Owning cylinders - is it worth it?

[B.Elster]

I've recently been thinking of getting a pair of own sidemount cylinders but am not sure whether it makes sense. My local shop charges $20 to rent one, so each outing ends up costing me $40. They're Nitrox filled and I don't have to worry about maintenance and storage.

Aluminum tanks with valves would cost about $700 for the pair plus $15 each for the initial fill. That's a total of $730 to own. Within this $730, I'd get 18 rentals of filled tanks ($730/$40). If we then multiply this 18 by the $30 it would cost to fill my own tanks for this many dives, we get $548. Divide this by $40 again and we get another 14 dives. If we keep going until it zeros out, we arrive at 70 dives. If the math is correct, that's 70 dives until we get any ROI.

Does it then make sense to own tanks? If you're a proud owner, what benefits (cost-saving or other) do you get that you otherwise would not? Thanks in advance for feedback.

 

[rhwestfall]

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.

 

[grf88]

Probably difficult to make a solid financial argument if you are in close proximity to your LDS and picking up and dropping off immediately before and after diving. There is the argument for convenience, possible savings by using a fill card if you LDS has them. If you are diving in the Great Lakes you might want to switch to steel tanks which are not as easy to rent and have many advantages to aluminum when diving deeper in cold water. Understand that when you enter into tank ownership they do tend to breed and you find yourself with multiple tanks.

 

[rhwestfall]

Understand that when you enter into tank ownership they do tend to breed and you find yourself with multiple tanks.

Truth - somehow, my couple tanks are now totaling over 26. DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN A DARK QUIET PLACE!

 

[grf88]

Truth - somehow, my couple tanks are now totaling over 26. DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN A DARK QUIET PLACE!

Another issue is that when you acquire multiple tanks there is an overpowering urge to acquire a means of filling them yourself.

 

[rhwestfall]

yep....

 

[Marie13]

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.

Absolutely. Plus, if you want to dive cylinders that aren’t available for rent, which for me are steel HP80s, both singles and as doubles.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

From a convenience and freedom standpoint...absolutely. If you want to dive the tanks you want to dive wherever and whenever you go...it is worth it to own your own tanks.

From a financial standpoint...for the average person that only dives once in a blue moon...it is not worth it ($$$ wise). For someone that dives a lot and/or someone that is particular about their setup...tank ownership is great.

As others have said...tanks have a tendency to multiply. I have two HP100’s and an AL40 at the moment. I want two more big tanks (thinking about a pair of HP120’s or just another pair of HP100’s) and another AL40, but I’m trying to put that off for a bit and just focus on getting a few boat dives in this summer (really only need the three tanks for that).

 

[Miyaru]

I...
Does it then make sense to own tanks?
...

Absolutely not!

Tanks are nasty, they multiply like rabbits and before you know it, you got nomore room left to store them.

 

[grf88]

Absolutely not!

Tanks are nasty, they multiply like rabbits and before you know it, you got nomore room left to store them.

View attachment 518964

Obviously those mesh condoms are not effective.