I've read 30 pages on this thread

[coldwaterdufus]

Diver 85 sums it all up very well. Yes, a 100 is better but the 120 "would be sweet ". Even the 117 or the 119. I would just feel so much happier in the water with more air than even the 100. Air, to a point, would no longer be the governing factor in my dives. I think full fills with a 100 will have to be enough to satisfy me . The problem is getting the full fills. Thanks Diver 85

 

[Wayward Son]

per your original post, if you could handle the weight of E7-120's, you could handle the wt of FX-117's.

I'm not sure I have your most common use clear. If you're going to do a lot of beach dives, grab some 3442 100's & enjoy. If you'll be doing a lot of boat dives, don't shy away from the 117 - 120 HP tanks.

If you do both, maybe get some 100's first to make the shore dives easier & you can always pick up bigger tanks for boat dives later.

Dive gear is like guns. You don't buy one & stop, LOL. You just keep adding bits that fit particular needs as you go along

 

[deepstops]

I dove an AL100 once and hope to never again. To me they have all the worst characteristics rolled into one tank; bulky, heavy, and floaty. Ewwww...

Only the Luxfer 100 is floaty when nearing empty, the Catalina is near neutral like a steel tank. But it's even heavier than it's Luxfer sibling.

If you can get good fills, a LP85 pumped to 3500 makes a great 110+ cubic feet in smaller pasckage than an AL80 with steel buoyancy characteristics.

Personally, I own a fleet E8-130s.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Cold water, thing you have your numbers a bit off (sorry).

A couple of notes:

1. Be careful when you say Al 100.. there are two very different tanks involved there. Make sure you know who's you are using.

2. The Faber 100 is 3 lbs more than a luxfer al 80, but you drop 5 lbs of weight... so the net is 2 lbs lighter. Yes.. if you get a good fill, and are at the start of a dive, you loose 1 of those...but that is not there at the end.

3. The Faber 117 is roughly 7.5 lbs more, but you drop either 4 or 5 lbs... plus if full, at the start, you add almost 2 lbs of air, but at the end...the difference between it and an AL 80 is 3 lbs... with a huge difference in air.

4. The Faber 133 is another 4 lbs over the 117, plus another lb of air at the start. That extra weight, at least for me, is fairly obvious to start..but 5 lbs is pretty obvious at that point.
The worthington 100, is particularly nice in total weight over the Faber, while their 119 is slightly worse.

Wow , thanks for all the comments. Wookie, you're right with your ice cube comment. Few dives I've started with 2600 once the cold water hits the tanks (and me) TC Rain, I'm learning to love full fills. Mattboy, doubles are even heavier. Wayward Son / Puffer Fish; I looked into big Al's, but no due to length and weight. Here are my numbers and what I carry now ( with rented AL 80's ) Empty tank 31.4, Air 6.4 (full) and lead 34#. Total with AL 80's = 71.8. The rest are calculated.
Worthington x7 100 = 68.3 Dropping 7.0# lead with the Worthington 100
faber FX 100 = 71.6 better tank re buoyancy, heavier than AL 80 empty

X8 119 = 79.2
FX 117 = 78.1 increase of 6-7 #
120' are too long as discussed
X8 130 = 79.5 As above , found it heavy in and out of the water

As you can see, the 117 and the 119 are almost the same weight as the 130 which I found heavy, therefore these are not good options to purchase . Back to the X7 100 as the tank of choice.

 

[Randy43068]

No matter what tanks you buy now, they most probably won't be your last so don't sweat it.

I only have a few tanks and hardly any when compared to many other divers I know.
4 AL80s 2 HP120s twin 130s and a few smaller deco bottles from 30 to 40 cf.

 

[Wayward Son]

a Luxfer AL100 is slightly more negative than a Luxfer AL80. While it is positive when empty, it's not as positive. The difference amount to dropping 2lbs of lead when diving the 100. So if diving an AL80 works, an AL100 will too, so far as bouyancy is concerned.

 

[coldwaterdufus]

Wayward Son;I think I could handle the weight of the Worthington 120's. The total calc=75.2#, only 3.4# more than the rental AL 80's. When I look at the 117 and 119's, they are at 78.1 and 79.2#, granted not a lot, but still adding up to 4# more. My back is getting sore as I write this. My use for these tanks are shore dives. I used a 130 on my 6th dive on the West Coast of Canada. (in my AOW) Very much a newbie at that time, only slightly less now, but I staggered to the end of the boat and fell in the water, gracefully I might add. Point is, on boat dives, I could do the larger tanks . Puffer Fish; I don't think I was talking about AL 100's, they have never been in the mix. Sorry if I wasn't clear. AHHHH ! The light just clicked on re: the quoted numbers. I was looking at the weight differences at dives start. You are looking at dives end, when for the sake of discussion, the air is gone. That's where only 3 # more appears for the faber FX 117 versus the AL 80. You gotta love SB !! I'll redo the numbers for dive's end. Now, if I could only get someone to carry my gear to the water, I'd be set with the bigger tanks

 

[Wayward Son]

beach dives, get some 3442 100's

If they're shallow dives & you really don't need the extra gas, get some 3442 80's. Shorter & lighter than al AL80, they're a true 80CF at 3442 psi.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

I would take into consideration what your buddies are doing. Mine upgraded to 120s and 130s and now they want to get in 120 minute beach dives. Matching tanks tends to support matching goals for a given dive.

 

[coldwaterdufus]

I've got all the numbers , so I thought I'd share. Following are tank#, air and 34 lead ( for me )
Pre Dive Post Dive zero air
AL 80 71.8 65.5
X7 100 68.3 60.0
FX 100 71.6 63.3
X 8 119 79.2 69.6
Fx 117 78.1 68.7
X7 120 75.2 65.5
FX 120 77.9 68.2
X8 130 81.1 70.6

Worthington's are the X series, Faber are the FX. Calc Pre dive numbers are after dropping the appropriate weight differences re: buoyancy. I'm 90% sold on the Steel 100's, but I'd be into the steel 120's if they weren't so long, ( or I wasn't so short ) Compare the colored areas. Mr Carcharodon, I'm in a dive club so buddies vary a lot. I just need to try to keep up...