When does buying your own tanks benefit a diver?

[CoreyHodges]

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

That was the best thing I have read on SB so far. I was at the LDS earlier today talking to the owner about buying tanks. I have everything I need besides that and some weights. But which tank is best for me is the hard question. Steel 80,100 or Al? Do I want to get one for Nitrox? I would mostly use it for quarry diving with an occasional drive to the coast. I like the idea of steel but its a tough decision, Especially when he has some used ones for sale.

 

[tbone1004]

I wouldn't buy an AL80 unless you can get them dirt cheap. They're not that practical for much. Too heavy for that amount of gas, really on 77cf, and they float, which is irritating... HP100's are about the same size, weigh only a little bit more, but they sink, so you can take a lot of lead off of your belt so net weight is lower. About 5-6lbs can come off.
100's are hard to find...
HP80 steels are good, but they're real short so unless your under like 5'7" or are really short waisted I don't recommend those. You can usually find old steel 72's for dirt cheap and those are great. Really light.
Whole mess of tanks, a lot of it depends on how tall you are because you want a tank that you can have it up high enough so you can reach the valve when you're in your bc, but have it come down far enough so you aren't falling over backwards when you sit. Best thing for this is to sit down on a bench or something and reach behind your back above your head and have a buddy with a tape measure get from the end of your palm down to the bench. Gives you an approximate length for how long you want the tank to be ideally. Then you can go within about 3 inches of that and you'll be good. A lot of it is what you can find on craigslist for cheap.

Scuba Tanks - Steel 80's - 6 Available
That's kind of a hard deal to pass up. I can't really comfortable dive those because I'm 6'4" with a really long torso, but a lot of people like them. Especially recreational divers because they don't hang into their knees like the aluminum 80's do...
Specs of those 80's vs al80's
AL80-77.4cf of gas, 32lbs on land empty, 4.4lbs positive when empty. 26 inches long
HP80-82cf of gas, 28.6lbs on land empty, 3.3 lbs negative when empty, 20 inches long.

you gain almost 5 cubic feet of gas. have to carry 3lbs less weight on land forom the tank, and can shed 8lbs off of your weight belt for a net loss of 11lbs less of gear and can stay down longer. See why we like steels? the 6 inches shorter is a drag for some, but it's really not all that bad when consider all the positives

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The HP 80's are short tanks. I have one I bought before I knew better. If you want to try it I'll bring it Saturday. I'm going to be diving a 95 or my double 72's. Have not decided yet. The quarry rents single steel 72's so you can try those as well. And you only get 5 extra cu ft of gas if you get a full fill. Many places will give you a hot fill of 32-3400 but when it cools you will only have maybe 3000. And in a HP 80 that's only 69 cu ft. Old steel 72's are better tanks, have better buoyancy and trim out easier for someone who is tall. I prefer LP steels over any other tanks.

 

[knowone]

Also your first tank will not be your only tank, and may be buy something
that can be doubled, and collect all the other relevant accessories, because
when you go on safari and the car is packed full, you are less likely to dent it
from the inside.

 

[a22shady]

I would recomend the XS Scuba (worthington) HP100.I own 2 as singles and 2 as doubles. I believe they are only 1 pound heavier empty than an Al80 and as others said have 25% more capacity. Another benefit is they are very versatile tanks and can be used in many different diving scenerio's. The other nice thing about most steel tanks is they are Negative at the start/end of the dive so you don't need to add extra weight for the bouyancy swing. Also if one day you decide to dive doubles they are very managable to handle as double tanks. I would definetly get them 02 cleaned which new they come that way I beleive. I dive 95% in a quarry also but I dive Nitrox often even at the 60' deth it just gives added bottom time/safety. Plus some say it gives you more energy or you just dont get the "as tired" feeling I dont think I have had this however my G/F after doing dives occasionally got headaches and after diving nitrox that hasn't happened or hasn't noticed. So I feel Nitrox is a good worthwhile class to take.

XS Scuba Worthington Steel Cylinder Specifications

XS Scuba Luxfer Aluminum Scuba Cylinder Specifications

 

[Dr Wu]

I would reccomend learning about diving. Forget tanks for a while.

 

[smorneau]

Look for used tanks, there are many for sale on craigs list, the local newspaper, or here on Scubaboard. I picked up 3 steels and 2 AL's and only have about $325 invested total and that includes new Hydro's and VIP's.

 

[CuNanoTube]

AL 80s are great tanks if you can get them for a good price. We know a guy that buys them by the skid and can sell one o2 clean for $120 CAD + tax when he has them. That being said I just picked up 2 old steel 72's for $150 straight up.

Also remember to factor travel costs when considering purchasing tanks. If you need to drive to the shop twice to pick up / drop off the rentals that could add up quickly considering the price of gas. if you have to spend $20 on gas to get to the shop and back (like we have to, I am not including vehicle wear / insurance, so more like $30) 20ish dives and you have paid for a new tank (assuming you need to drive to the shop once to get a fill). If you had three tanks and did three dives you could save $60 in travel assuming the same costs.
This does not include rental fees.

It is also a convenience thing. You would not need to set-up a rental with the shop for every dive, and would not need to worry about returning a tank within certian hours, etc.

 

[elan]

You cannot answer the question which tank is the best untill you try thdm for the diving you do. Steeles are good for cold water where you have to wear thick undergarment. But which one works the best is not easy to say untill you understand what kind of diving you like to do.
I was trying different tanks and below are my consideration for my diving. Im 6 ft and mostly dive nitrox in fresh water. I do not like hp tanks as they give more hassles while filling them up

Hp80 too small and too short. Enough gas only for shallows. As doubles they are terrible
Faber Lp85 one of the best tanks for rec medium depth. We have them as doubles they are awesome
Lp72 awesome double set for one deep rec dive 100 ft
Al80 awesome tank. Good tank as a double set for warm water. Terrific tank as a stage. Enough to do one deep rec dive to 100 ft. Goes very well with double lp85 or 72 on a two tank boat dive
HP100 so so they are short and terrible as doubles more or less good tank for sibgles but lp85 is better
Lp108
This tank belongs underwater - amazing tank. Its heavy but you can do a deep dive on it with solid rock bottom trims well as doubles you can do 2 deep rec dives on it hitting the ndl on nitrox. Very heavy on land
Hp130 same as 108 but is shorter

I have at least 5 al 80 tanks and more are coming. They simplify logistics a lot. It is anough to do a good rec dive when you use it as a stage. 72cfs are usable considering a rock bottom of 40 cuf its an equivalent of single lp108
So you can take a set of lp72s and 3 al80 and do 4 good dives.

I would listen to Dr Wu and do more diving to understand what you like.
I personally sold my first tanks and those were hp100s

 

[TSandM]

When is it good to own your own tanks? When tank rental is either breaking the budget (and fills are significantly cheaper without renting) or is causing logistical headaches.

If you live somewhere where your diving is planned well ahead of time, and you can get to a shop and rent tanks, and get them back afterwards, you may do just about as well renting. If you dive the way we do, with lots of evening dives or multiple days of diving, where getting tanks back and forth to shops during their business hours can be a nightmare, owning your own tanks is pretty much a must.

What tanks you should own really depends on what kind of diving you are doing. Living in West Virginia, are you diving rivers and lakes? Then aluminum tanks may make good sense. Although an Al80 isn't a ton of gas, it's enough for shallower dives (which is what new divers should be doing) and aluminum isn't bad in fresh water. If you are diving cold salt water, an Al80 is a pernicious tank, because it weighs more than a steel tank with more capacity, and yet requires you to carry ballast to sink it. Yet, Al80s have two enormous virtues -- they are almost universally available, and they are cheap, as tanks go. If the cost of a steel tank is beyond your budget, better an aluminum one than no tank at all.

Personally, I like bigger tanks (because I like the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing I've got TONS of extra gas with me) and I don't like carrying tons of weight, so HP100s are perfect from my standpoint. But HP steels are the most expensive tanks, and if you don't know where to pick them up used, you're looking at paying for one tank what would buy you two Al's or about one and a half LP steels.