Question Why can I find only one very large (30l) air tank?

[djbclark]

It seems to be that the best solution would be to invest in a compressor and just top off tanks as needed and dragging around a bank tank of air seems like a PIA. Also, you aren't going to get full use out of the tank. Once tank's pressure gets down to around the working pressure of the tanks you are trying to fill, you need to drag it back to the shop to refill it. At $50-100 a pop, you could buy a five or ten individual used tanks and just get them all filled at the same time. for the same amount of work.

Yeah after the big cylinder the next purchase would likely be a booster pump so I could use all the air from the big cylinder. Both together used I'm pretty sure I can get for under $1000, while a compressor used seems to be around $3000 plus maybe $500 a year in maintenance costs and air testing fees.

Re: individual cylinders dive shops seem to quote fill costs on a per cylinder basis, which makes some sense as I am guessing most of the work is in hooking and unhooking them from the system. So filling 5 2l ponies would be dramatically more expensive than filling a single normal 10l tank. But I do need to contact my local fill places and make sure there aren't actually different prices for filling very small or very large tanks.

 

[Scubagermany]

@ djbclark: wasn't your original post about Not having enough money for your OWD certification? After that you post a lot about things that cost more than doing OWD and AOWD put together!
Why don't you just get certified and do some real scuba diving?
I am sure it will be more fun than swimming around in the pool with a pony bottle!

 

[CT-Rich]

Yeah after the big cylinder the next purchase would likely be a booster pump so I could use all the air from the big cylinder. Both together used I'm pretty sure I can get for under $1000, while a compressor used seems to be around $3000 plus maybe $500 a year in maintenance costs and air testing fees.

Re: individual cylinders dive shops seem to quote fill costs on a per cylinder basis, which makes some sense as I am guessing most of the work is in hooking and unhooking them from the system. So filling 5 2l ponies would be dramatically more expensive than filling a single normal 10l tank. But I do need to contact my local fill places and make sure there aren't actually different prices for filling very small or very large tanks.

If you are making multiple short dives, using a couple of bigger tanks on a series of dives makes more sense. If you are making dives to ten feet for ten minutes, just use an AL80 four times rather than a 5L pony once. a 30L tank won't fill a 5L cylinder six times. I think you are making the problem more complicated and expensive than necessary. Buy bunch of AL80s, use them on multiple dives and then drag them to the shop when they are empty. You could buy a half dozen used for the cost of a banked tank. And they would be much easier to transport. I don't know a single diver that does what you are asking about. I do know few that have compressors.

Tank filling is a loss leader for most dive shops. They get you for a fill and then you shop while you wait. Tank filling requires a tank jockey and a lot of electricity to run the compressor, plus maintenance supplies etc... They aren't making bank on the fills. The tank you linked to weighs almost 80lbs empty and probably close to 100 when full.

 

[djbclark]

@ djbclark: wasn't your original post about Not having enough money for your OWD certification? After that you post a lot about things that cost more than doing OWD and AOWD put together!
Why don't you just get certified and do some real scuba diving?
I am sure it will be more fun than swimming around in the pool with a pony bottle!

Different people have different preferences, interests and priorities.

 

[Boarderguy]

You'd be better off getting a snuba setup and just have it floating above you.

SNUBA Equipment – Snuba

Edit: get dive training before you do something stupid and hurt yourself. No dive shop will fill a tank for you without at least showing a cert card. Your lungs will thank you by learning about potential issues you might put them through.

 

[lowwall]

As a primary tank to swim in a pool. Want to make like 20min of scuba part of my usual 1h swim training.

I don't understand this. You don't want to be on scuba gear for cardio training. In fact, you want to maximize efficiency when diving in order to minimize gas use. 20 minutes of slow frog kicking isn't going to do much for your workout.

You also don't want to lug and then clean a full set of scuba gear for every swim. Chlorine is hard on gear, you will want to do a good rinse after every pool use. I get that you plan on using a pony rather than a full BCD, but what are you going to attach it to?

If you just want to work on the kicks you'll be using when diving, then put on the fins and do underwater swims. With fins and no other gear, you should be able to quickly work up to 25m (yard) lengths underwater. Speaking of which, you might want to look into freediving as an alternative activity.

Finally, get certified before you start diving scuba. You really can hurt yourself badly even in a pool if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[Scubagermany]

Different people have different preferences, interests and priorities.

Yea who does not. Just relating to what you wrote before....

 

[djbclark]

I don't understand this. You don't want to be on scuba gear for cardio training. In fact, you want to maximize efficiency when diving in order to minimize gas use. 20 minutes of slow frog kicking isn't going to do much for your workout.

You also don't want to lug and then clean a full set of scuba gear for every swim. Chlorine is hard on gear, you will want to do a good rinse after every pool use. I get that you plan on using a pony rather than a full BCD, but what are you going to attach it to?

If you just want to work on the kicks you'll be using when diving, then put on the fins and do underwater swims. With fins and no other gear, you should be able to quickly work up to 25m (yard) lengths underwater. Speaking of which, you might want to look into freediving as an alternative activity.

Finally, get certified before you start diving scuba. You really can hurt yourself badly even in a pool if you don't know what you are doing

 

[djbclark]

Re: Certified of course, I agree it would be stupid not to, plus the pool requires it.

It wouldn't be part of exercise, it would just be for enjoyment, and to keep some skills from getting too rusty.

 

[CT-Rich]

Hold it, I didn't get this on the first read through... You want it just for playing around in the pool? There no skills that you could practice that would require that much pool time. I thought you had some purposeful use for the dive like clean a hull or something. Just swim laps.