When does buying your own tanks benefit a diver?

[Minion_Diver]

This is a question that I have wondered a lot. Even though I am new to diving I am still diving in areas where I am with a guide or in an area that has a dive shop. But there are some areas that I have looked to dive, but there are no dive shops around. Would it be beneficial to buy tanks when you are diving in areas that do not have dive shops near by or rent the tanks.

 

[ktomlinson]

You're still gonna have to have them filled somewhere... I bought my own tanks for a couple of reasons. It is 30 minutes to the dive shop from here, and it's in the opposite direction of the diving, I wanted steel 100s and they only rent al 80s, and I got tired of renting them, and something coming up that made it so I could dive the next day and me wasting my cash.

 

[Jaydubya]

IMO, it benefits a diver to own tanks if and only if it lets him or her enjoy diving more than just renting tanks would. In the long run, the cost of renting versus buying, steel versus aluminum, etc. will not matter when compared to the enjoyment of the sport.

 

[elan]

I bought yhe tanks for two reasons
- al 80 are not the best for local diving
- it simplified logistics for me.
If we go diving we fill at the shop that we know fills good air and we do not neeed to worry about the quality of the gas

 

[tbone1004]

answer to when is about half a second after you hand the money over.
Why? Because you can now dive whenever you want. If you have the opportunity to make a last minute dive and the dive shops are doing open water training that weekend and have all their tanks out, or are closed early in the morning, you don't have to go there to get tanks. You don't always have shops around like mentioned earlier, or you want tanks that suck less than al80's do for actual diving... Upkeep on tanks is pretty easy... $25 ish for hydro every 5 years, and about $15 each year for a VIP. Average steel tank lasts about 50 ish years of good use, and will usually fail vip before hydro. So call it $20 a year to have your own tank for maintenance, and say $80 for a used aluminum tank.
$2 difference here between renting and filling tanks, so if you dive the tank more than 10 times per year and the maintenance cost just paid for itself. Dive 40 times over the course of the tanks life and it just paid for itself.

I dive a lot more than that each year, about 150-200dives a year and I couldn't do it without my own tanks...

All that being said, tanks should be the LAST piece of equipment you buy as they are not really portable unless you can drive and everything else is more important

 

[Dr Wu]

Owning your own tanks is great. No reason to waste money on renting things you require often. And most shops do not have the variety you may need.

The "standard" Al80 is hardly a standard.

But as you dive more the logistics can become difficult.

Just making sure you have the specific tanks you want filled with the required mix for a particular dive quickly becomes a full time job. And once you go down that road you can find yourself buying more and more tanks to assure you always have what you want.

Nothing sucks more than bleeding full tanks you filled with a mix proper for a dive only to have to refill them when the plans change.

It's all about time and access.

 

[a22shady]

As another said, I wanted Steel 100's for more Air and had abetter weigjt/bouyancy characteristics than AL80's. Now I can decide on the spur of the moment at anytime to go diving and everything I need is here with me. There is a practical point to owning tanks (More Air, less weight, different Size's for trim). You don't have to worry about runing out and getting tanks or be in a need to rush them back to the shop etc..

 

[Minion_Diver]

What size tank would you recommend for someone who is just getting into diving?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

What size tank would you recommend for someone who is just getting into diving?

That depends on your physical size, shape, air consumption rate and what types of dives you do and where.
You'll need to fill us in with more info before we can accurately give you advice.

With the tank ownership question. It pays to own your own tanks for the following reasons:
Odd ball tank sizes including twins.
It gives you freedom to split for a dive at a moments notice.
Many shops do not rent the better steel tanks.
It makes it possible to take off on multi day diving/camping safari and not have to worry about daily rental charges adding up on tanks (provided you have a good number of your own tanks)
*Add to above - Also if there is no dive shop anywhere around during dive safari.

 

[spectrum]

What size tank would you recommend for someone who is just getting into diving?

That's a loaded question.

80 cubic feet is the most common size. If your consumption ends up average then you will be well matched when diving with most divers. The HP80 is the most efficient package in terms of weight, and size, more here.

The HP 100 is a versatile tank and not much more $$ if comparing new to new.

Do not go buy some mega cylinder just because you may be a novice power breather.

Pete