Carrying Tanks

[FredT]

Steel tanks are lighter out of the water than a similar capacity tank made of aluminum. The steels will also be less buoyant in the water.

Do not make the mistake of confusing weight and net buoyancy.

FT

 

[Sham_ba_la]

diverlady once bubbled...
I just use the tank carriers now. They are the easiest for me and if I should slip/trip/lose my footing, the tanks aren't that far from the ground anyway. I would hate to take a spill with a tank on my shoulder!! I say this because I have slipped on wet docks before.

Diverlady

Yikes, I didn't think about slippery docks...well I think for me personally I'm going to check into some kind of luggage cart or modify one for a tank.. it will be much easier and won't have to make so many trips back and forth from the car.

D

 

[MsParamedic]

Thanks FredT!


Pat

 

[dtcooney]

:doctor: I usually just toss the tank on one shoulder and balance it with a gear bag in the other hand. If You were to beg,borrow or steal an old Golf caddy from Your boyfriend/husband/dad/brother and cut the top half off the bag part You'll have an almost purpose built tank carrier:mean:

 

[Mike751110]

Try a collapseable luggage carrier with two wheels. Very easy to carry stuff.

 

[cantlogon]

a lot of times when I'm loading tanks into the trailer or on/off the boat, I'll carry 4 at a time if they're 67's or smaller....2 per hand, with 2 fingers each for the rubber knobs of 2 tanks....have to tilt the tanks towards each other just a bit in order to fit the width of my hand. Can't do this if I have any sunscreen or whatever on my hands, though. This isn't for carrying tanks very far, though....with only the little & ring finger holding a tank by themselves, it's not very practical.

On entering & exit I've carried as many as 3 tanks....if my customers are small and/or weak, I'm happy to help them out. Have my own gear already set up, and I'll either carry their 2 tanks by hand, or have their BCDs set up & throw both of them over my shoulders, or, ideally, if there's a foot or so of water, inflate the BCDs (with tanks attached) and just tow them out to the deeper water.

I'm thinking of trying to devise an inflatable cart-type thing....I often have groups of 4 for intro beach dives, and the biggest hassle (with small people) is getting those heavy tanks back & forth. I'm envisioning super wide tires (for pulling it over the sand/mud flats) with an inner tube/inflatable skirt (for towing once I get into 1 or 2 feet of water.) Wish I were more mechanically inclined

Chris
www.letsdiveguam.com

 

[Sham_ba_la]

Thanks for the great ideas on this, I did try this last weekend on my check-outs carrying one on my shoulder while taking it back for a fill and it wasn't too bad, but to do it on a full tank no way!!!
I have a hard enough time carrying it for long distances so I make a lot of little stops.

I think I'm going to try and pick up a luggage cart and make some revisions to it if that's possible... have to wait and see.

D

 

[divemistress]

Karl_in_Calif once bubbled...
Find an elligible single male diver, and that should solve it!

.....if a woman expected me to always resolve her problems -- in this case, carrying tanks that were too heavy for her.

As a woman, I wouldn't want a man to carry my tanks all the time. (Though there's nothing wrong with trading off and taking turns.)

Dependence is a trap. Independence is freedom.

 

[neil]

divemistress once bubbled...

As a woman, I wouldn't want a man to carry my tanks all the time. .

As a human being, I want someone to carry my tanks ALL the time.
Neil

 

[divemistress]

Excellent point

;

DM
who is quietly rotfl and l and l