Owners of PST 120's - Love Them or Hate Them - Why

[OE2X]

I'm curious since I own a bunch of PST's but none of them are 120's what you owners think of them. Since they are about 2.5" longer than the 130's that I own (and love) I'm wondering about the balance characteristics?

 

[bcsean]

well, the length is a big part of why I chose the 120's. I just got into a bp/wing setup, and was using a p-weight. Was head heavy and really not having an easy time. My 120's came in. I removed teh p-weight, threw on the tank, and essentially was totally trimmed. For reference, I'm 6'3".

I love them.

 

[CA Wreck Diver]

I'm curious since I own a bunch of PST's but none of them are 120's what you owners think of them. Since they are about 2.5" longer than the 130's that I own (and love) I'm wondering about the balance characteristics?

I neither love nor hate my PST 120. It is a high pressure cylinder and most boats and some dive shops in the area only fill to a little over 3000, but not 3500. So while the tank is fine, I would not buy another. I much prefer the Faber 120's that fill to 3180. All the places I frequent can give me a full fill. With my PST only at 2800 - 3000 I don't have as much air as I think I do.

 

[The Wanderer]

I just bought an E8-119. Use it with a BP/W. I have used it 3 days for beach diving. So far its been great! Trims out well. Allows me all the time I want - about 150 minutes of BT - without refilling for shallow dives.

Haven't taken it deep yet.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

I'm curious since I own a bunch of PST's but none of them are 120's what you owners think of them. Since they are about 2.5" longer than the 130's that I own (and love) I'm wondering about the balance characteristics?

I have E-7 120s. I have been diving them for a year. When I first started using them, I had to contend with a problem of them orienting me too much head down.

I have remedied this by using an aluminum backplate and a six pount tail weight (I need six pounds anyway in addition to the aluminum BP) hanging from my bottom bolt to my doubles. I did have to move my wings up a notch on my backplate and make sure that I have my bands as high as possible on my tanks.

These things done, I am very happy in these tanks. I swear I can actually feel a difference in swimming them through the water (7.3 inches) versus low pressure, 8 inch tanks.

 

[hex92]

I love the PST 120s. I have logged 22 dives with them so far and they are worth the investment. I have dove them dry and wet and they are the best tanks I have ever used.

I really like how easy it makes getting my gear on and off. I'm 6'4" and I no longer have to scrunch down like I did with 80s and 95s. I trim out well in the water and haven't had any problem with diving them after I figured out how much weight I needed to wear with them - 8lbs wet and 24 dry.

 

[scubafanatic]

.....I own a PST E8-130 and an E7-120 and enjoy both tanks.....I've found 1 advantage to the E7-120 to be it's the highest volume tank available with a 7.25" diameter.........even @ 'only' 3000 PSI it holds 105 cu. ft. of gas.

I'm doing 2 live aboard dive trips later this summer where the only tanks allowed are 7.25" in diameter, the same diameter as the 'standard' AL80........so even @ 3000 psi I'll have about 35 % more air than the AL 80 divers.

Karl

 

[drbill]

I had an older PST HP120 tank that I loved. Could easily get two good dives (up to an hour each) off of it. However after just 10 years it failed hydro, and failed it miserably (16% expansion).

I sure would like to replace it but hear a number of stories about problems at PST these days. Would settle for an E8 130 but availability at a "reasonable" (relative term) price just isn't there these days.

Doc

 

[Northeastwrecks]

I own two PST HP120's.

I bought them when I first started diving.

When I'm diving singles, I enjoy them. They have decent capacity and I don't have any problems with buoyancy.

I borrowed a set of double PST HP120's. I hated them.

All that said, if I were buying singles today, I'd buy E8-130's.

 

[sylvester]

I dove my new E7120 today and loved it, my other tanks are E7100s and the 120 balances the same, trim was good no changes to my gear were required. I dive with a 9lb SS BP and a 5lb STA, pioneer wing and DS. I am 5-11 230 the tank was great I have rented the older hp120s to try prior to buying mine last week. I wish Id have bought 120s the entire time instead of the 2 100s at first.