When are tanks worth the $?

[Tekkie]

Hey,
I was just wondering why you got your first tank. Were you starting Tech diving and you needed doubbles, were you tired of the standard Al 80 or are you cheap and you didn't want to spend the money to rent a tank at the LDS for every trip to the local quarry? Also what type of tank did you get?
Tekkie

 

[Spectre]

I bought tanks so that I could wake up ni the morning and decide to go diving without having to deal with getting stuff. Also I didn't want to have to have a financial impact to calling a dive on a questionable day ("I'm paying to rent this stuff.. I'm using 'em dammit!").

 

[GeekDiver]

It was too cheap not to buy my tanks. I bought 2 AL80 tanks for $169. With each tank I received an air card worth 20 fills @ $6 a fill that comes out to $169-$120=$49. To rent a tank cost $10 to rent so I only had to make 5 dive each to have them pay off. I have made well over 5 dives on each tank. Now when I want to go dive I just go and the only cost is gas and possibly air depending on where I fill my tanks. My next tanks will be larger.

 

[Scubatooth]

geek were did you get prices like that for tanks? please pm me thatinfo because im in the market for some tanks

also are you planning on coming to the tsdt event on PK at the end of the month ?

 

[large_diver]

With me it was almost more about convenience than the $$$.

- When you rent tanks, you have to make 2 trips to the LDS per dive trip (one to pick up the tanks and one to drop them back off); when you own your own tanks, you cut this to one

- Size availability -- many shops only rent AL 80s.

- With your own tanks, you are less at the mercy of dive shop hours, since you can fill your own tanks days in advance, vs. having to go in the day before or the day of your dives.

 

[plsdiver4377]

Convenience mostly. If I feel like diving I just go, not to mention I have bigger tanks if I want to use them. The only drawback is having to have dedicated Nitrox tanks, but they all get used as frequently as possible.

The cheapest I've gotten (new) AL80's for is $125.00/ea, neutral AL80's $145.00/ea, and AL100's $160.00/ea. It gets expensive.

 

[Tekkie]

How many dives did you have before you invested in a tank?
Tekkie

 

[NJdiver85]

For me it was clearly the convenience factor. Not having to run to the dive shop before they close on Friday to pick up tanks for the weekend was a great benefit. Plus, I get a higher capacity tank (steel HP 100), and I'm always using the same tank, so weighting requirements never change. I guess there is some savings involved with owning your own tank, but with vips, o2 cleaning (I dive nitrox), and relatively infrequent diving (approx 15 dives per year), it will take a long time to make owning more cost effective. I once figured it out- roughly 6-7 years at that rate.

 

[Scubaroo]

Tekkie once bubbled...
How many dives did you have before you invested in a tank?
Tekkie

I've picked up several GOOD used tanks cheap - a LP95 with H valve for $50, and a couple of AL80s for $25 each. Keep your eyes open at garage sales, community advertisement websites, etc. People find them in the garage and dump them cheap to get rid of them.

 

[plsdiver4377]

Tekkie once bubbled...
How many dives did you have before you invested in a tank?
Tekkie

Right OW certification, so that would be 6.