Who uses TANK BOOTS?

[Marie13]

Isn’t the tank boot an entanglement hazard?…
You are more streamlined without them.

I have boots on the bottoms of my steel 85s I dive SM. Makes them much easier for me to handle on land. I even cave dive with the boots on the tanks. No issues.

 

[Searcaigh]

You are more streamlined without them.

At what speed are you moving?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I have four brushed no-coat aluminum cylinders. Two AL80s and two AL40s. I do not have boots on any of them. All four see regular use.

Here in Florida, I rarely see AL80s with boots. None of the shops in South FL with very large rental fleets of AL80s use boots as far as I can recall. That should tell you whether or not boots on AL80s serve any value.

I DO have boots on my four HP100 steel cylinders.

 

[FF / EMT]

At what speed are you moving?

4-5 mph current

 

[Vicko]

I have them on my small doubles, use them so I don't need to use metal bands, makes it much easier to stay neutral without a bcd.

 

[rhwestfall]

For me, they are used as a form of respect for (some) boats and other surfaces they are placed on....

 

[Divin'Papaw]

For me, they are used as a form of respect for (some) boats and other surfaces they are placed on....

I like your perspective and I can absolutely appreciate that. Just speaking for me personally, the charter boats I use the most don’t use boots on their own aluminum 80 rentals. Therefore I don’t see the need to put boots on mine. YMMV

If you were going to be using your tanks in pools on a regular basis, that I fully understand putting boots on them. That also doesn’t apply to me which is another reason I don’t have boots on mine.

 

[tursiops]

In addition, a boot makes the tank easier to handle putting it in/out of an SUV....gives a better grip on the bottom, mitigates rolling around.

 

[tridacna]

Isn’t the tank boot an entanglement hazard?…
You are more streamlined without them.

If you need streamlining, you should get those Aeropod things from Forcefins and attach them to your tank.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

In addition, a boot makes the tank easier to handle putting it in/out of an SUV....gives a better grip on the bottom, mitigates rolling around.

The boots can help mitigate rolling assuming you use the hexagonal boots. I've actually moved away from those on my steel tanks. I now use round boots exclusively. I find the corners on the hexagonal boots just LOVE to grab ahold of or hook onto line, seat edges on boats, and about anything else possible to grab. Fishing line, flag line, nets, etc. Round boots are far less likely to grab things.

As to keeping tanks in place in a vehicle, I use towels, bags, and other containers to keep my tanks from rolling around.