At what point do you buy a tank?

[DMDavid]

I don't know if they still have them but Divers Direct in West Palm has two barely used tanks for $125.

 

[freewillie]

Good advice with the craigslist suggestion

What kind of stinks (this is ignoring your patience suggestion ), is that I want to dive the day I get down to florida, and probably won't have the oppurtunity to wait for a tank to be hydro'd and whatever else it needs.

Maybe ill buy one new (to hold me over), and then scour craigslist as much as possible
it seems that the more tanks you own, the more you'd have to dive for it to be worth it. So instead of my theoretical 48 dives for the ONE tank to pay for itself (yearly), it'd have to be 96 dives for TWO tanks to pay for themselves (this is in the first year)
Now that i'm thinking about it, that might not be that hard to achieve

You could always rent locally until you locate your tanks.

 

[diveprof]

OK an important question. Do you have plans to dive local or more frequently? If you are talking just one dive trip south each year - rent the tanks. IF you are diving local too or planning multiple trips where you will be driving and diving - tanks make more sense. However, I would look at the worthington steel 100s (or 120s if needed) and think nitrox too to get the biggest bang for your buck.

 

[blackvans1234]

OK an important question. Do you have plans to dive local or more frequently? If you are talking just one dive trip south each year - rent the tanks. IF you are diving local too or planning multiple trips where you will be driving and diving - tanks make more sense. However, I would look at the worthington steel 100s (or 120s if needed) and think nitrox too to get the biggest bang for your buck.

I don't think you read my original post


Yes I will be diving as much as possible when I get there. No its not a one week vacation.

 

[scubadiveilat]

If considering to purchase a tank? You've done the math if you dive frequently it's an excellent investment. Definitely! propose to the LDS to offer you free air. 10 fills or more even. Air doesn't much. Apart from that you'll be a returning customer.

The disadvantage of having a tank is that you can't travel with it. It's not worth it! For the purpose of in land non traveling I'd purchase it's an excellent investment for a frequent diver.

Have fun and enjoy!

 

[BVickery]

For me, as far as being 'worth it', I tend to view the rental rate as cumulative instead of by 'year'. A lot of people make a big deal about the maintenance for the tank being expensive. But locally its only $14 for the yearly VIP and $50 for a Hydro+VIP+Air fill. To look at it just of 'do I dive enough this year to buy a tank' should be "can buying a tank INCREASE my diving" and look at it honestly.

If you buy a brand new AL80 for about $170, and for me, 5yrs of maintenance is another $100 so if you spread the 'cost of tank' over 5yrs would come out to $55/yr. After this initial outlay, I should look at the cost of Hydro+VIP every 5 yrs, which would come out to about $20/yr (which is just 2 rentals days /yr).

If I then be honest and see if I want to go out diving, the cost is going to be 2 days rental @ $20 for 1 tank ($10/day for 2 days). I am not including air fills since I will have to pay for them whether I am going to rent or own. If I dive once a month ($20rental each time) thats $240 and it pays for the tank and almost ALL of the maintenance for the next 5 years (VIP + Hydro).

 

[Mizer67]

To expand on a previous post, you should think hard before buying ANY aluminum tank pre 1990. I know it is just one alloy that was bad, but most of the LFS's around here threw out the baby with the bath water and refuse to fill any pre 90 AL, even with a current hydro / eddy test. Make sure before you plunk down the cash that you have a shop (or buddy with a compressor) that will fill them. Good luck deciding.

 

[TSandM]

I wouldn't push someone to buy steel tanks in Florida. Although an Al80 will take some dive planning, if you're going to do some of the square profile reef dives we did when we were there, you can certainly dive aluminum in that warm water, and aluminum tanks are cheap. You'd actually be better off, from a buoyancy standpoint, with double Al80s, than with large steel tanks!

In doing a financial analysis of buying tanks, you have to figure out how to assign a dollar value to two things: One is the ability to go diving when YOU want to go diving, without being dependent on shop hours to pick up and return a tank. And the other is the increased comfort and facility with diving that you get from going more often. Buying tanks is a capital investment; filling them is operating budget. Unless you are so broke that you have to borrow the next several months of fills from operating to make the acquisition, you are at least going to pencil out. Fills will be cheaper than rental, and tanks, particularly if bought used, will hold their value and be eminently resellable.

To a scuba diver, buying a first tank is a slippery slope. It's like the little old lady who starts off with one cat and gets another to keep it company. Pretty soon she's got a house full of cats, and she's known in the neighborhood as the "cat lady."

I started with two LP95s . . . The last time I counted, we had 24 tanks.

 

[RTee]

Independence and freedom are priceless. However, only you know what you can and cannot afford. If in doubt, postpone the purchase and just rent. I personally tend to think that if you intend to dive regularly and fairly often, it will be cheaper for you to have your own tanks overall.

It also becomes a vicious cycle ...and a good one I may add as having your own equipment will motivate you to go out there and dive more often, one because you can do so and two...remorse because if you don't then you end up with all that money sitting in your basement with no return on investment.

Size and type. Again, only you know what type of diving you might have in mind. Air to a diver is like fuel to an airplane you never have too much (unless you are on fire of course). If you can find affordable and good condition 100cft then that would be my choice especially if at some point in time you are considering diving down to 100 ft or so plus the fact that you can shed some weight off your belt.

BTW, it is not everybody who ends up collecting diving tanks the way some women collect shoes or purses. The majority are folks heavily involved in scuba diving either as instructors or tech divers and then they orient their purchase toward ery specific purpose. Others just let their feminine genes take over ...lol.

 

[tr3a]

For hydros & Visuals find a local DOT Hydro tester and take your tanks in. The cost of a Hydro (which include the Visual) is usually only 15.00 - 20.00 if you go straight to the tester. You can also get yearly visuals from most Hydro places for around 3.00 - 5.00 (and they are DOT certified).
When you go to a dive shop the shop just sends the tank out. When they get it back and Visual it they are doing a Visual on a tank that has just been visually inspected, you are paying twice. The Visual is part of the Hydro procedure.