At what point do you buy a tank?

[brucetrinity]

I'm not sure this was mentioned but most shops sell a discounted "air card" (X fills for $$). If you are primarily diving (or living near) a single location this can save you some money. The other consideration is how many dives you can do on a tank ... if you dive Blue Heron Bridge you can probably get 2 dives (2 days) on one tank .... makes owning a tank a better idea. That said, I live in FL (but I'm 1 hour from decent diving) and own 2 tanks. If I drive more than 2 hours to drive I rent. Most dive ops (boat) charge $10/tank for air and $15/tank for EAN. For me, avoiding the hassle and extra weight in the car for a long trip is worth the few extra bucks.

 

[Jaydubya]

I was thinking about this some more last night. I've come to the conclusion that even though the numbers say owning tanks is cheaper for me, it has in fact been way more expensive. What people forget to factor in is that when you own all your own gear you are going to dive a lot more. This means you will spend more on fills, replacing lost and broken equipment, charter fees, additional training, and eventually trips out of town to see some new things. It's a vicious cycle. If you are interested in saving money it's better not to dive at all.

In short, owning my own tanks has indeed lowered the marginal cost of diving but I have made up for that savings in volume.

 

[BVickery]

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!

Question though, what about a diver who is my size (6'7), would the same hold true in the AL vs. Steel debate? I've been told by many divers that since I'm so tall I would benefit greater from a longer steel tank to trim out better. Also, using some steel will also cut some extra lead from my weight belt. The extra benefit to me is the immediate increase in bottom time for the benefit of my dive partners (who are shaping up to be females w/ varying degrees of dives under their belt). I make this comment since some have said in a prior thread of mine that to try and have the same bottom time as my ex, on AL80's would be nearly fruitless since she is 1) a woman 2) shorter than me and 3) her gas consumption would also increase with dives.

 

[fjpatrum]

I bought used tanks on craigslist, otherwise I wouldn't have any yet. I bought 3 tanks for $60 (total) and then had them inspected for a total cost of approximately $250 if I remember correctly. Either way, I consider the purchase worth it, even buying new tanks, even if it takes a lot of dives because I figure you're more likely to go and dive if you don't have rental gear to pick up/drop off in order to dive.

For what it's worth, my last trip to Florida I rented a full kit from Undersea Sports (Fort Lauderdale) for one day and a tank for the rest of the week. I don't think I was ever charged for the tank rental or the air fills (3 of them). I did spend a couple hundred dollars in the shop outside of rentals, though.

 

[Splitlip]

I dive steel. My 100's are 2.5 # negative when empty. They are smaller than an Al 80 and weigh the same but carry about 30% more gas.

I take weight off my belt and trim out better. Wearing steels one is less likely to face plant at the surface when diving a back inflate.

 

[Splitlip]

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.

You'll be buying a couple tanks shortly. In Boca you'll be about half way between the areas 2 best shore dives and you will want to keep a couple charged cylinders on hand. As somebody mentioned, you'll get more than one dive at the BHB with a tank. No use paying 2 or 3 rental tanks if you don't need to.

Not to mention all of the dive charters from Jupiter to Lauderdale. People I know that moved here recently bought there own tanks and they payed for themselves within a couple years.

Try renting some steel cylinders, you may like them.

 

[Chris Horn]

If you want it....get it....its your money, your dive. I own four, I had an AL80 that came with my "package" I got when I started. Myself and buddy then bought out a place that had several used tanks, I ended up with 2 steel 2150, and a short AL tank. He ended up with an AL80 and a steel as well. We have about 60 bucks in each of them before the second viz. Turns out, I dont like the steel tanks and am going to sell them and buy another AL80.
For me its convenience, they do not pay for them self, as there is no way I can get that many dives in usually. But, I "want" them. Just yesterday, I found out I was going to be down by Beaver lake in Arkansas and my day would end down there, so I packed my gear and brought it to work with me. When they day was done, I got to do an hour shore dive. Sinse it was early when I left and late when I returned, I did not have to go the day before and rent a tank, and don't have to go back today to drop it off....thats worth $10 bucks a year (viz) to me.
Like I said, do what you want, its your money.

 

[txapacheguy]

All mentions of tank acquisition being a sickness were absolutely correct!!!

I started about a year ago gathering up all my own gear. I picked up an old AL80 from craigslist for about 20 bucks, and promptly dropped it off for vis and hydro. For a total of about 50 or 55 dollars, I had my first tank, and used it to fiddle with a few regulators I had picked up. After obtaining another AL80 by the same means, I decided that I wanted a "pony bottle". I ended up buying one from my LDS when they had a sale going on. Since then, I have obtained another used AL19 pony, three sets of doubles, two or three more AL80s, two stage/deco bottles, and a drysuit inflation bottle. Of the used tanks I have purchased from craigslist and put through hydro and vis, only one has failed thus far. I have not paid more than thirty dollars for any AL80 on an expired hydro.

I have gained nothing from these acquisitions besides freedom from renting. The shop I do most of my business with can rent me a set or two of AL80 doubles and stage/deco bottles any time I need them, and the rental fee would probably be equal to or less than the cost of a visual inspection and fill on one of my sets of doubles. I do not like having to coordinate with a shop to go diving though...

Everyone else had said that you should do what you want, and what you can afford. For recreational diving purposes, keeping a couple of single tanks around sounds like a meager investment in the big scheme of things if you consider the freedom having your own breathing gas supply can give you. It would be worth it to me if I lived in an area with lots of nearby diving to have two tanks on hand just for the purpose of being able to go diving (and supply a tank for a buddy) at a moment's notice.

DO NOT START OBTAINING TANKS UNLESS YOU WANT A GARAGE FULL OF THEM!!!

Safe Diving!!!

 

[cruiser]

I bought 2 tanks when the free air and free tanks deal ran out at my LDS. I still had free air, so would get my own tanks filled and head to the local quarry. Then at day's end I'd head back to the LDS and get them filled for the next day. At this point I realized that if I had 4 tanks instead of 2, I'd be set for the weekend. So I bought 2 more. Now when my tanks are empty, I take all 4 in, get them refilled, and I'm ready for the next weekend.

Buying tanks was the natural progression of things. Once I bought tanks, my kit was complete.

 

[reo]

So for the average, on vacation diver, I'm fully aware the it is totally a bad investment to buy a tank.
I will be DRIVING from NY to Boca Raton Florida, and I'm considering buying an AL80

Ive seen them for about 160, so we'll say 175 after tax and whatnot.
For a tank rental, it'd be $10
A tank fill (if you own one) would be $5
so owning a tank would save you $5 per dive, which means I would need to dive at least 35 times before I started benefiting from this tank purchase.
I plan on SHORE diving as often as possible in Florida (which may amount to Sat/Sun shore dives, and maybe one during the week)

Do you think I should buy a tank?

Another consideration I'm having is trying to get the LDS I buy the tank from to give me 5 or so free fills, do you think they'd go for that?
It may even be common practice, IDK

thanks!

You have to look at the big picture. Figure costs of renting vs costs of ownership. Also figure in what you really want to do. Owning tanks, you'll have the annual vis, hydro every 5 years, plus the initial cost of the tanks. You'll also be able to dive on the spur of the moment, even when the dive shops are closed. Also, during mini season, many shops will run out of rental tanks, leaving you unable to pursue lobster if you have to rent tanks. You'll make half as many trips to the dive shop, with rentals, you have to pick up the tanks, then drop them off, where as with your own tanks, you only have to go to the shop to get the tanks filled.

For me, the convenience and time saved by not having to make two trips to the dive shop vs one trip made it easy to decide to buy tanks. Also, having my own tanks lets me dive a couple of times week. I don't think I would dive as much if I had to rent a tank every time I decided to dive.

Finally, if I change my mind, or something comes up, or the weather turns bad, I can keep my filled tank to dive another day. Rentals have to be returned, whether they are used or not. Some shops won't even give you a refund if you return the tank without having used it.

Bottom line, if you dive only a few times a year, rentals make sense. If dive a lot, and who wouldn't want to, owning tanks makes better sense.

Ron