Thinking of buying (steel) tanks

[Rainer]

I'd like to buy (and thus stop having to rent) tanks in the next week. I mostly shore dive (Cape Ann), but also do about 20% boat dives (BHDC and CAD). Having rented Faber 72s for much of the summer I know that (1) I want to buy steel tanks, and (2) that I want larger tanks. I've been considering getting either two HP 100s, two HP 119s, or one HP 100 and one HP 119. What are the rest of you using for shore and boat dives? I tried a LP 95 last night (I believe it's the same size as the HP 119) and had no trouble walking it down to the beach at Old Garden. It was more than enough air (an hour long dive at 12'-20' with about half my air left at the end). Was thinking I could just use a single 119 for two shore dives (or the 100 if I knew I was only doing one dive). Thoughts? Also, what prices would you pay for these tanks (if you'd rather PM, please do!). Thanks!

 

[Mo2vation]

I'd like to buy (and thus stop having to rent) tanks in the next week. I mostly shore dive (Cape Ann), but also do about 20% boat dives (BHDC and CAD). Having rented Faber 72s for much of the summer I know that (1) I want to buy steel tanks, and (2) that I want larger tanks. I've been considering getting either two HP 100s, two HP 119s, or one HP 100 and one HP 119. What are the rest of you using for shore and boat dives? I tried a LP 95 last night (I believe it's the same size as the HP 119) and had no trouble walking it down to the beach at Old Garden. It was more than enough air (an hour long dive at 12'-20' with about half my air left at the end). Was thinking I could just use a single 119 for two shore dives (or the 100 if I knew I was only doing one dive). Thoughts? Also, what prices would you pay for these tanks (if you'd rather PM, please do!). Thanks!

I'm a SoCal.

I do boat diving in cold water. I do lots of shore diving in cold water.

Tank selection, I mean choosing a tank you'll be crazy-go nuts over is an important decision. A good steel tank will last decades. They're expensive, but their cost-per-dive over their lifetime will be pennies if you dive them often.

With a steel tank, its more than a place for your gas. Its also an integral part of your buoyancy, balance, trim and comfort.

There are a lot of things to consider - diving style, dive objectives, gas volume desired, and in my opinion the most overlooked factor, your body type and size. Are you tall and thin? Are you tall and no-so-thin? Are you short and strong? Are you tiny and spry? All of these matter a great deal when selecting a tank.

For me, I knew this going in:

I'm not big. 5'8" 165-ish. I'm very strong. I wanted max bottom time. I dive a drysuit year round. I do lots of boat diving, more shore diving (now.) I want a DIN valve, and I want to lose some of the lead I carry.

For me, it was a no brainer. I got the 130. Then another one. And now, most of my dive buddies and tons of us SoCal's dive them. It simply was the only tank that met all my needs. I dived the 119 and hated it - the geometry wasn't right for me. I dived the HP 100 for awhile, but on a boat that only fills to 2800 - 3000 I was getting about the same gas as an AL80. That blows. 72's require too much weight for me (double the lead of the 130) and who wants half the gas?

Getting a 130 up long stairs, in and out of the surf and stuff is a no brainer for me. Its simply the perfect tank for me, and I have zero regrets. I've had them since 2003 and they're among the wiser investments I've made in Scuba.

Unless you're very small (less than 5'5") I would highly encourage you to give the 130 a look.

---
Ken

 

[EvilSlumLord]

Steel HP100 for me so far. Ken makes some good points about the selection process as well. I definitely agree with the call to go steel. I dove AL initially but haven't looked back since moving to steel. It might be worth renting/borrowing the different sizes if you can to see what works best for your situation. Like many things in scuba in comes down a lot to personal preferences vs. the one "right" answer.

 

[scubastew]

HP100's!!!! any bigger is just too damn big especially for beach diving also unless you are drysuit diving most often you are going to start getting chilly after 50 minutes (give or take), so you may never really use all that extra air unless you are a big air consumer...

 

[Rainer]

Thanks for the responses so far! Just for reference, I'm 6'0", about 165 lbs (slim). Right now I'm diving wet, but will probably go dry by early next year. I'm not too worried about running low on air for the local shore dives (most sites are shallow enough where time and cold dictate coming out, not remaining air as scubastew notes). That said, I'd really like to get more BT for the deeper boat dives (Poling, Half Way Rock, SNL, etc), especally when using nitrox. What kind of BTs are people getting on 100s? Also, at some point (few years?) I'd like to go to doubles (for boat diving only!). What are people's experiences with double 100s vs. double 119s? Thanks!

 

[Gorilla Diver]

Just bought a faber HP117 from Randy at techdivingunlimited (found him in the classifieds here) He was a great source of info and I got a good price as well. (Thanks Randy!)

Love the tank and not having to stuff my BC full of lead. Won't go back to al tanks except when forced to while traveling.

 

[johnnyseko]

So do we all agree to go with HP? I cant wait to get rid of my AL80s...or at least double them.

 

[Mo2vation]

So do we all agree to go with HP? I cant wait to get rid of my AL80s...or at least double them.

A small HP (like a 100) is just silly if you're not a small chick.

Moving from a 100 to a 130 isn't that big of a deal. Honestly. Its a few pounds. And the volume of gas you get from the same pressure is dramatically different. It may not seem like it at 110 feet, but at the end of the dive, when you're in 30 or 20 feet, an extra 20 to 30CF makes a HUGE difference. It adds significant time to the back of the dive (not the front) and that adds up to a margin of safety.

HP100's make good tanks for small ladies, or Kayak diving. Other than that, I can't ever see a guy using one if your objective is mad BT and favourable buoyancy and balance.

---
Ken

 

[cobaltblue]

I dive HP 100's and haven't had a situation where I wanted more air. Even on the deeper dives, I ran out of NDL time WAY before air was even a concern. I dive in Lake Michigan and I can't stay in even at 60 or 70 feet long enough to run low on air. I get cold too fast, even dry with custom undies.

BTW, I may have two HP 100 Genisis tanks for sale. My wife is going to switch to 80's for the same reason as stated above.

 

[rjack321]

Ken, what's your SAC?

I dive LP95s filled to 2800-2900 and get a good 50 minutes out of them. I come up with 1000 psi most times. My SAC is about 0.5 cf/min in a single.

I have some HP119s, but I can almost never get them low enough to PP fill them (at home) since I don't have a booster. So I end up dumping some gas or only filling them to 3000. If I had 130s, those issues would be exacerbated.

I also have double HP100s and like those for tech dives.