Steel XS 130's Pros/Cons?

[ptyx]

...only add about 20lbs of weight

Ouch. "Only" 20lbs.
I either need to work out more or get one of those titanium backs you all seem to have.

 

[tbone1004]

I'm 6'4" 280... 52 inch chest 38 inch waist. Makes 20lbs seem like nothin. That being said I have really bad knees from ice hockey so I don't carry doubles... Sidemount for the win!! I like my HP120's... Don't lose all that much go juice, and have the 7 inch profile. Only setback is they are a LOT longer... I only have a 32inch inseam, so that's ideal for me.

The HP100's are my preference, although if you can find LP95's they are pretty negative in comparison but about the same height

 

[bug catcher]

I use an hp 130 and haven't found a dive shop not able to fill it but it could be a problem depending where you live. I've talked to 2 live aboard boats that can't fill them and they use L.P. tanks or aul. 80s. I like the extra air especially on deep dives. It seems to me charters frown on bringing them. Their afraid you'll stay down over their 40min limit. They don't want to get behind schedule. go for it

 

[elmer fudd]

I dive with 150's & 130's most boats I go out on only have room for each diver to bring 2 tanks with these tanks It allows me to dive 2-3 times per tank depending on depth people with aluminum 80's only get one dive per tank as for the weight forget about it it is what it is underwater you will never know the difference & above the water you just get used to it. Air is good I like to breath the more the better you can never have too much but you can have too little just something to think about? Are you worried about a couple of pounds or a couple breaths? Its a no brainer for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & it should be for you too! Now if you weigh 90 lbs soaking wet & dont use hardly any air then there is no reason to get tanks that are too big? I always want my tanks to be big enough that I have extra air when my buddy is ready to surface. & I still carry a pony or spare air. One thing that nobody mentioned is that these are high pressure tanks & many dive shops do not have enough air in the banks or a big enough compressor to properly fill them so check with your local dive shop & make sure you can get good fills because it is pointless if you are only going to get them filled to 3000 lbs if that is the case then you want to look at low pressure steels & that is another thread all by itself good luck with your decision & safe diving. Todd

Following that logic we should all opt for double LP120's.

If you need the extra air, then get the bigger tanks, but if you don't then you're just making yourself bigger, heavier and slower for no purpose.

There are good reasons to keep your rig light. If you shore dive, you'll likely end up packing it a quarter mile or more from time to time, as well as pack it down steps, over rocks and logs and into surf. If you boat dive, you or someone else will probably end up having to lift it out of the water and into the boat sometime.

 

[T. Bix]

Wow great discussion! I checked in this afternoon and there was only one reply. From what I can tell I get to take 15 pounds off of my waist. The lightest I ever dive is 12 pounds in my shorty skin with the al80 so it looks like I can trim better and be at worst 3 pounds heavy..... not a terrible price to pay for the extra gas. As to the extra gas I usually have the most left at the end of the dive than my usual buddies but the added margin of safety is worth the extra weight (I think) Also If I can talk my buddies into upgrading to bigger tanks I get the benefit of more bottom time.

 

[Peter_C]

Was about to ask why you need so much lead then saw CA diving. Thick drysuit undies will do that, and clipping it off will sink if you're not using a weight belt, so fair enough. At that point though I'd just dive doubles... Double 130's would only add about 20lbs of weight since you have the wedge in there... Oh well

I DO use a weight belt, that has another 20 lbs. Gotta sink thick layers of undies! I switch to doubles when needed, or if I want to do four dives and not pay for fills when diving down South, by using my two HP130's, then my double HP100's for two dives. Although I have a different aluminum plate for doubles, to help with head heavy trim. There is a big weight jump from double HP100's to HP130's. Even more so from a single HP130 to dubs :shocked2: I do have to be able to pull these into my boat. After all I am 165 lbs.

Lots of people like the long and skinny HP120's too since they are 7.25" and fit in the dive boats racks, plus they are longer and trim out nice. Especially if you wind up not needing a lot of weight on your belt.

 

[tbone1004]

The 100's and 120's have identical buoyancy when empty, and the 130's are less than a lb different...

You needa check 4th element undies out man... cut the bulk out of everything and a LOT of weight. I was diving this weekend in Xerotherm Arctics in 40* water with two HP120's and a Nomad. Needed 2lbs... Actually got too hot, but the lack of weight is amazing. I'm a big dude too, 6'4" 280, so it's a lot of air to fill the XXL suits out

 

[T. Bix]

Okay, First off thanx for the discussion I value the board's collective experience. I saw little to no down side to taking fifteen pounds off of my hips and increasing my gas capacity by 57 cubic feet. So I picked up the tanks today, The tanks were born on 04-09 and were hydro'd at the beginning of the season. They are XS Scuba 130 capacity and 3442 service pressure. They look good but need maybe a little scotch brite to really clean them up. Now for the new question: Is $250 a good price for these tanks? (bearing in mind that I had to travel 200 miles (fuel, time, etc...))

 

[T. Bix]

Oops I guess that should be more like 54 cubic feet of additional gas plus they are already o2 clean and have never had anything but nitrox 32 in them.

 

[T. Bix]

Alright so I got my first two dives with the new (to me) tanks...... Holy smokes what a difference! not only did i shed most of my lead but what was left I moved around and even though my trim was decent before it is perfect now! Even though I will keep my aluminum tanks as doubles or loaners I prolly won't dive them as singles again or at least very often. I guess the next think I need to do is find a pair of smaller steels that I can set up as doubles.