anyone here in florida diving a steel 120?

[911_abuser]

if so how do you like it? i generaly dont wear any exposure protection and wanted to know what its like. im a tall guy so the weight wont bother me. just curious about what its like.

fernando=-)

 

[MikeJacobs]

911_abuser once bubbled... if so how do you like it? i generaly dont wear any exposure protection and wanted to know what its like. im a tall guy so the weight wont bother me. just curious about what its like.

Wow - just bought two PST 80's (series e) high pressure tanks and have been diving almost every day with them for nearly a month. The "Wow" part is that I was just talking to two divers who were using a steel 100 and a steel 120, and though I'm happy with mine, they get a hell of a lot of reef time and thought the weight was more than worth the trade-off.

FYI The 80's are very manageable - lighter by 11 pounds than aluminum and never positively bouyant. I dropped my weight by more than half (almost 2/3s). I hardly notice them coming back up the shore, even now when the storm has cut a 1+ foot drop at the surf line with irregular sand in the surf zone. They're much shorter and bigger around, so they don't tip while I'm setting up.

With the steels I had to re-learn bouyancy control - can't say why they're different but they are. I began to roll but my body/mind have compensated and there's no problem any longer. Even with only 6# now I can drop like a stone - I like that.

Air is more expensive, but here's the thing about your 120's - you'll be able to do more dives on a single tank. I'm getting 2 shallow 1.25-1.5 hour dives from the 80s. A dive card helps a lot.

OH, and FYI on the dive card, think about how many people have you on their gift list - my sisters know now not to send presents for birthdays and Christmas, but instead to call the dive shop and buy me air! I pre-paid for 100 fills, so I don't think I'll ever have to pay for air again once they get in the habit.

If you are going to have them set up for nitrox, you should know that your dealer is probably going to have to install something in addition - maybe just an 'o' ring but they made it sound like a big free bonus they were giving me...

Also, with hi pressure for some reason (maybe they're in a hurry?) your fills can be short. Maybe its because they get hotter and when they cool of course the pressure is less. I had to make a scene to get them to remember, and now they give me a little more.

I know this isn't all specific to the 120s, but based on my experience you'll be happy. If you don't need the bottom time, you might consider the hi-pressure 80s. Seems like if you're going to go above 80, though, you might as well do the 120s.

Best of luck! Let us all know what you find out!

 

[911_abuser]

thanks mike jacobs for the info. i have some more questions though. i dove yesterday morning off commercial and got 1 hour and 10 minutes from the tank after going from the beach to the second reef and back again. you said you get 1.25 - 1.5 hours. is that from one dive or two? or are you getting 2 dives per tank? i didnt understand that part.

also do i want high pressure or low pressure?

what else should i be looking for and why is it that steel gets more air? is it that it holds more?

 

[MikeJacobs]

... wouldn't be worth your time! I sweated the purchase - high pressure 80's cost $250 - but have learned to trust Bill at Scuba School & Dive Center and he was right, IMO, and I'm very VERY pleased with the tanks.

I get nearly 3 hours on the Commercial Pier reefs with a hi-pressure steel 80. There are four reasons:

I do two dives each tank, so end up not wasting anything but about 150-200 lbs... on one longer dive I'd probably come up with less than 1,000 or so and have to fill.

The dives are shallow - no more than 20 feet and mostly hovering at 15 or so.

I've been diving a long time and am very relaxed with good bouyancy control.

Finally, this is just my opinion but I think the smaller tank combined with less weight makes a big difference. I only began to compete with Jenny's bottom time when I bought the 80s (Jenny must have bird lungs lol).

I made my decision comparing them side by side at Scuba School & Dive Center on Oakland Park at A1A. Bill or Mike can explain all the pos/neg issues. One is price - PST series e 80s cost $250 each. I thought the smaller profile, lighter weight, and easier handling was worth the price.

Next time you plan a dive here let me know and I'll be glad to let you try one (just comp me for the fill $7).

 

[TropicalDiver]

Love them too!

Just "invested" about $1,000 to get 4 steel 120s. Got them used... With them and using Nitrox, we have to come up based on deco time remaining rather than air left in the tank. Can also get 2 dives on 1 tank if you dive with buddies using Al 80s...or want to do shorter dives. I may not even have to carry any weight now, still figuring it out...

 

[USAF Diver]

I'm not diving 120s. I am diving a LP 131. It helps that I'm 6'3" It's not too big for me. It's much less awkward than double tanks IMHO.

 

[911_abuser]

so do i want high pressure or low pressure?

 

[Genesis]

may leave you quite heavy.

If NOTHING else in your kit is negative, you may be ok. Maybe.

 

[seaangel]

No one has mentioned the possibility of steel 100's to you. That is also a good tank. It is a tad shorter that the 120, not much. I use 100's for most of my diving, but on some of my liveaboard trips I use a 120. We all dive based on our bottom time and also on air left, watching for both. We always return by the one that has the lower potential. In other words there have been some dives that I had alot of bottom time but my air was at 1000, that means time to surface for us. We use 1000 as the air cut off. Also, if bottom time enters a single digit ie: 9 minutes it is time to go. Preferably we don't enter that and start ascent at 11-12minutes. I personally have not seen that I have any more bottom time with the 120 than the 100, and I don't think my air consumption has been any different. On the average I have more air left than others in my group when diving. I return from most dives with about 800 to 900 left. If we do a shallow dive I have returned with as much as 1200 in a tank and that has been after 1 hour.

One of the best features has been less need for weights, I now use 6lbs with a 1.5mil wetsuit and 8lbs with 3mil. I think though that I can lower that amount. I have found it varies also, with other conditions that I dive as to how much weight is needed. One thing to remember though if you get use to the steel and use less weight if you ever travel and have to rent al tanks do a weight check dive before you get out on a dive trip. Thinking you will use the same weight can be really dangerous.

My tanks are all high pressure can't really tell you what makes it better. I do love the DIN valve though, I feel it is a much better seal to it.


All of the steel tanks that I use are high pressure, except our dive shop does rent some steel low pressure tanks.


Good luck, it is your choice.

 

[Genesis]

For the PST E-series HP tanks you can reliably remove or replace 5 lbs going from a single "normal" AL80 to or from a single steel HP of any size (80, 100 or 120.) I dive both and this is the formula I use - it works well.

The HP100s are a very nice size. They almost "disappear" on your back. Some people don't care for the 120s, as they are a bit longer than an AL80 and for some folks they get in the way of their butt.

On the other hand the HP100s have a second problem, which is that they are significantly SHORTER than an AL80, and if you are gearing up where you can sit down they can actually pull you BACKWARDS since they are so short - which can be a bit disconcerting at first

I really like the HP100s for single-tank diving w/Nitrox; they are good at just about any depth if your SAC is reasonable, and will almost always result in you running out of bottom time before gas. They trim nicer than an AL80 too, IMHO.