Plastic Netting?

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

After this weekend's garage sale hunting I've just finalized my tank collection. In the process I've picked up two newer tanks in great shape shape and the paint intact.

I've seen plastic expandable netting on used on tanks to protect the finish. Other than any diving philosophy's sensibilities being offended, is there any real downside to using them?

Marc

 

[jonnythan]

I had one of those on a rental take during a dive in the Hudson. It actually got snagged a few different times. Nothing I wasn't able to handle by moving around a bit, but it was pretty annoying.

Just another 300 little snag points on the least accessible part of your body... don't bother. Protect your tank by not banging it into stuff in the first place

 

[rdriver]

I think they work alright I always cut mine just a tad bit shorter than the shoulder and use some good 3m electrical tape around the top so it doesn't snag on anything.
Rob

 

[cobaltbabe]

They make getting your tank into the BC hard and if something is going to bang your tank that hard it's going to leave a mark anyway.

 

[Warren_L]

I've had no problems with mine so far in the water, but for me it's nice to have on shore especially when laying my rig on rocks or other hard uneven surfaces.

 

[OneBrightGator]

No use for them, they are an extra snag point(s) and can cause your tank to slide out of your cam bands.

Protect your tank by not banging it around in the first place, and strip the paint off because no matter how hard you try you'll compromise the finish and the paint will serve to trap corrosion (this is for alum tanks only though).

Ben

 

[ColdH20diving]

I've used the tank nets in the past, and they always seemed to catch on the cam band putting my tank on. Now I leave them on for transport as it does help protect the finish, and take it off when it's time to use. I use the Halcyon cam buckles and the nets did help keep from scratching the tank....

 

[spurtill]

I'm going to go against what seems to be the general feedback here and say they do have a use. If you use O2 clean tanks they protect the labels. My friend had to go and get his tank re-labelled as his O2 clean sticker got shredded from banging off things. So for tank labels like Nitrox labels or O2 Clean labels they offer some protection.

Personally i prefer the cloth bags for the bottles. They offer all the advantages of the plastic mesh but don't snag on things, and they look better

Shane

 

[chippy]

I find they work fine and I certainly wouldn't chose not to use it!!

I take the boot off the base of the tank, slide the netting on leaving a little extra length at the bottom of the cylinder which then fits inside the boot which is slipped back on. At the top of the cylinder, roll the netting back inside itself and back down the inside of the netting against the cylinder - there's no chance of it then snagging anything.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've used the mesh tank covers on all of my Faber steels (two LP95's and two MP72's). I cannot say I've had any of the difficulties I see listed in here. I've used those particular tanks for well over 600 dives and never had a snag, never had any slippage in the cam bands, and never had any other kind of performance issues. You should be aware that some cam buckles will chew through these covers pretty quickly due to the design of the buckles.

Using these tank covers will increase the necessity for you to rinse your tanks in fresh water after each dive ... something that you should be doing anyway ... because the mesh does tend to trap particulate matter against the tank, and when diving salt water this stuff is usually corrosive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)