Buy my own tank?

[TomZ]

I have four: one HP 130, one LP 95 and two ALU 80's. Only one of the tanks, an ALU 80 was bought new. I want to sell the 130, its just too big for me. I'd like another LP 95, filled to 3,000 PSI, short and fat, it's a great format. The local spot I dive the most charges $8 for a fill. My LDS gives me better fills for less, and they mix nitrox (membrane system) and trimix (not that I use trimix at this point). Having a known quality tank, with known servicing, convenience and the ability to get good fills, makes owning my own tanks worthwhile.

 

[MissBubbles205]

I have only been certified for 2 years.. But I decided to buy my own tank. For me, I like having it to play around in my parents and friends pools without the worry of driving 50 miles to rent one any time I want to play around. When I first joined ppl seemed to be against me buying my own tank but if you are financially okay with purchaing one.. I say go for it. ( I also hated being odd one out on having to rent a tank before going to the lake when all my friends had their own)

 

[Six Feet Under]

I plan on buying my own tanks simply for convenience. To me, it makes no sense to have all but one piece of dive gear... like having a BCD and reg, but no tank, or reg and tank, but no BCD. It will take me a while to save up to buy everything, but I want to dive locally with a buddy independent of a guide and obviously I need my own tank(s) to do so. The maintenance costs aren't a big deal to me because I played paintball for 10 years and the air cylinders we used for that go through the same type of testing so it's not a new thing.

 

[scubapro50]

Let me make this simple ...... take the number of dives you have done in the past year and multiply it by $25 ....... if it's over $200 then buy a new tank. There are costs in owning tanks and for some people the expense is not worth it. If you fly or travel then owning tanks doesn't make since. I own 6 tanks and rarely use them anymore. Gone forever are the free bag allowance for sport equipment that the airlines use to offer.

 

[James R]

I would say that the above probably should say "if you only fly or travel to dive." Many people do both local and travel diving.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I have to say I went for my own tanks - a number of reasons. Firstly I prefer 15L steels because of my air consumption (which is falling) so I come up with the same air as my G/F who dives 12L steels in the winter and 11L aluminium in the summer when she's not wearing a wetsuit.

Another reason is that my LDS rents only 12l AL tanks filled to 200bar, whereas my Steels get 230bar. I now have 6 tanks which I fill and my local dive club, generally with a range of mixes so that what ever dive is posted at whatever dive is posted at the weekend on a Monday I generally know I can do without stressing about rushing to the club one night to fill. I can also do 2 days back to back on the spur of the moment if I wish. My break even point is 50 dives per tank - so I'm behind the curve on that one - but for me it makes life easier and enables me to dive as much as I want.

The reason for 6 back gas tanks was that quite often we do 2 x 3 dive days back to back, and I couldn't' be bothered to adjust my weighting from steel 15L to 12L Al when I had to hire an extra one or two.

Downsides. Maintenance and storage - if your boat diving then the operator will generally put your tanks on the boat so it's very much a dive and forget scenario - and you can quietly giggle when someone like me is moving 3 - 6 tanks (plus stage tanks) after 1 or two days diving in the heat of the Middle East summer.

Simply put - can you afford them, do you want them? I'm sure the vast majority here have brought gear because it's new and shiny rather than because there is a financial advantage.

 

[Griffo]

It's certainly not a financial advantage to owning tanks here unless you dive a LOT. Yearly Hydro requirements, plus the fact that many shops still PP blend (so add in an O2 clean every year as well) and even justifying a single tank is hard. But the convenience factor is the key - I can get them filled mid-week at lunch, then dive all weekend and whenever I want. If I didn't live in a unit i'd definitely be investing in a compressor too as that would actually pay for itself not only in fills but reduced hydro costs. At $70 per cylinder for test and clean, and you have 10 cylinders...