Own or rent?

[Cthippo]

I'm an antisocial git who hates dealing with people, so I own all my gear. The value for me is familiarity (especially since I dive some uncommon configurations), not needing to drive an hour to town and back every time I need to get a fill, and never having someone tell me "You're doing it wrong" when they have no idea why I do it that way. Being able to just go for a dive in the lake because it is too hot is wonderful too!

 

[Marie13]

If you’re only going to be traveling to warm places to dive, you might consider if you’re a hard fit for anything. Maybe wetsuits never really fit you that well? If that’s the case, buy a wetsuit.

 

[rhwestfall]

I can't rent double hose regulators, so I bring my own......

 

[fred32176]

If you are asking the question - you want to buy your own gear.

I own all the gear I use except air cylinders. I will confirm owning my own gear makes sense for me. I live in Florida and can drive to lots of dive sites and I am trying to go diving frequently. My last dive cost me $22.56 and about 90 miles worth of gas. No way I could dive for $22.56 if I had to rent equipment.

If you want your own gear, get it. You will be more comfortable with gear you are familiar with.

 

[BoltSnap]

I don't rent underwear/clothing, toothbrushes and can't even imagine me renting dive equipment.

 

[icechip]

Hey everyone, my wife and I began diving 3 years ago and are now avid divers. We have around 50 dives under our belts, and plan to focus our travel primarily around diving. My question is if/when it is worth buying our own gear vs continuing to rent from the dive shops we dive with. Our should we buy only some of the equipment? We travel with our fins, computers, and masks, but should we buy regulators? BCDs? Wetsuits? All of the above? All opinions welcome!

Buy it all. Then you know your stuff and do not have to rely on anyone else.

 

[Khoujo1]

If you are asking the question - you want to buy your own gear.

I own all the gear I use except air cylinders. I will confirm owning my own gear makes sense for me. I live in Florida and can drive to lots of dive sites and I am trying to go diving frequently. My last dive cost me $22.56 and about 90 miles worth of gas. No way I could dive for $22.56 if I had to rent equipment.

If you want your own gear, get it. You will be more comfortable with gear you are familiar with.

Good point. I think we’re leaning that way but wanted to see if there were strong opinions to NOT buy the gear. So far, the opinions clearly are leaning hard the other way.

 

[Jcp2]

I own all my gear and use it for diving locally, but when I travel by air I bring the mask, snorkel, and computer, sometimes fins and wetsuit, but rent the rest. The most difficult but satisfying problem to solve was to figure out ahead of time what my weighting is for warm weather salt water diving. Once I had those numbers (one with and one without a thin wetsuit, with Al80s as default tank, the diving is easy and pleasurable.

 

[Marie13]

Good point. I think we’re leaning that way but wanted to see if there were strong opinions to NOT buy the gear. So far, the opinions clearly are leaning hard the other way.

If you like less hassle while traveling and only having a carryon, I’d go with not buying and only bring what fits in carryon.

 

[formernuke]

If you like less hassle while traveling and only having a carryon, I’d go with not buying and only bring what fits in carryon.

My key OC stuff all fits in a carry on. Even my revo and bail out regs with computers fit in my carry ons.