buying, renting, borrowing tanks

[SteveC]

Just curious as to what others are doing for tanks when doing local diving. We are going to Bull Shoals in Missouri, for a long weekend dive trip with about 6 divers, so we need a fair amount of tanks. Renting is kind of expensive, and so is owning lots of tanks.
I borrow my brothers 2 tanks sometimes and that helps, and it got me wondering, do divers ever form local groups where they agree to loan each other tanks. That would keep everyone having to own lots of tanks when they usually only will need a couple.

Steve

 

[aquaoren]

I have 8 tanks.
2x steel HP 130's-doubled
2x steel LP 72's-doubled
2x steel LP 108's-singles
2x Al 80's-singles but will be doubled up soon.
Having my own tanks makes it very easy to just go diving when I want. I don't have to run to the LDS and rent some, they are in my basement.

 

[JS1scuba]

Call Jeff White at Scuba Shop USA in St. Lous at 314-849-3483

he can set you up with the cylinders you need -- tell him I sent you

cheers

 

[TekDiveGirl]

Personally I think owning your own tanks is the only way to go.

Tanks have a long life and are cheap in the scheme of things.

That said -- I own probably too many!

 

[bennedc]

I own 2 AL80s. Love them. Get big fat fills at my local dive shop. Plus, they are yellow...much easier for my hubby to keep up with me underwater than the gray non-painted ones. Just bought them for my own use. All of my family dives. We each own 2 tanks a piece.

 

[Joker11]

I own my tanks. 3 AL 80's for my repetetive shore dives. And one AL 80 solely for Enriched Air, it's ugly bright and yellow with the big NITROX ONLY sticker on it. I don't share my tanks with anyone other than my ONE dive buddy Dan (TheMan) Tucker, he is my brother in law. Actually, I have used his tank, he never used mine. But we do empty three tanks on Saturdays and then refill Sunday morning. It isn't so bad when you fill 3 at a time and know you won't be back in an hour.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Tank count so far (between my wife and me):

In AZ

2 sets of doubles (85s and 95s)
2 AL80 stage tanks
2 AL40 deco tanks
4 AL80 recreational tanks

In NJ

6 AL80 recreational tanks
1 AL40 pony tanks
2 AL13 pony tanks
(sister dives recreationally, so we can't justify the cost of doubles in NJ yet...)

If I buy a house in Florida this year, we'll end up with another batch of tanks similar to the AZ stock minus the recreational tanks.

Okay, now to your question.

The problem with group tanks is that you still have to pick up the tanks from where they are stored. And you have to hope whoever stores them either gives you a key or is home. You also have the cost of hydros and vips that has to be split among the group. If you dive often enough, you're better off buying your own tanks.

 

[Charlie99]

You have to look at where you dive, availability of rental tanks, and availability and time for tank fills.

This last week I went shore diving all but two days, 6 dives total, one of which was a dawn dive starting at 6:15AM. I still find rental tanks more convenient.

In my case, there is a dive shop branch 1/4 mile away that doesn't have a compressor, but gets a dozen or so tanks brought to it from the main shop when needed. 7AM to 9PM hours of operation. $4 per tank fill + 24 hour rental.

For fills I'd have to drive about a mile further, and either wait around while they fill, or repeat the drive later. The fills would be $1 cheaper.

So even though I originally thought I'd buy tanks for diving in Maui, it hasn't been either necessary or even desireable.

 

[jeditdog]

My LDS charges the same amount for an air-fill as it does to rent a tank. So I just rent it's easier and no maitenance inspections on my part is nice.

I hoped this was the norm everywhere, but sounds like it isn't.

 

[mike_s]

most places renting a tank is only a few bucks more than an air fill. So from a financial point of view, it makes sense to rent.

However, owning is the only way to go. Mostly for convience. It's just so much easier to own the tanks and not to have to go early to pick up a tank and then have to rush to get it back to a shop before they close.

Another advantage to owning is air quality. You get to choose where you get your air fills. Example, two of our local quarries (one now closed) had compressors with "questionable" air quality. Most folks I know don't get fills there, especially in their own tanks.

However you will find that it's easier to rent in vacation destinations, if you're using AL 80's there. It's just easier to use their tanks for $2-$3 more per tank in the Keys for example. The other nice thing about using their tanks is that they are usually on the boat waiting for you and you don't have to carry them back and forth in the car, to a shop to get air fills, etc. To me, having them waiting on the boat already filled is well worth a few extra bucks.