Steel 120 - fat or tall..opinions...

[1_T_Submariner]

I have 2 of the short fat tanks and they work great for me. I'm only 5' 10" I did have a steel 120 (Tall skinny) it did touch the back of my legs now and then but no big deal. I got both of the short fat 119's for $225 they had 4 years to go on hydro and where in visual.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

It is easier to push a 7.25" disk through the water than an 8" disk.

Being tall, the extra four inches allows you a greater range of tank adjustment.

-good move.

Haha Thats funny

Maybe they should make 6ft tall 4" diameter tanks.

 

[elmer fudd]

That whole tank adjustment thing sounds kind of fishy to me too. Your range of tank adjustment isn't determined by the length of your tank, but rather by height of your cam band/s and the back of your head. If you go too low the cam bands slip up into the neck portion of the tank and if you go too high the regulator bumps the back of your head when you look up. This really gives you a narrow range of adjustment, maybe 5", as when you look up, the back of your head moves downward toward your shoulders.

I'm 6' tall myself, but I have short legs and a long torso. Using 119's and a BPW and experimenting with weighting and trim, I've mounted the tank so high it was hitting the back of my head on more than one occasion, and then when learning to dive a double hose, I discovered I couldn't mount the tank low enough to properly place the regulator, (double hose regs need to be placed much lower than modern regs). The limiting factors were my head and my cam bands, not the tank.

 

[iztok]

Why is tank adjustment fishy? With shorter tank less chance to be leg heavy. You are limited on how high you can mount the tank. However with shorter tank you don't need to move it up as much to reduce being leg heavy.

It is because you have limiting factors of your head and cam bands that shorter tanks work better if you are usually leg heavy.

 

[elmer fudd]

Fishy was probably the wrong choice of words, because it has negative implications and that's not what I intended. However, you still can't adjust a longer tank any more than you can a shorter tank.

It will trim out differently is all, but then again, all tanks with different weights and dimensions will trim out differently. Saying that longer tanks have a greater range of adjustment just isn't true, unless you're talking about very short tanks like HP65's.

 

[lowviz]

............. However, you still can't adjust a longer tank any more than you can a shorter tank.

It will trim out differently is all, but then again, all tanks with different weights and dimensions will trim out differently. Saying that longer tanks have a greater range of adjustment just isn't true..............

Finally figured this one out. The OP is clearly talking about a single tank, I pretty much only dive doubles. -I need to be more observant.

For doubles only: moving the bands on the tanks, coupled with the three adjustment holes on both the wing and backplate do, indeed, allow for the range of adjustment that I know to be true. This does not apply to a single tank on a typical BCD. Sorry for the confusion...

 

[ONESPEED]

I ended up swapping out for the HP120. My wife was fine with it.

Should have gone with the HP130, just to further complicate the issue.

 

[lowviz]

Should have gone with the HP130, just to further complicate the issue.

-just when I put this to rest.

Tell ya what, enroll me in "The Knights of Heidi" and I'll drop the whole matter...

 

[Lee Taylor]

Double 60's would be nice