HP 119's

[PuyallupCoug]

Who has em and what do you think?

I dive cold water (Puget Sound) and I'm a fairly big air hog. I've been renting AL 80's but they are a bit long on me (i'm only 5'6) and my bottom times are a lot less than my buddies who have bigger tanks. I know I need to work on my SAC rate but just wanted to see if someone of my stature uses HP 119 and likes them as far as width, height etc.

Thanks!

[CompuDude]

I'm hardly your stature, but I like my HP119 a lot.

It's the same height as an HP100, but 8" wide instead of 7.25". This can be an issue on some boats if they're not set up for 8" tanks, but locally this is not generally a problem. It can be a hassle to switch back and forth from 7.25 to 8" if you need to. The extra gas is very nice, though, especially on boat dives where the significant extra weight of the tank is not as much of an issue, compared to shore dives.

On the downside, if you're having trouble with the length of an Al.80, the HP119 is not going to help much. There's only an inch or two difference between the HP100/119 and the AL.80. And the HP119 is a LOT heavier.

If tank length is a real problem for you, you might want to look at the HP80 instead. Not as much gas, but your consumption rate will improve as you gain experience, especially since you're fairly small. (Smaller people tend to use less gas.) You're new still, so you have a good curve coming up over the next 25-75 dives or so where you'll be much more comfortable underwater and your consumption rate should fall noticeably.