lose sleep over.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

No experience with 133’s but here’s a spec sheet, might help you out. @tbone1004 is a big guy, I’m sure he’s got some info for you.

 

[DAJ]

I use 130s and mine are about two pounds heavier than a Faber. The downside with Faber is that they go positive when empty. I had several Faber 120s that I used for singles and doubles but sold them off over the years. I find 130s very easy to dive with but that is probably because I have used them for so long.

 

[rjack321]

the 130s are a popular single tank around here and on much of the west coast in general. While heavy on land they tend to trim out well underwater for even the shortest/smallest divers. LCF (Lynne) was a tiny 60yo woman with the gas consumption of a mouse, she loved a 130 as an alternative to doubles when full redundancy wasn't required

 

[Belzelbub]

Just looking for a little advice. I’ve put out a marketplace feeler for what looks to be a pair of in hydro Faber Hot Dipped HP 133s for a great price.

The heaviest cylinder I’ve used was a steel HP 100. As a big guy my first thought is if you can carry more air why not? But curious if anyone has any pros or cons to the 133s to share? I know they’re definitely heavy on land. Any significant buoyancy or trim issues to watch out for? I’d be diving them single tank on BP/W.

I actually just sold off a pair of Faber HP133s. I replaced them with Faber HP120s.

I'm 6'0, 185 lbs. Dove with the 133s for several years. Weight was fine for me. They were heavy, but manageable. I boat dive from a private boat most often, and was able to climb up the ladder with no issue, even when the boat was rocking.

I decided to get rid of them for a couple of reasons.
1. Most of my dive buddies dive with smaller tanks, so gas capacity was not really a factor.
2. 8" diameter tanks. I also have a couple of 7 1/4" tanks, so switching back and forth on the BC was a pain. This also let me standardize my tank racks on the boat.

 

[grf88]

Until recently my go to tank for Great Lakes diving was a HP PST 133 with h-valve and 2 first stages. I have recently switched to HP 100's since at 75 the ladder is getting harder to climb.

 

[tbone1004]

Just looking for a little advice. I’ve put out a marketplace feeler for what looks to be a pair of in hydro Faber Hot Dipped HP 133s for a great price.

The heaviest cylinder I’ve used was a steel HP 100. As a big guy my first thought is if you can carry more air why not? But curious if anyone has any pros or cons to the 133s to share? I know they’re definitely heavy on land. Any significant buoyancy or trim issues to watch out for? I’d be diving them single tank on BP/W.

Thanks for the help!

what @Robert H. Diver said is true, I am a big guy, but 133's are actually too small for me to dive comfortably, too short. I've dove them but just too short so I dive the HP120/LP120/FX149's so I can sit down properly.

Vs a 100 you won't really notice any trim differences IME, though depending specifically on which 100 you have the weighting can be all over the place. The heaviest 100's are from Worthington and compared to that you will have to ADD 5lbs of lead, the rest of them are all about 1.5ish negative so you'll have to ADD 3lbs. Slightly counterintuitive but they the 133's float when empty. If you're against Faber 100's, then the absolute rig weight delta is about 15lbs heavier when full for the 133 vs a 100. Will this impact you? I have no idea, I don't do single tank diving hardly ever, hell last weekend I was at West Palm working with a high school dive team and we were doing 50ft reefs and I was diving HP120 doubles with 3-4ft seas so total rig weight isn't really something I really notice.

 

[BoltSnap]

FX149

Can you get these tanks in US?

 

[tbone1004]

Can you get these tanks in US?

yes, they are usually ordered specifically, same as the LP120's were. Really rare to find them in the wild, but they do exist!