02-17-2016, 02:45 PM
When I lived in Maryland, I bought my bottles from my LWS, and was quite worried about how my new Oakland LWS would handle branded bottles from the East Coast. I ought not have worried, they swapped them out, happy for the business.
IMHO, it's worthwhile to check Craig's List for used bottles. They come up occasionally, and usually at about 1/2 the price the LWS wants for a bottle.
I've always thought that leasing bottles was throwing money away. When I bought mine, the purchase price was equal to 2 years lease. The only downside is that the bottles have a date of static over-pressure testing stamped into them - you're responsible for having the bottles "static'd" and I have no idea how much that will cost, or how long the certification is good for.
IIRC, I pay $45 to refill a #4 bottle.
Last piece of advice: if you have two or more bottles, you need a system to label them when they get empty. I've got nothing but empty bottles in my shop right now because I forgot the "first" bottle was empty. I think I may build a "necklace" with the word "EMPTY" on it that I can hang on the bottle when I use it up.
IMHO, it's worthwhile to check Craig's List for used bottles. They come up occasionally, and usually at about 1/2 the price the LWS wants for a bottle.
I've always thought that leasing bottles was throwing money away. When I bought mine, the purchase price was equal to 2 years lease. The only downside is that the bottles have a date of static over-pressure testing stamped into them - you're responsible for having the bottles "static'd" and I have no idea how much that will cost, or how long the certification is good for.
IIRC, I pay $45 to refill a #4 bottle.
Last piece of advice: if you have two or more bottles, you need a system to label them when they get empty. I've got nothing but empty bottles in my shop right now because I forgot the "first" bottle was empty. I think I may build a "necklace" with the word "EMPTY" on it that I can hang on the bottle when I use it up.