Twin 108s, 119s, or 130s for wrecks?

[Diesel298]

the biggest thing is. making sure the tanks are gonna be sufficent for the diving your doing and that you see yourself doin inthe forseeable future.
are you doin deco. diving thirds, what depth and how much time.. pick the tank size based on your needs...i personally find my lp98 are ideal for diving 130 giving me ample bottom time while diving thirds, and have enough gas to do my deco in a lost gas situation with my deco gas.
i also use my LP 125s for the shallower wrecks, but i think those will becme dedicated for Mix and deeper stuffthe moral of the story is
tanks are a expensive investment so think it thru what will suit YOUR needs.
try not to make a expensive purchace to find that its inadaquate in a years time as you expand your training and diving

Good Luck

Ray


EDIT: tom makes a good point about beingable to handle what youi get a swell

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Before I could make a recommendation on what size cylinders, you should tell us what type of wreck diving you are planning on doing, what type of training you have, etc. For example, if you are just a recreational diver doing rec dives to 130 feet, then I would say go with twin 80's or maybe even 100's. If, on the other hand, you are planning on doing deeper dives, decompression, and wreck penetration, then you would probably want larger cylinders. Which exact cylinders would be a personal decision based on what you are planning to do, and what you are comfortable with. Just saying that 130's are good for wreck diving is not a very good recommendation without knowing a little more info about you.

If you have not done any training for wreck diving, then I would say hold your horses, take a course, and talk about different gear configurations for wreck diving with your instructor.

 

[PerroneFord]

There is a guy down here who uses twinned LP 66's - leetle tiny baby tanks like something you'd strap on a kid. He had his own shop so he could whatever pressure he wanted in the tanks. That's a rig you can carry with one hand, but he had decades of experience honing his gear.

I just did my nitrox class in a pair of those things. Worked GREAT. Only pumped them to 2400, but it was like have a single 130. Easy to manage, and held plenty of gas for my 60-100ft dives.

I've got twin-80s waiting on me now. We'll see how those do.

 

[California Diver]

also depends on deco gas, if you sling 2 bottles, lets say 50% and 100% you can do a pretty serious dive on a set of lp72s and still have plenty of gas left over. if you put 3500 psi in them thats 200 cu ft. if your using no deco gas or just 100% youll need bigger tanks. i use 108s and 72s. 108s are pretty much the same as 130s except low pressure. if you dont have access to a good fill id recommend the 130s over the 108s or youll be lugging those huge tanks around for nothing. 72s are great because theyre dirt cheap and light. the lp 121s and 125s are ridiculous unless your doing a dive where you need that much gas, lets say a long stay at 300 or something. but how often are you going to be spending 30 minutes + at 300? tanks are expensive so choose wisely.

 

[lamont]

I've got double PST E8-130s and double Worthington X8-119s and they both behave about the same. The 119s may be a little twitchier side-to-side, but they're also just lighter enough than the 130s to feel more managable out of the water...

 

[jswensva]

I'll throw in a vote for the E8-119s. I'm 5'10" and weigh about 152 lbs. and these are no problem for me even on a boat. If you're using them in rec depths, as mentioned, a smaller set of doubles would be a lot easier. BP/W are definitely recommended. I found the 130s to be a bit tall for me.

 

[ageddiver]

Tom speaks my mind as well. My favorite all-purpose doubles are LP 95's that I can crank as needed. They're not too heavy, and I'm not a large person. They seem suitable for all but the most aggressive breathers. I finally got a set of the PST LP108/HP130's for wrecks below 230FSW and they're perfectly manageable, but I go back to the 95's every chance I get. LP 130's are truly monstrous and unwieldy unless you're a large person. Tom's point about the boat is well taken - my buddy (not small) has a pair and we practically need a crane to move him around. The boat captain calls him "T-bottle". He's selling them...

Those big tanks are the ones you use when you REALLY need to, but if this is your first set I'd guess you won't be popping off any 200+ ft dives for a little while, and the smaller LP tanks will be more versatile and manageable for you on the boat. Paired 72's are an interesting thought. I've never seen anyone with them up here - but I'm sure they have a place.

 

[PerroneFord]

Twin 72s seem ideal for recreational depths. A small overpump gets you in the same league as twin 80s, but they are a bit more negative, and smaller. I'd love to have a set for ocean diving. In fact, I may try to do that at some point next year. Probably do twin 108s when I go dry. I'm 6'0 and 235.

 

[lamont]

I've been debating either double Al80s or double hp100s for a small set of doubles. With the v-weight on the double 80s both would be about the same total weight. I also don't like the salt water corrosion issues on the double 80s, I think I'd rather just deal with tumbling the steel tanks occasionally. The 80s probably balance out better though since they're longer with more weight in the butt end of them.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

 

[California Diver]

when i say 72s i mean the old 72s not the new faber 72s those are horrible tanks. the 2250 tanks are awesome. at 3500 psi you have 200 cu ft of gas in a set of tanks thats light and easy to deal with. when my back starts hurting i turn to these tanks, i absoultely love them, not to mention i got my last set set up for 300 dollars. that includes having them hydrod, thermo manifold and highland bands you cant beat that