http://www.absolute-scuba.com/catalina-scuba-tanks/
What brands of scuba tanks are best?
I want to get my boyfriend a scuba tank for Christmas. All I know is that he wants an aluminum 80. My internet research has lead me to a few brands such as Catalina, Luxfer, and Hy-Mark.
Are there any brands that are really good or any that are crappy or bad quality?
Are there any good websites to buy from with the best prices and/or free shipping?
All three companies, I am sure are good. Luxfer and Catalina are the more common cylinders out there at least in the US. There are a couple things that you should ask the seller before purchasing the cylinder. The first question is the date of the Hydrostatic test. Scuba cylinders have to be pressure tested every 5 years and visually inspected at least once a year. The hydrostatic test date is actually stamped right into the metal of the cylinder and are expressed in month and year format MM/YY. The purpose of a hydrostatic test is to ensure that the cylinder has no flaws or weaknesses.
There is no problem with a dive store selling you a scuba cylinder if you do not have a certification card. They can sell it to you but they can’t fill it for you. They will sell you the cylinder empty and probably with the valve removed. Your boyfriend would have to bring the cylinder back to the store to have them put the valve on the cylinder and to have it filled provided he has a scuba certification card. You should ask if the cylinder you are purchasing has been visually inspected. If it has been then the facility will have documentation on it. I do the visuals for the dive store where I work, Visibility Unlimited (http://www.visibilityunlimited.com.). In the case of cylinders that are bought as gifts, I do the visual inspection (with documentation) before the cylinder goes out the door. There are about 30 different things that need to be checked during a visual inspection. This, again, is to ensure that the cylinder has no flaws that could affect the performance of the cylinder. Other than the documentation, a VIP sticker is placed on the cylinder showing the month and the year that the procedure was done. If the cylinder is being bought by an uncertified person as a gift, the cylinder would need to be re-inspected when your boyfriend brings it back in to the dive store where it was purchased. The re-inspection is done because the cylinder is being brought in empty. Bringing an empty cylinder in to the dive store means that any previous VIP (even if you bought it yesterday) is no longer valid. Your boyfriend’s little brother may have decided that it was a great place to hide that nasty broccoli everyone says is good for him. If you are buying online you should still ask about the hydro and visual dates. The internet retailer will send the cylinder with the valve removed and and may even have a current VIP sticker attached. The dive store where you take the cylinder to have the valve attached and to be filled is perfectly justified to require that a visual inspection be done before filling it. They are also justified in charging for the VIP because the cylinder was brought in empty). If you are considering buying a cylinder from a qualified internet retailer, then find out how much the dive store charges for doing a visual inspection, add this cost to the price you of the cylinder you are considering to purchase online. You should also add the cost for shipping the cylinder (it isn’t cheap). Once done compare the dive store’s total price to the internet total price. The dive store price just might end up being lower than the internet price. Our facility rarely sells cylinders on our web-store because they can be costly to ship.
As far as the part of your question about free shipping. On heavy items like a scuba cylinder the internet retailer will more than likely choose the least expensive category and shipping service which more-than-likely will take a lot longer to get to you.
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