Tank boot..yes or no??

[Joe R.]

How about boots with laces.? Actually you could just save the ones that come with the tanks,( I actually got a boot with a slot in it for a J valve from OMS!) and use them as needed. I'm in the process of getting them off everything except my alum. 80's.

 

[kwinter]

I read the whole thread and was surprised not to see the easy solution. I assume you all rinse your gear at the end of a dive and let it air dry. Why not treat your tanks with the same respect? I have a 55-gallon drum in my yard with fresh water that I use for rinsing after a dive trip. After all the other gear is rinsed, I easily remove the boots from my steel tanks and rinse both the tanks and the boots. Let them dry and then put the boots back on. No paint scraping. No oxidation. No crud or salt left inside. No problems at all. And there isn't a single dive boat in my area that will allow tanks without boots.

 

[Stoo]

JT2 once bubbled...
...told by several people that I should remove them, however they really can't give me a good reason why, only that they heard boots were bad.

See my thread about OMS tank corrosion! Having said that, it should be less of an issue with aluminum tanks. I use(?d) boots to protect my boat deck. In that regard, I suppose it's a hell of a lot cheaper to replace a tank than a boat.

Stoo