Renting vs. buying tank for tropical dive trip?

[WOODMAN]

Hokay, here is one I haven't seen here before, at least not recently. My dilemma is to provide a large capacity tank for my upcoming liveaboard trip out of Miami in a couple months. The boat says they are fine with me bringing a special tank, and will work with whatever I bring. So far, so good. I have been researching availability of big (100-120 cf) tanks in and aroung Miami, and find I have to travel a fair distance from my target marina to get a suitable tank, which means either renting a car or hefty taxi fees. Oh well. But then a shop close to my boat came up with a different idea, which has got me thinking. They can't rent me a tank, but will sell me a 108 Faber lo-pressure steel tank for $200, new. At first I thought this was pretty silly, but then you start adding it up, and now I wonder. First you have about 10-15 bucks a day for the rental tank, then transport fees to go get the darn thing and return it a week later. Contrast this with buying the thing and then shipping it back home. (The florida shop says they would be pleased to send it UPS ground for me, and will take care of the details.) I'm not sure what shipping about 42 lbs to Minnesota would be, but it can't be that bad. The buy and ship method shakes out at about twice what the rental route costs, but then I have a new cylinder at the end of it all. And if I choose to go down there again, (which I probably will) I can send the tank back down there again and end up having it pay for itself in rental fees with just one more trip. And I still have the tank! And from what I can gather, that $200 tank is a nice price. Am I missing anything here? This seems like a convoluted way to deal with the problem, but I find no other real solution at hand. What do you people think? Woody

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

200 bucks is cheap

 

[HowardE]

Buy it. Ship it home after the trip. Still a good price.

 

[Hawaii Scuba Divers]

Are you only going to buy 1 tank ??? How long will you have to wait to get the tank filled??? How about selling the tank back to the shop after the trip???
just some ??? Aloha Mark....

 

[Charlie99]

If you are going to get a tank, an LP is a good idea since the compressor on the boat can fill it to capacity. That might not be true if you get an HP.

Whether or not you answer here, you should really think about WHY you need to get a big tank.

If it's because you are an airhog, that problem will probably go away as you get some more dive experience.

If it's because you are going to be doing deep decompression dives, then you should consider doubles.

Another solution might be to sling an AL80 as a stage tank.

 

[HowardE]

If you want to sell it to me after the trip... that could be a possibility too

 

[cudachaser]

I'm an instructor and most always rent tanks for my trips...It's so much easier to have the dive boat supply tanks, though I don't do large capacity tanks...Mostly rent smaller 63's for my smaller students, 80's for my larger students...

Joe

 

[WOODMAN]

Whether or not you answer here, you should really think about WHY you need to get a big tank.

If it's because you are an airhog, that problem will probably go away as you get some more dive experience.

I wish it were that easy. I am a big guy, and I have tried every breath control technique known to man, and the consensus of several divemasters and instructors is that I should just bite it and go with bigger tanks. A 100 cf tank still will not let me match my wife's performance with a standard 80, and it gets old being the first ones out of the water on every dive. Maybe if I were able to dive more frequently, but... Woody

 

[Charlie99]

I wish it were that easy. I am a big guy, and I have tried every breath control technique known to man, and the consensus of several divemasters and instructors is that I should just bite it and go with bigger tanks.

As has been posted many time by many people, it's better to attack the problem indirectly by working on better buoyancy control so you don't have to work so hard. My post was more just in case you were still in that normal learning curve of a new diver. If you've hit a plateau in SAC, then yeah, a big tank is the best solution.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Woody,

I think your solution to the problem is pretty good. As a big guy myself I appreciate the SAC rate problems you have. My SAC rate is not awful, but I always wish it were better. If you are willing to pay the price for the purchase and then the extra to ship it home and feel that the entire deal is worth it then go for it. $200 for the cylinder you have described sounds pretty good to me.

No one complains about having too much air, but many complain that with their SAC rate they wish they had more. People do complain about the size and weight of large steel cylinders however. Since you are a big guy, you probably have the frame to deal with the larger and heavier cylinder.

I say go for it! You have found a solution to your problem, and seem to indicate that the price for this solution is not too much to pay.

Have fun,

Mark Vlahos