Round boot or octagonal?

[pauldw]

A few months ago I got an HP100. Before, I'd rented AL80s. The 80s typically came with an octagonal boot. My assumption was to keep them from rolling. The HP100 came with a round boot, rather low profile. Perhaps it's a tad less likely to get the lip hung up on something, although it certainly doesn't stop the tank from rolling. Is there any advantage I'm missing in having the round boot, as opposed to getting a boot with an octagonal rim instead?

 

[runsongas]

the octagonal rims are easier to knock off when you want to remove them. they also usually come with better drainage holes.

 

[pauldw]

So why make round boots?

 

[runsongas]

they fit better in tank holders on boats

 

[jgttrey]

It sounds trivial, but the octagonal ones also catch on stuff, including other cylinders, cargo mats, etc., when I'm stacking a bunch of cylinders in the back of the truck. It can be much harder just to slide one out of the pile.

That said, if it was a big deal, I'd just round off the pointy bits with a belt sander.

 

[2airishuman]

Cylinders with octagonal boots require more room which matters when you have a bunch of them in a small space (car, truck). They also stack unevenly if you're doing that. As jgttrey notes they do catch on things topside. Any boot can be a line trap during a dive but the octagonal ones are worse. I have a mixture and find that the boot type makes little difference.

 

[JackD342]

Cylinders with octagonal boots require more room which matters when you have a bunch of them in a small space (car, truck). They also stack unevenly if you're doing that. As jgttrey notes they do catch on things topside. Any boot can be a line trap during a dive but the octagonal ones are worse. I have a mixture and find that the boot type makes little difference.

Yeah, I suspect the division is that octagonal boots are more popular with individual divers that may own only 1or 2 tanks, but round quickly becomes the preference when dealing with any larger quantity. Surprisingly, in my vendor catalogs the round costs a little more than the octagonal.

 

[rhwestfall]

the round costs a little more than the octagonal.

because they are worth it....

 

[pauldw]

So I decided to get an octagonal boot to switch with my round one. The existing round boot is 7.25". The HP100 tank spec is 7.25". I measured the tank as 7.25". So I ordered a 7.25" octagonal boot. It came, and it took some time to get the round boot off, as it's quite snug. Then I tried to get the octagonal boot on. It doesn't want to go. I put a piece of wood across the bottom to hammer on, and the tank vibrates and sort of rings. I'm thinking that might not be good for the valve. Is it safe to keep hammering, or am I doing something wrong? This seems complicated for something that should be simple.

 

[WarrenZ]

Never hammer on a tank standing on it's valve. The trick to a tank boot is it going on straight and then pick it up a couple of inches and drop it onto the boot they should slide on.