Owning cylinders - is it worth it?

[Ryan Neely]

TL;DR: Owning you own tanks can help you to dive more often.

I don't have the experience of the folks who have already commented, but I'd still like to provide a "newbie" perspective to tank ownership (in the event that, years from now, a recently certified open water dive has searched for this exact question):

For me, it's a 75 minute drive to my local dive shop. While getting certified, the conventional wisdom was to drive down to the shop, rent a tank, and (since I'd already made the trip down there and wouldn't want to do it twice) dive in the local quarry there.

That's all we'll and good. It speaks to what others have already said regarding freedom and convenience, and a lot of the folks who patronize my dive shop do just this.

The thing is, for me, if every time I went diving I had to be tethered to that area or have to coordinate my schedule around picking up or dropping off rental tanks, I'd rarely dive. It would be too much of a hassle and too much of the same thing over and over on every dive.

I'm lucky enough to live in an area where I could literally walk to about four different lakes. With three tanks to my name, they can each be filled and ready to go anytime I want to dive.

That means I'm able to dive at least once a week instead of the once a month (at minimum and, in all likelihood, once every two months) it would be having to arrange my schedule around driving to the LDS for rentals.

 

[SandyRobinson]

The advantages for me owning my tanks off the top of my head:
1. They are ready to dive when I am. Typically, I fill them at the end of each day. Most of my dives are in cave country so I can go straight to the dive site without stopping at a shop. But I am probably stopping by the shop at the end of the day.
2. I always know what is in the tanks and know the tanks have been maintained.
3. Hardware on my tanks are set up for me, and I do not have to take time to set them on rental tanks. clip placement for me is a little different for steel 85s and 95s, and AL 80s.
4. I use a pro/doubles style valve to attach my bungee so my tanks have a L and R valve that is set up for me.

Between the cost, hydros, and VIPs, I am sure I pay a little more but the convenience for me far outweighs the extra cost.

Lots of different thoughts for sure.

 

[Andy in Gap]

2 aluminum tanks are $700 and air fills are $15? That sucks. Here in the States AL80s are half that, makes owning a lot easier to justify. But yes, own your own tanks. The more you dive, the cheaper it gets and it will save you 2 trips to the shop every dive (Once to pick up the rentals and once to return them.)

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

I think I have 9 tanks. I can usually find a used, But in good condition AL 80 for $60 or so. My steels were a bit more. I think I have them all synced up so vis and Hydro expire a trip. The benefit is that if it is a beautiful day and I need to blow bubbles, I can. I don't have to drive to the city (30 minutes) rent tanks, drive at least an hour for a dive (3 hrs for a decent 8-10 feet of visability dive) then return the tanks the next day.

If a set was going to cost $700, maybe not. It really depends on how much you dive local. Vis costs me $16 a year with a fill. Hydro is less than $30 every 5 years. It's worth it to me.

Craigslist and Facebook marketplace are you friends. It may take a while, but keep looking and you will find great deals on tanks.

Good luck,
Jay

 

[Bob DBF]

The initial price on the tanks supprised me, untill I saw you are in Canada. The initial price would have me thinking twice as well.

The reason for me owning tanks is convience, I can run on my timetable for filling and using tanks not be constrained by the rental agreement.

I bought all of my tanks second hand which lowered the price considerably, so my payback numbers are much better. I keep tanks in hydro and vis as I need them, at one time I had 8 in service because I was diving about three hours from the nearest fill and wanted a couple of days between fills. Normally it's two or three and a pony. Right now some of the tanks need a hydro and/or vis, but are full and ready to go.



Bob

 

[Seaweed Doc]

In terms of ROI, tanks are probably one of the last bits of gear to get.

However, you might find yourself in situations where you get free fills. E.g., one dive boat in BC has a compressor on board so you can fill up your tank on board. I think some of the Catalina boats are similar, at least decades ago they were.

Or you make friends with the local dive shop/marine lab/neighbor with a compressor.....

I dive steel 120 cf (effective capacity) tanks, which are rarer in the rental market. Cost to fill is the same as an 80 cf but I can dive 50% more.

 

[grf88]

Aluminum 80's can be had for $260.00 CAD +HST in the Toronto region, but that is mostly as a result of our low dollar. Good used can be found for about $120.00 CAD but you may have to wait to find them. The new price includes a convertible valve.

 

[broncobowsher]

I knew the Canadian prices were screwed up, didn't realize they were that screwed up. I just remember growing up that the Canadian dollar was just under an American dollar. I've heard in recent year the conversion ratio went nuts. It sounds like the conversion has changed from 90¢ on the dollar to about 50¢ on the dollar.

Back to owning tanks. If you are diving enough to be looking at sidemount, you are not the once a year holiday diver. Sounds like you dive often. I presume locally, because that matters. Tanks don't travel well. It can be done, but rarely is cost effective.

Owning your own tanks also makes diving easier. You are not dealing with what the shop has filled and ready to go. You can dial in the tank mounting and just leave that on the tank when you get it filled. Get that odd left valve, and always have it.

Steel tanks hold there value very well. They cost more new, and people prefer owning them more to the point that the used tank market is fairly thin. The Aluminum tanks have a lower new price point, and are sold to a lot more recreational divers. They are also less desirable to most sidemount divers most of the time. If you look at used ones read up on the bad alloy (I forget the numbers off the top of my head). They are prone to cracking and a lot of shops won't fill them. Easy to buy an umbrella stand if you don't watch it.

And they do multiply. I started with one. Then another, but it didn't match. (old steel 72 and an AL80) So I got another AL80 so I could dive the AL80s back to back without having to changing weighting, and band sizing. Then found steel 100s that dove much better trim. Converted those to sidemount. That had me up to 5 tanks. Held that number for a few years. Then started getting into the tech diving and all hell broke loose. I'm buying them a couple at a time now. My last road trip had 9 tanks in the car (admittedly most were very small). I had 5 on me on the last dive (2 for the rebreather, 2 for bailout (deep and deco), 1 for drysuit gas). It took a few decades, but I am now running a tank farm. I tend to pick them up used when I can. Only new when I can't find them used, and even then I usually find them used a few weeks after buying new. I'm starting the varity per dive. This one will be a rich Nitrox, this one will be air, this one will be trimix. What's the dive plan? I'll need this one and this one, the others can stay. Oh, just a shallow dive, these other tanks. That first steel 72, I don't dive it anymore. Still own it. Kept it on the boat as a just in case setup but picked up a little AL30 that fits in the boat a lot better (this is not a boat to dive off of, just a fun boat).

Oh, I have digressed. Should you get your own? Yes. Now the question, which ones should you get?

 

[TMHeimer]

Freedom - The benefit is to be able to go when you want to go, not have to worry about rental availability, and not have to deal with the time frame of rental returns.

Yeah that's it. You get fills and dive without worrying about when tanks must be returned. I have been in FL & MS for 3 months at a time and have paid an extra fee to shops to "Keep" 2 of their tanks as if they were mine for that time frame.
Disadvantage of owning is obviously the cost if visuals & hydros.
broncobowsher-- When I came to Canada the dollar was 92 cents US (1977). The low was in March of 2002 (62.02 at "closing"). The high in 2010 was about $1.08 U.S. The average has been 75-85 cents. It was as low as 68 in 2016, so at 74.5 it is not particularly down in the dumps.

 

[dewdropsonrosa]

If you're in the Toronto area, you might find it worth your while to figure out the logistics behind getting tanks across the border and then buying in the U.S. on a daytrip.