ClevelandDiver
Contributor
I had the opposite concerns when I started diving. Hauling around a tank didn't bother me, but it seemed like renting was a lot cheaper unless you did a lot of local diving:
$7 to rent a full tank for a day versus $6 to fill your $200 tank that requires $12 annual VIP and $40/5 years hydro. Didn't seem worth it.
I quickly realized how wrong I was. Picking up and dropping off tanks soon became a major PITA. I turned around and bought 2 E8130 HP steel tanks. The bouyancy characteristics are far superior to an AL80 and it holds 68% more air. Fill cards brought my cost down to $3.50 per fill, and I usually get 2 dives per fill with all that air. This brings my air cost to $1.75 for an average dive.
Of course if 2 is good, 4 is better, so I picked a pair of steel LP72s for my vintage diving. At any given time I have at least 2 full tanks of air at home ready to pick up and go diving. I drop my tanks off for fills Monday or Wednesday and stop by Friday on the way home from work to get them, whether or not I have a dive planned for the weekend (which I usually do).
Having tanks is absolutely necessary if you plan to do a lot of local diving (I am assuming rentals will be necessary when travelling). Financially it may make sense to rent if you do 25 or less local dives a year, put the hassels quickly outweigh the savings.
I have thought of buying a compressor, but at $3.50 a fill it would take a lot of fills to justify that purchase.
$7 to rent a full tank for a day versus $6 to fill your $200 tank that requires $12 annual VIP and $40/5 years hydro. Didn't seem worth it.
I quickly realized how wrong I was. Picking up and dropping off tanks soon became a major PITA. I turned around and bought 2 E8130 HP steel tanks. The bouyancy characteristics are far superior to an AL80 and it holds 68% more air. Fill cards brought my cost down to $3.50 per fill, and I usually get 2 dives per fill with all that air. This brings my air cost to $1.75 for an average dive.
Of course if 2 is good, 4 is better, so I picked a pair of steel LP72s for my vintage diving. At any given time I have at least 2 full tanks of air at home ready to pick up and go diving. I drop my tanks off for fills Monday or Wednesday and stop by Friday on the way home from work to get them, whether or not I have a dive planned for the weekend (which I usually do).
Having tanks is absolutely necessary if you plan to do a lot of local diving (I am assuming rentals will be necessary when travelling). Financially it may make sense to rent if you do 25 or less local dives a year, put the hassels quickly outweigh the savings.
I have thought of buying a compressor, but at $3.50 a fill it would take a lot of fills to justify that purchase.