Buy or rent tanks??

[Lizard Leg]

Posted this in another thread but wanted some opinions on it.

Buying tanks. Rec diving, warm water. AL80's.

Buying: Tanks are @ $200 with tax, etc. (AL80). Vis every year $15, and Hydro every 5 $45. If you have 3 tanks and have a total of 90 fills a year (30 per tank), total over 5 years is $3,660 - including all vis, hydro, and fills @ $6 each.

Tank rentals are $8 each. 90 fills a year is $720 per year, $3600 for 90 fills a year for 5 years, and no worries about vis, hydro, etc.

Is there some other reason I should be thinking about buying my own tanks?

 

[tomfcrist]

Sure, you don't have to take your full rental tank that cost u $8 a day back to the place you rented it from when you can't make your dive. If you are going to dive that much.....buy your own tanks, that way they can be filled and sitting in your garage ready to be used at a moments notice.....and if you don't end up making a planned dive, you didn't just waste $8. Not to mention if you can't make it back to the shop to turn the tank in on time, and get charged extra for returning it late

 

[Lizard Leg]

My LDS is pretty good about it - if I bring them back full, well, I still pay. But I am picking up 9 tanks (3 tanks x 3 divers) Thursday and not bringing them back until Monday and only getting charged a one day rental.

Owning would make life easier cleaning regs and doing last minute trips, but my life is hectic last minute trips are not really the norm at all!

 

[Bob DBF]

For you it might not be that big of a deal. In my case, the fills are less and the shop charges every day on the tanks (I might get a break occationally) and it's a 30 min drive in the wrong direction to the shop. I have a number of tanks but only vis and hydro after I use the tank so it may be some time after it is "due" before the tank gets checked, a site I go to 2 to 4 times a year during the summer may need all the tanks.



Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[3D diver]

I just like owning the gear I'm using.

I know its history & it's ready to go when I want it (assuming I get 'em filled after my last dive).

 

[elan]

Yes. AL 80 is far from a perfect tank for a single tank diving. Especially if you are not a tiny woman and dive nitrox. That would be one of the last options.

 

[Shftrdog]

The best part about having your own tanks is you can go when you want. If you are planning on going and then it storms the air stays good in the tank. If you rent you have to drive to the shop grab the tanks, and them drive them back. The amount you are going to dive it makes sense to have your own. If you are only going to dive 3 or 4 times a year then its better to rent.

 

[eelnoraa]

I think your "5 year onwership" math is not apple to apple comparison. Frist, if you rent, you don't own the tank after 5 years. If you count the cost of purchasing the tanks, you need to also count the money you get back when you sell the tank after 5 years. Second, if you only consider 5 years of ownership, you won't need to do hydro, and you will only need to do 4 viz per tank.

Now buying the tank, I think $200 for AL80 is kind of high. $150 is really possible. Let's say you take good care of it, sell it for $60 after 5 years without VIZ or hydro. So this cost you $90/tank for 5 years.

With this assumption, let's do the math again:

Owning: $90 + $15x4 + $6x30x5 = $1050/tank/5years
Renting: $8x30x5 = $1200/tank/5years

So owning come out ahead here. And I haven't counted the discount LDS usually offer when you buy a tank from them. For reference, one of my LDS offers 60 air fills/AL80 purchase. The margin is bigger if tank that into account

Posted this in another thread but wanted some opinions on it.

Buying tanks. Rec diving, warm water. AL80's.

Buying: Tanks are @ $200 with tax, etc. (AL80). Vis every year $15, and Hydro every 5 $45. If you have 3 tanks and have a total of 90 fills a year (30 per tank), total over 5 years is $3,660 - including all vis, hydro, and fills @ $6 each.

Tank rentals are $8 each. 90 fills a year is $720 per year, $3600 for 90 fills a year for 5 years, and no worries about vis, hydro, etc.

Is there some other reason I should be thinking about buying my own tanks?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I don’t necessarily think tank ownership is for everyone.

If you subtract the cost of the air fill from the tank rental, in some places the rental fee isn’t that much honestly.

But, if they are sticklers for getting tanks back on time, you either stretch your schedule to go by their shop twice, or you pay for multiple days, which can quickly raise the cost of renting. It depends a great, great amount on the location of the shop, how well their hours fit into your schedule, and how flexible they are about returning the tanks.

Sometimes shops run out of tanks. Sometimes they run out of the tanks you wanted (which can be a benefit, letting you try out other types of tanks) and you are forced to change your weighting and adjust your BC.

But, $200 for an aluminum 80? It’s not a stretch to get a used aluminum 80 with a fresh hydro and vip made from the good alloy for under $80. Certainly under $100.

I did the math to try and calculate the cost and benefit of owning vs. renting, but it can be difficult to calculate the cost of changing your schedule, time and gas, etc, for renting tanks. Once I got into technical diving, there was almost no question. I know where my tanks have been filled, what gases have been in them, who made the stage straps, who cleaning the valves, etc.

It’s so nice to have a garage full of filled tanks the night before a dive trip with friends. No rushing to get fills, plenty of gas to go around.

On the flip side, when you run out of filled tanks, or several need vip or hydro…you might have to skip the weekend’s dinners out!

You aren’t more or less of a diver for renting or buying, just do what works out best for you. If you are going to buy used, do your research and know what’s what. Lots of bad deals out there!

 

[TSandM]

I think it makes a lot of sense to buy tanks if:

1. The convenience factor of picking up and returning tanks is becoming onerous, and especially if it is ending up preventing you from diving.

2. You have a reason to own a kind of tank that isn't easily rented -- either from the perspective of size or of material. If you are diving cold water, for example, and you can only rent Al80s, you are far better off buying steel tanks.

3. You have opportunities to dive on the spur of the moment, or

4. The shop is charging you by the day for each tank you rent for a weekend -- so, if you are planning on diving Saturday and Sunday and returning tanks on Monday, you're paying three or four days of rental on EACH tank you took, assuming you can't get fills where you are diving. (Otherwise, you obviously rent one or at the most two tanks, and since you use each tank every day, it makes sense to pay for it.)

If none of those conditions pertains, you may be better off renting and applying the money you would have spent on tanks to some other upgrade of your equipment or your skills.