Which Size Steel Scuba Cylinder Is Right For You?

Divers in cooler temperate waters most commonly use the following three Faber steel tank sizes:

Faber 10.5 Litre (85 cubic foot), 232 bar — This smaller cylinder size is preferred by many women because it's lighter and easier to handle. If you are a diver with a very good surface air consumption rate, as many women are, then this cylinder has enough air capacity for most dives. A pair of these steel tanks is also popular with sidemount divers, and women technical divers.

Faber Standard 12.2 Litre (100 cubic foot), 232 bar — This standard size, 178 mm (7 inch) diameter, cylinder size is used by the vast majority of divers. A pair of these cylinders is also the most common choice for technical divers.

Faber Standard 15.0 Litre (125 cubic foot), 232 bar — This larger size, 204 mm (8 inch), cylinder size is the choice of divers with a poor surface air consumption rate. However, it's larger size and weight makes it awkward for many divers to use.

Faber 3 Litre (25 cubic foot), 232 bar, 100 mm (3.9 inch) diameter, are the popular choice of rebreather divers.

Low and High Pressure Steel Scuba Diving Cylinders

Faber Low-Pressure Steel — 232 bar — Lighter on land than standard aluminium scuba cylinders, these Faber 232 bar steel cylinders feature a higher working pressure than most aluminium cylinders, thus delivery a larger gas capacity for the same internal volume. The 232 bar Faber cylinders come equipped with a DIN/K type valve that easily converts back and forth depending on the type of First-Stage Regulator to be used in conjunction with the cylinder increasing the versatility of the tank. When diving with these cylinders less weight is needed, making them perfect for divers that use drysuits, or wetsuit divers in cold/temperate waters. The Faber steel cylinders are popular for cave diving and have a strong following among technical divers everywhere. The average working pressure is 232 bar.

Faber High-Pressure Steel — 300 bar — Much heavier than standard aluminium and steel scuba cylinders, these Faber 300 bar steel cylinders use much higher working pressure to provide a huge gas capacity in a small size. Like their low-pressure steel cousins, less weight is needed with these cylinders. A favourite with wreck divers, the average working pressure is 300 bar.

Faber is the leading manufacturer of steel scuba cylinders in the world and is the market leader in Europe and Australia where diving with steel cylinders is the norm. Faber's cylinders are manufactured from deep drawn 34CRMO4 Chromium Molybdenum steel plates to ANSI specifications. This process results in a light cylinder with the right buoyancy characteristics allowing the diver to reduce the amount of weight from their weight-belt. The interior of the cylinders are shot-blasted followed by their exclusive phosphatised coating which creates a perfectly cleaned internal surface, highly resistant to rust. The exterior of the cylinder is triple protected with zinc spraying, epoxy primer coat and polyurethane finish coat for durability.

The service life of a properly cared for modern steel scuba cylinder is widely considered to be 50 years or more. The service life of a properly cared for aluminium cylinder is more controversial. Most dive shops, including The Scuba Doctor, won't fill an aluminium tank manufactured before 1990.

The Scuba Doctor carries an extensive selection of Faber steel cylinder sizes starting with the 2 litre (16 cubic foot) all the way up to the 18 litre (150 cubic foot) cylinder. Faber cylinders are available in 8-inch, 7.25 and 7-inch diameters with working pressures of 232 bar and 300 bar.

All dive cylinders from The Scuba Doctor dive shop are visually inspected and shipped with a current hydrostatic date (except where indicated).

Clifton Springs Piers

Shore Dive | Shore access

Clifton Springs Snorkeller | © Unknown

Level: Open Water and beyond.

Depth: 1 m (3.28 ft) to 4 m (13 ft)

Clifton Springs, Old Swimming Baths is a delightful shore dive, also suitable for snorkellers. A nice night dive site. It's a shallow dive, best done at high tide. Best to use a dive float with a dive flag.

There are three pier ruins in this area near Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula in Port Phillip. To the west are the ruins of the old Short Pier near the boat harbour. In the middle are the ruins of the old Salt Water Bath Pier which had swimming baths at the end. To the east are the ruins of the old (Long) Steamship Pier.

Bottle hunting here is popular but requires skill not to stir up the sand and sediment. Seahorses, nudibranchs, stingrays and pipefish can be found at these piers.

Clifton Springs Night Dive from Allie Beckhurst on Vimeo.

Location: Clifton Springs
MELWAY Ref: Page 456 G5

Ideal Conditions: Best at high tide. Protected from southerly winds. See WillyWeather (Clifton Springs) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Clifton Springs, Old Swimming Baths | © Unknown

Clifton Springs, Old Swimming Baths Dive Sie Map | © The Scuba Doctor

The Sunken Gallery

There are plans to create The Sunken Gallery, an underwater sculpture experience, near this dive site.

The local community and visitors will be able to put on a mask and snorkel in a safe and family-friendly environment and explore the unique colour and diversity of the southern Port Phillip.

It will feature a collection of underwater sculptures, which will become a living and evolving underwater canvas that attracts marine life and changes with the seasons.

Clifton Springs, Old Swimming Baths History

The Salt Water Bath Pier featured a saltwater bath house located at the end of the pier, adjacent to the former manager's house at the western end of the Dell. The date of construction is unknown, however, it does not appear in the illustration from 1879 and is present in a photograph of the Spa House dated c.1891. It is therefore assumed to have been constructed during the 1880s. This pier is included in the Victorian Heritage Register (H2088).

Spearfishing is illegal within 30 metres of any pier or jetty and in Marine National Parks. See Spearfishing Laws.

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

Clifton Springs Piers Location Map

Latitude: 38° 9.177′ S (38.15295° S / 38° 9′ 10.62″ S)
Longitude: 144° 33.726′ E (144.5621° E / 144° 33′ 43.56″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-03-22 14:13:16 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Clifton Springs, Steamship Pier, 599 m, bearing 48°, NE
Bellarine Peninsula.
Depth: 1 to 4 m.

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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.