Anthony Jones
Registered
I didn't own a tank until I got into technical diving. I was then an instructor. None of the dozen or so instructors in the shop where I worked at the time owned tanks. I would guess that only a handful of them had ever even seen anything other than a rental AL 80, which is what probably 80% of the world's divers use.
I'd bet you are right. A decade ago when I had a real job and had to do adult stuff every day, I swore I'd never buy a $400 tank and have the maint. and fees for hydro/vis when I could just rent one at the shop for five bucks. For some reason, it cost me the same to get my tank filled as it does to rent their full tank. Tank rental (full) is five bucks per day. Cost me five to fill mine (air). Go figure. So the math just didn't work. Then I started diving 3 times a week and it just got too inconvenient diving around the dive shops hours. I like to throw my tanks on my boat and go when I want to.
For most "recreational" divers who dive 4 or 5 times a year it just makes more sense to rent.