Tank Size

[dannobee]

...I was totally floored by the huge tanks some of you use. Why do you need 130s and doubles for shore dives?

Don't forget that we can do DEEP shore dives around here. Point Lobos and Monastery can easily get below recreational depths and are popular shore dives.

More depth, more air.

My doubles are LP108's and LP95's, just because I can overfill 'em and stuff even more gas in there.

 

[FishDiver]

The doubles guys do really long deco shore dives. And scooter to greater
than recreational depths.

There are a fair number of folks with doubles. 130s are rare.

I have done really long shore dives but not shores dives that require deco. Another new experience to forward to.

One think I don't think anybody pointed out is that there are at least three
flavors of HP tanks

Faber HP tanks dominate the Australian market share for steel tanks. You rarely see any other brands. I bought an identical tank to the ones I sold for all the reasons stated in this thread. I only bought one in case I decide to buy a 130 or return to doubles.

Do many CA divers use small doubles? I am seeing more divers in OZ with 5 liter (about 60CF) steel tanks doubled. The tanks of choice have the same aspect as a HP 100 but are shorter and have a diameter of about 5.5 inches. They seem to balance nicely in the water. Not gobs of gas but they do offer redundancy.

 

[cmburch]

I am only familiar with the Worthington tanks. I think that these are the same that XSSCUBA markets.

The HP130's are monsters. They are good for boat and easy entry dives that do not require a long hike. I use them for hunting. I had to buy 2 though, so my buddy will also have one.

I dive with more divers that have HP120's and HP130's versus doubles.

For hiking though, I use the HP100. I think it is the best all around tank for shore diving compared to Al80's.

Link to specs: XS Scuba Worthington Steel Cylinder Specifications

 

[nilsdiver]

Do many CA divers use small doubles? I am seeing more divers in OZ with 5 liter (about 60CF) steel tanks doubled. The tanks of choice have the same aspect as a HP 100 but are shorter and have a diameter of about 5.5 inches. They seem to balance nicely in the water. Not gobs of gas but they do offer redundancy.

LP-85 and HP 100 double seem the most popular. 2nd to them is the LP 104 doubles. But that is just from what I have seen. Too big and they get too heavy for shore dives, too small and not enough gas for a deep dive.

 

[FishDiver]

I am looking at a set of LP 95 tanks. Do Norcal dive shops zealously fill to rated pressure or can they be talked into overfilling LP tanks a bit?

 

[spoolin01]

I am looking at a set of LP 95 tanks. Do Norcal dive shops zealously fill to rated pressure or can they be talked into overfilling LP tanks a bit?

I'm erasing the fill rant... I've never asked for an overfill, but at the 3 shops I use here below San Francisco on the peninsula (one is out of business now), I also can't even get a standard fill, cold, on AL80s and not at all with HPs, even after asking! I finally bought a compressor so I could enjoy good air time, and switched to LPs.

 

[Gombessa]

Most shops around here and in Monterey tend to fill to rated pressure. It seems your luck with getting overfills really depends on who's manning the fill station at the time.

 

[rstofer]

I don't have any problem getting full fills on HP 100s at my LDS. Sure, it takes them a little time to cool the tank and top it off but that's what I'm paying for.

Now, what you might get at the beach or on a boat could be a different matter. They may not have the time to waste waiting on the tank to cool. In this case an HP 100 might have only 80 cf of gas. But an 80 cf tank might only have 64 cf and that's a little short.

In the past week, I have bought 4 more HP 100s (total 6) for our small herd of divers. The tanks themselves are fairly light at 33# but when you add 8# of air, they start getting up there. A HP 80 would be 5# lighter but with short fills it just wouldn't have much gas.

Richard

 

[rstofer]

LP 95's weigh 9# more than an HP 100 and hold less gas (not considering overfills and, if I owned the shop, you would never get one). They have essentially the same buoyancy characteristics.

If the refill station doesn't overpressurize the tank, getting a full fill on a 2400 psi tank will be just as problematic as with a 3442 tank. I suppose they could just fill the thing to 3000 psi and, when it cools, it would probably be down around 2400 but I don't know if they do it that way.

Richard

 

[Ben_ca]

I'm erasing the fill rant... I've never asked for an overfill, but at the 3 shops I use here below San Francisco on the peninsula (one is out of business now), I also can't even get a standard fill, cold, on AL80s and not at all with HPs, even after asking! I finally bought a compressor so I could enjoy good air time, and switched to LPs.

Most shops around here and in Monterey tend to fill to rated pressure. It seems your luck with getting overfills really depends on who's manning the fill station at the time.

And it definitely won't happen with an AL80