Disinfection of the rental gear

[redacted]

From what I have seen, bowling shoes receive more disinfection care than rental regulators.

 

[MBH]

Virkon RelyOn rebreather disinfectant 12 bucks a bottle from Dive Rite Express.
Disinfectant, Oxygen-Compatible Lubricant and Contact Conditioner for Rebreathers

 

[knotical]

I’ve always just told myself that saltwater kills the nasties. Same for chlorinated, or otherwise disinfected, swimming pools. Freshwater diving - I’m not so sure.

Strangely, I don’t know of any documented cases of disease being spread via scuba gear. Anyone?

 

[don Francisco]

The bad news is that though some dive operations may disnifect rental mouthpieces or even other equipment, there's no way that you can count on it. If you're concerned, use lysol, or alchohol, ask for a new mouthpiece, or simply stop renting.
The flip side is folks have been renting under the same conditions & you'd think that if this were a vector for desease it would have been discovered by now. Granted some divers could have gotten sick & not made the connection, but we're talking about a practice that's been going on for decades.

It's more likely that this is a non-issue, that either a thorough rinse is adequete, or drying between use, or that human's defences against desease by mouth are better than we think. Many experts are now writing that Americans are overly paranoid about germs & are actually doing themselves a disservice by over using disinfectants.

If you're concerned, especially if you have special reasons such as being imuno-comprimised, I suggest you take this up with your doctor, along with all travel sanitary protocols.

BTW- among those who feel they've addressed this by not renting regs., how many still rinse their regs in the same tank with others, rental or owned, & god knows what else? fb

 

[Splitlip]

Or just take a new mouthpiece.

Not a bad idea, but people often vomit through regs. I would hate to end up sucking in a residual chunk.
I always recommend the reg as the first piece of gear to purchase.

 

[Geoff_H]

Not a bad idea, but people often vomit through regs.

Not sure how common it is, certainly not enough to qualify as often I would think.

It's pretty easy to check most second stages - I can take my Apeks second stages apart, check for sand/grit/vomit (!) and put them back together inside 30 seconds... I'm not familiar with all the regs in the marketplace but I doubt many are hard to check inside.

 

[Bobbin-along]

Oh geez.

As my Bob the Fish T-shirt says. "Fish eat their own poop.... and it tastes like chicken" Worrying about if the regs are disinfected or not is a bit of a cart before the horse don't you think? The ocean is filled with metric tonnes of invert and vertebrate poop, decomposing animals, sewage from humans, there's no point in worrying about your mouthpiece being clean from the sap who used it the day before.

But for the record, our shop has a separate hot water rinse bin for regs and computers with some vinegar in it to make sure the salt and corrosion is fully removed. Vinegar is a great cleaner, and as it dries it doesn't leave a residue or toxic chemicals.

 

[seaducer]

Oh geez.

As my Bob the Fish T-shirt says. "Fish eat their own poop.... and it tastes like chicken" Worrying about if the regs are disinfected or not is a bit of a cart before the horse don't you think? The ocean is filled with metric tonnes of invert and vertebrate poop, decomposing animals, sewage from humans, there's no point in worrying about your mouthpiece being clean from the sap who used it the day before.
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We use Listerine and water in a bucket at the aquarium, because we all share regs. If you are worried bring some with you. If you really want to clean it, put some Listerine and water in a quart sized bag, charge the lines and shake the 2nd stage in the water/mouthwash mix until you are satisfied you aren't gonna get the crud.

Personally, germs build immune systems and character! I eat off the floor/ ground and haven't been sick in years

 

[Splitlip]

5 second rule?

 

[Damselfish]

I dive my own reg, and I still clean it after every dive. Yes I am anal, but I know it.
I use that Dow bathroom scrubbing bubbles stuff and a tooth brush.
I spray the foam stuff on, then use a tooth bruch to work it around the mouth piece, then rince and dry.
Jim breslin

seriously? I can see something like listerine that's meant to go in your mouth anyway. But Dow scrubbing bubbles? yikes!