Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a nitrogen tank and an HPA tank? Basically, they are the same. Technically, they are prepared in a different method. But why are gun stores and hobby shops tend to sell them under the name HPA rather than nitrogen tanks? Is it because more people go for the trendy “acronymized” names in the mainstream today, like USB or MP3 and stuff like that? Let’s find out why.

In the past decade, nitrogen tanks have been dubbed as HPA tanks or, broken down, it means “High Pressure Air” tank. It sometimes arrives funny to old and veteran airsoft gun enthusiasts that youngsters and newbie’s prefer to buy HPA’s rather than those named with “nitrogen tank” when in fact they mean actually the same.

Like what we said, the only difference between the two is that the process of preparing them is different or it is more appropriate to say that the process is modified. Nitrogen tanks are prepared by injecting genuine nitrogen (that’s why it’s also called a liquid nitrogen tank) into a highly compressed state which allows the force it produces to propel a pellet at an astounding speed enough to pierce human skin. Today, due to the definitive resources that are cheaper, manufacturers replaced the content of airsoft and paintball nitrogen tanks with plain air which is just 75% nitrogen. This is the main reason why the name was changed to “High Pressure Air.”
True to the name, the use of ordinary air also led to cheaper nitrogen tanks which are not actually 100% nitrogen. Those airsoft enthusiasts who are very learned in the sport could easily detect the difference between a genuine nitrogen tank and an HPA. Still, the point is that the nitrogen tank evolved into just another nitrogen tank, but with a disparity in percentage.

It is somehow funny that people are choosing HPA over nitrogen air tanks just because of a cooler – sounding name. The trend of downgrading a product a fourth of the total effectiveness and naming it with a mainstream term can really do a dumbfounding effect on the popularity of the product in a sarcastic point of view. Yet it is important that you know what the major difference and striking truths about these issues are so that you would be guided in choosing the right gear for your hobby.

The next time you go out looking for a refill of your nitrogen tank, find a retail store that offers genuine nitrogen. The force that comes out of that tank largely depends on the particles of the main atmospheric gas which is nitrogen – so it basically means that a 100% nitrogen tank could make more meters/second than your regular “high pressure air” tank.

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