Tank question

[njclifford]

Howdy all,

about to get a new hog setup (single tank setup) and was looking at a SS BP. Am looking at a Faber Steel Tank (cheap here in Aus atm), probably the 100cf..

My question is when I decide to go doubles.... I am assuming that twin steels will be too -ve buoyant (-8.5kg when full) with the SS BP..

What is the general consensus for getting gear to maximise the use - should I look at a lighter BP, or get an Al tank instead?? Will probably be doing mainly single tanks, so the SS BP and steel tank would mean no weight.... but do not want to have to purchase a heap more of the same to go doubles...

What do others here do in this case???

Thanks

Nick

 

[The Chairman]

The good news? You only need one back plate!

The bad news? You may need additional wings. I use a 20 singles wing for my steel 120 tank. If you use that with double, you will probably bend the plate! Use a doubles wing for your doubles and a single wing for your singles! Same BP, but now you can change the bladder to meet your specific needs.

 

[njclifford]

Thanks for the quick response!! I understood that I would need a bigger wing for doubles, but was just curious whether people had a bigger steel for single tank, and then smaller Al tanks for doubles.

Also are you using a SS or lighter backplate?

Thanks!

 

[LouieLouie]

Up here in dry-suit land, people generally go for the heaviest available SS backplate and steel doubles to reduce the amount of weight one needs to carry. A typical setup would include a 2kg SS Halcyon backplate, 2x12/232 EtS doubles and a 2kg tailweight. AL tanks are only used for stage bottles.

 

[TSandM]

The Fabers are too heavy to double up well. But I would assume that, even when you start diving doubles, that you might want to have the ability to dive a single tank from time to time (I certainly do). So you can keep the Fabers for single tank use, and get something less negative for doubles. Al80s work well in relatively warm water; less negative steels (Worthington HP100s, for example) work well for colder salt water.

 

[LKMIDiver]

I have double faber fx HP100's, with a SS back plate, and my drysuit with my normal thick undergarments I am perfectly weighted. with my double LP72's I have to add an 8 lb soft weight between the tanks and the plate.

I have heard the fabers with the 3180psi working pressure are lead anchors if you double them.

Just my 2 cents

Nate

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Clarification is needed here.

The Faber FX-100's are in the same ballpark as the PST E7-100's and the Worthington X7-100's and all three make great doubles.

The Faber mid pressure (3180 psi, 3498 psi with a 10% overfill) are, as stated above, too negatively buoyant for efficent use as doubles.

My thoughts are to buy it right the first time and never have to replace it.

 

[piikki]

The best thing to do is to get what works best for singles (now) and not worry whether or not they will work best for doubles (next). It’s tempting to try to get something that is halfway here and halfway there and not great for either.

When you eventually move into doubles you will most likely notice that you will want and need new wing (definitely), a second back plate (most likely) and more tanks. Most people own more than two tanks by the time they move to doubles and many dive both single and double set ups too – and nobody will de-rig doubles between dives.

Otherwise what DA says is worth paying extra attention to. It might be that only the older Faber tanks are cheaper there in Aus. They are not the most ideal tanks to get, although for coldwater single tank diving some of them will work quite nicely. If you know for sure you are going to double these tanks up, personally, I would avoid the old Faber 3180s.

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks for the quick response!! I understood that I would need a bigger wing for doubles, but was just curious whether people had a bigger steel for single tank, and then smaller Al tanks for doubles.

Also are you using a SS or lighter backplate?

Thanks!

Actually, I travel a lot, so I use a Kydex plate by Deep Sea Supply to keep my travel weight at a minimum. Even then, I don't use any weight with my HP120 tanks, even in a dry suit.

 

[gxsr_sarge]

The best thing to do is to get what works best for singles (now) and not worry whether or not they will work best for doubles (next). ItÃÔ tempting to try to get something that is halfway here and halfway there and not great for either.

I agree. The likelihood is that over the years you'll end up with a "tank collection". I have about a dozen or so for tech, rec, reef, deep, wreck, cave, family, solo, deco/no deco, wet/dry, etc..... As far as wings, I just use a 30# for single tank(whether AL or Steel) and a 40# or 60# for my twin AL80 or twin LP108's, respectively. I only have one SS Halcyon BP that I use for every possible configuration.

When you switch to doubles, what rig you get will largely depend upon what type of dives/training you'll do. One thing that's for sure is that there is no one set-up that suits every type of dive ... unless you only plan on doing one particular type of dive.