Steel 100 vs. Steel 130

[Gombessa]

I guess the important thing is everyone agrees a weight check is in order

24lb with a farmer john is far from atypical, and in fact is pretty much ballpark for this kind of suit buoyancy in cold water. I needed more than that when I was diving wet:

-6lb plate
-6lb STA
-LP80 steel tank (similar buoyancy as 100s/130s)
-16-18lb weight belt

 

[Artimas]

I think that weighting is reasonable. 14mm of rubber is a lot.

 

[Artimas]

I think that weighting is reasonable. 14 mm is a lot of rubber.

 

[DiverDAD!]

I didn't make my point well, but what I meant was there is no apparent advantage to using a 100, since the weighting is about the same, but the 130 gives me substantially more air.

Thanks to all who replied concerning my weighting. I have done several buoyancy checks with this rig and all have been similar.

-7mm jon, which is 14 on the trunk
-hood, gloves, boots add a couple
-fins are about +1
-BC is probably +1 or 2
-I'm a buoyant guy
-salt water

that all adds up

Thanks again.

 

[Rainer]

The possible benefits of the 100 over the 130 are: lighter dry weight, smaller physical size (might matter for trim, probably not), later use for doubles (you said, though, this isn't a concern for you), and cost.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I didn't make my point well, but what I meant was there is no apparent advantage to using a 100, since the weighting is about the same, but the 130 gives me substantially more air.

Thanks to all who replied concerning my weighting. I have done several buoyancy checks with this rig and all have been similar.

-7mm jon, which is 14 on the trunk
-hood, gloves, boots add a couple
-fins are about +1
-BC is probably +1 or 2
-I'm a buoyant guy
-salt water

that all adds up

Thanks again.

Actually there are a bunch of reasons why a 100 is a better tank.

-Your more likely to blow through NDL's if you have lots more air than necessary. If your trained/educated for deco diving then never mind.

-a 130 is substantially heavier on land and when full its more negative in the water. If your using a bcd thats a big unstable tanks floppy everywhere. If you have a BP/W then never mind.

-a 100 probably has a bigger resale market if you decide to sell it sometime.

-a pair of 100's doubled up makes a great set of doubles if you should ever go to doubles. dual 130's are probably overkill unless you get into the depths where CCR makes better sense...

I wouldn't buy 130's unless I planned to double them for cave penetration or deep wrecks. Just my $.02

 

[Stu S.]

Do you need 130 cubic feet of gas, or close to it? Extra gas for cave safety?

Using 120's, the computer said "time to go", and we had 1800 pounds left. 80 cu. ft. tanks got low with bottom time remaining. The answer was 100's. If you do caving or similar, you need plenty of residual gas. For us, the 100's have been ideal nitrox cylinders.

You can figure it out.

 

[Mayor]

When I got the XS-HP130 I was a bit of an air hog and the tank was worth the hassle (dry weight, trim). After coming back form 1 hour dives with 2300 plus psi I decided to down size. Just did not want to lug around air and weight I really do not need.

On the other side the specs are very close and the 130 is a great tank with enough air to keep up with doubles. Not that I would suggest this but most of the time I got two 60 foot dives out of one tank with lots of extra air.

You really can't go wrong with the HP100 or HP130.

 

[TSandM]

PS. Just get the 100's, much better size and easier to resell.

Depends on the market. Around here, HP130s sell very easily.

I have dived both. Weighting is the same, trim is very similar. With my SAC rate, I can do any aggressive multi-leveled dive within no deco limits on the HP100, but a larger man would almost certainly need a bigger tank to do the same thing.

When I did my first trip to SoCal, I did a dive at Redondo where I was on a 100 and my buddies were on 130s, and at the end of the dive, I was below 500 psi (in ten feet of water, before you start yelling at me). I dove 130s for the rest of the trip.

 

[paddler3d]

I dive a Pinnacle Polar Semi-Dry. It is 7mm throughout, but 10mm on the back area. A SS back plate. I dive both my HP130's and HP100's in fresh water. No can lights with battery packs. A Manta Jr. Reel with SMB. A couple of titanium knives. A hog harness.

I've found that at 500psi at 15ft in fresh water I have no air in my BC and I'm just about perfectly neutral.

I'm 5'11.5" and I'm about 180#'s. Middle age seems to be showing up around my mid section.

To me, the OP sounds like he should definately check his lead. He sounds heavy.

As for which tank to buy. I have both. Originally I got myself the 130's because I was a bit on an air hog. I got that more or less under control. I got the 100's for the wife.

Right now I'm 2x the 100's and keeping my 130's for helping out with classes. I'm going to get the wife some HP80's.

I found I have liked the 130's for doing dives of the NC Coast, the offshore dives. They seem to be in 90-105 ft of salt water. I can go into around 7-8 minutes of deco and still end up on the boat with 1200psi. Doing that whole rule of 3rds thing.

I like both tanks. I like humping around the 100's a lot more though.

Good luck!