What is the break even point on tanks buy V rent?

[HoosierDaddy]

What is the break even point on tanks? Buy V Rent?
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>How many dives do I need to do a year over how many years to break even or end up ahead on buying tanks and paying air, Hydro and Viz V. renting a tank each time I dive?</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I know it will depend on the tank size and material also the cost of air refill adn rental, but in general about how many dives would be required.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>My wife and I have all of our gear, with the exception of tanks. I have been close to making the buy a few times but cant let myself do it.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I dive 20-30 times per year, but would love to dive more.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Any thoughts?</DIV>

[brutus_scuba]

More important than how often you dive is how often you dive places where you would take your own tank. If you fly often to your dive destinations you would not include those dives. Also what is the going rate for tank rentals in your area? I would have to pay 10 dollars a day for a rental. Because that includes first fill ($6) I really only see it as 4 dollars a day. Visual Inspections at 25 dollars a year mean you need to dive the tank 9 times (different days) that year to break even. If you include initial cost and hydro every five years you need more dives.

Of course all that above is related to the Aluminum 80 only. If you want a steel tank for boyancy, size, valume or whatever than you take the direct cost benefit analysis away and decide if the cost of the tank is worth it in order to extend bottom time, or wear less lead.

[Illini_Fan]

I'm still new (less than 40 dives) and everyone I talked to as I was buying my gear said "don't buy tanks -- they should be the last thing on your list and when they get to the top of the list, add more stuff to the list and drop the tanks back down".

I own 2 AL80 tanks

I did that primarily for the points that Brutus_Scuba points out. Certain local sites have no compressors so you would be renting multiple tanks to dive those sites. Other sites that do have compressors are getting more and more expensive to do air fills (mine are free at home).

I don't think from pure economical standpoint that I'll actually recoup the cost of the tanks, but the flexibility of having two tanks in the gear room ready to go, is hard to put a price on.

[TwIsTeD]

Originally Posted by Illini_Fan

I did that primarily for the points that Brutus_Scuba points out. Certain local sites have no compressors so you would be renting multiple tanks to dive those sites. Other sites that do have compressors are getting more and more expensive to do air fills (mine are free at home).

I don't think from pure economical standpoint that I'll actually recoup the cost of the tanks, but the flexibility of having two tanks in the gear room ready to go, is hard to put a price on.

<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>How can you count the cost of a compressor as free? I guess you could if it was given to you, but at $3K for the rest of us it's a real expense.</DIV>

[Wolfie2012]

Originally Posted by TwIsTeD

<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>How can you count the cost of a compressor as free? I guess you could if it was given to you, but at $3K for the rest of us it's a real expense.</DIV>

<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>I believe he's saying that he gets air fills for free at his local shop, not that compressors are free.</DIV>

[Illini_Fan]

[/quote]
<div></div>
<div>I believe he's saying that he gets air fills for free at his local shop, not that compressors are free.</div>[/quote]

Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.

[TxHockeyGuy]

I say get tanks, at least 2. I would love to buy more but funds need to go elsewhere at the moment. It is a major pain to have to rent a tank by going up to the shop before and after each dive outing. It's even more of pain to have to haul your tank to a fill station between every single dive. Two tanks is so much more convenient, I'd like to have 4.

[mike_s]

Factor in all of the above (cost of rent vs air fill, visual costs, hydro costs).
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Don't forget to factor in o2 cleaning costs if you do nitrox partial pressure filling.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Then like Reefhound said, factor in the cost of auto gas is $3/gallon to make that 2nd trip to return the tank.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
But to me the real benefit of owning tanks is convience and having the tank you want (steel, certain size, etc).</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Example: You want to go diving saturday morning. If you have to drive 30 minutes out of your way to pick up a rental tank and then 30 minutes back, you've spend at least $10 extra bucks in gas and taken up a minimum of an hour or more of your time. Then you have to do the same thing to get the tank returned in the allotted rental time. It's just a huge hassle.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>You still have to go in to get fills, but you can do it on your time and during the work week, etc. When it doesn't interfere with 'dive time'.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>The other advantage is that if you want a tank besides an AL80, it's harder to rent them. So if you want a steel HP100 or HP120 or a set of doubles, you really want your own tanks.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>The initial cost might be higher, but it sure is nice not having to go to the hassle of rental tanks.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>

[medic001918]

I have to agree with others that if you want to dive more often, having your own tanks is a good way to do it. I only had one tank for a while and found it to be a hassleto do a two tank dive. Not only did I have to go rent a tank, but my tank was steel and it's difficult to find steel rental tanks. I keep our tanks filled and ready to go as much as I can. And I find that by doing so, we dive more often. We have all steel tanks in my house. The Mrs. has a pair of steel HP100's. I have a LP95 and a pair of LP108's.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Now if only the shop closest to the house had an air-fill card for Nitrox...they only offer them up for air unfortunately. So sometimes the fills add up quickly. Especially when filling all five with Nitrox.
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Shane</DIV>

[cummings66]

To me owning a tank is like owning a plane, you may never break even but you can use it when you want for as long as you want.


Priceless, and worth owning for just that reason alone in my book. Forget about breaking even.