When to buy tanks?

[Kingpatzer]

Those of you with your own tanks... Is the convenience worth it? Do you ever wish you hadn't bought tanks?

Absolutely it is worth it. I can go anytime I want and never have to worry if a shop is open and has free tanks for a last minute rental.

For me it also makes financial sense, my local shop sells 'fill cards,' that give volume discounts on fills. I save about $4 a fill by going that route, and that is about $8 less than a tank rental. It doesn't take but 20 dives to make up the price of a single tank, and I make many times that number of dives in an average year. Since tanks last for basically forever if taken care of properly, it's fairly clear I'm coming out ahead.

 

[piikki]

I dive with a full kit but still rent tanks. It's been tough to justify buying tanks when fills are only slightly less than renting a full tank.

Those of you with your own tanks... Is the convenience worth it? Do you ever wish you hadn't bought tanks?

Also, it seems like tanks are like potato chips, you can't buy just one.

I bought first own tanks month after getting certified. I've since sold those tanks but have 14 tanks in the household, no regrets. I would not go back to renting.

I don't know how much your shops charge for rentals and gas but even in the cheapest shop here rentals are double the amount of a fill. And rental doubles every time you are late. And shops aren't open every day - particularly they aren't open on Sunday here which is PRIME diving day. If I am late returning a rental tank, I will pay for two day's rental (usually it's more than one person's tanks too), price goes up quickly. I hate it when I had a nice day of diving and I have to rush on the road to get fills. I would hate it even more if there was a pressure that I will have an extra $40-80 to pay because I was late.

I dive a lot, it made all the sense in the world to get own tanks the moment I realized I will be diving every weekend. I know people who did the same thing I did, and now have expensive tanks sitting in their basement because their every-weekend diving ended after the first month... I certainly think tanks are not the first thing to own.

You pay for the convenience of having own tanks but if you really do dive a lot you gotta have your own tanks. If you continue to dive, they pay themselves back in no time. And no, there is no sense buying one.

 

[Clammy]

I think everyone is in agreement. No one here regrets buying their tanks. They may regret buying a specific tank but no one regrets not having to rent. How much is your time worth? Is it convenient to run around to pickup and drop off tanks before and after a dive?
I have 2 HP100s and 1 HP130 and I'll be getting 2-4 more HP100 tanks to double up and 2 to leave at a friends place 400 miles north where I dive frequently as well.

It's nice to always dive the same tanks so you trim out the same each time. It's nice to know that the tanks are good because you keep the maintenance schedule up. It's nice to have pre-filled tanks lying around just in case of that mid afternoon during work phone call for a night dive after work or the midnight call to dive early the next morning.

The price hurts initially but you will soon forget about it while you're underwater!!!

 

[ligersandtions]

Most of the dive shops around here rent only Al80's....I'm not a fan of aluminum tanks and much prefer steels. In addition, I like to have a lot more gas available so I can do two dives on one tank for the most part (depending on the site and the profile, of course)....I dive HP130's (single HP130's) and absolutely do not regret the purchase. I have three tanks (I share one with my hubby but he doesn't dive nearly as much as I do, so they're all mine for the most part! ).

When we first bought the tanks, I made a spreadsheet that showed the initial investment, how much we would save with fills versus renting tanks, VIP and hydro's, and how many dives it would take to break even....it was totally worth it. If we haven't made up for the initial investment yet, we've definitely made up for it in the fact that HP130's >>>> Al80's!

 

[D_B]

Sold my AL80 soon after getting my steel HP100, then purchased another 100 when the LDS had a " at this price you have to buy me " sale ... look around and be aware of what good prices are for the tank you want .. and be patient , you may end up with a deal

 

[mike_s]

If you want tanks... now is the time to buy them.

when LDS's have to re-order aluminum 80's, you're about to see a big price increase.


(and steel tanks aren't gonna get any cheaper, unless you run on a deal of several years into hydro tanks for sale).

 

[D_B]

Dunno .. I got a smok'n deal at the LDS sale on a current hydro Worthington, at less than I payed for one several years ago, and that price then was much less than $300 US
I have no idea why they were so low this time around

 

[elan]

For me it also makes financial sense, my local shop sells 'fill cards,' that give volume discounts on fills.

+1, I have bought cards for 2 tanks and now my fills go at $3 per tank. By the end of the season they will be $1 if I go at this pace

 

[sharkbitejeff]

Anytime that you rent anything you are throwing your money out the window.

 

[tedj101]

>>I also like having them to take with me when we go to Florida since a lot of operators DON'T have anything more than al80's, and to me that's not enough of a contingency for a deeper dive.<<

This sounds like a great idea - but how do you get them down to FL?

<TED>