Scuba equipment rentals

[LowDrag]

I did OW twice due to breathing restriction issues on my first try. My breathing issues were caused by using a rental Farmer John wet suit and rental reg's. I think the wet suit being too tight was the biggest problem but the reg's kind of sucked too. Six months later I went back to try again but this time I had my own gear. I had bought the basic gear already; mask, fins, snorkel, boots, & gloves. Before going back I bought my wet suit, gauges, and BC. I passed my OW course the second time, although I was a bit apprehensive at first that quickly faded away. I now own a dry suit and I have changed out my jacket BC for a Hollis S38 BP&W.

I recommend following others advice about trying out gear before buying because I now have a BC for myself and my wife that I have to try and sell that we are going to lose a bunch of money on. Try out what you can at your LDS IF they have good gear, if not then research gear and buy once. Join a local dive club if there is one and ask tons of questions and of course ask here. I have gained so much knowledge by reading threads here. Keep in mind that you have to turn on your BS filter but you will figure out who is giving good advice versus those that are internet wonders.

 

[tracydr]

A friend of mine said that "most" divers start out by renting equipment and that it's usually only when you warm up to the sport that you begin purchasing your own gear.

How about you? When you first started scuba diving, did you buy your own equipment or did you rent one from a dive shop? Did you have any issues with the rented equipment?

I would love to know your take on rentals.

I rented from the military base at Ft.Lewis,WA for about a year. Cold water exposure gear is expensive. I purchased some warm water gear during that time and began using my own regs, and that sort of thing but I continued to use the wetsuit and other cold water stuff that I needed in WA. I actually used the incredibly old,used gear that I purchased ( Seatac BC and a wetsuit the same as one from photos in the old OW book, red and blue color farmer john), for probably another 6-7 years. I purchased a new reg in about 2000,continued to use the old reg for an octo until last year when it stopped working, I bought another used BC in 2002 and used that until about a year ago and bought a BP/wing.
I've just in the past year finally replaced all of my gear with really nice new stuff! Tech and cold water oriented. I actually purchased two BP/ wings and will either keep the one wing as a travel wing for warm water or sell it,since I found it wasn't enough lift for my drysuit set-up.
The drysuit was my biggest purchase, that and my new,Liquivison computer and MB sub 50 can light last year. I can hardly wait to get back in the water and try them. My husband bought them for both of us right after I developed osteonecrosis last spring and we decided that I needed to dive very conservatively ( careful ascents) from now on. We were both having problems with our old eyes seeing our old computers on low-vis dives. Plus, we both want to start taking some tech classes,too.

I started diving in 1995. Used a timex watch, analog guage and tables for quite awhile, and got a computer when I bought a new regulator on a trip to Hawaii, around 2000 when the reg was breathing hard.
I still have my old second stage Sherwood reg, if anybody wants to take a crack at trying to fix it! I have no idea how old it is, probably mid-80s. It finally gave up the ghost completely last year. I have no idea what's wrong with it. No haven't had it looked at or serviced. I can't remember wha I did to my old first stage. I might have traded it in when I bought my Oceanic. I now have an Oceanic first and second and a HOG second. I'll probably buy HOGs for the rest of my regulators as I'm really impressed by them.
I was a medical student and military when I did my OW so money was really tight. Plus,I had residency after that. So, I've been diving since 1995, I've had gear most of that time but only recently purchased the shiny,new gear that I really wanted.
Nothing wrong with used gear. It gave me a chance to get in the water and dive. Spend money on diving. Get in the water locally and get to know your local waters-quarry's and lakes are great for keeping skills sharp. You'll probably need a heavy wetsuit or drysuit. But, cold water diving will make you a better diver in the long run and really open up your options for lots more cool places to dive. Plus, it will allow you to get to know the local dive community. That's a great thing! I will certainly never regret my time spent diving in the Puget Sound. Talk about a great place to learn to dive!

 

[TSandM]

I bought all my own equipment when I finished OW . . . and replaced about half of it within six months. I didn't buy what was going to make me happy, but the fact that I owned my equipment meant that I didn't have to deal with going to the shop to get everything, pay the about $80 rental (including dry suit), and make the trip to take it all back, trying to get both trips done during their working hours. As a result, I dove a GREAT deal more than I otherwise would have, and I needed it. I suspect I would not be diving today if I'd had to rent gear.

 

[randini]

I bought wetsuit and weight belt shortly after OW so that I could go freediving whenever I wanted and rented a BC, reg & tank as I had the money to go scuba (I was a poor university student when I got cert'ed). I never had any issues with the rental gear. Better yet, it helped me dial in on configurations and features that I liked and disliked. Then, when I was ready to start buying, I was buying stuff I knew I liked. Now, (two months short of 18 years and several 100 dives later) I still have the original gear and use it often.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I purchased a complete set of gear before my first class, and have never regretted it. MY LDS has rental gear, and it is updated very frequently, and is of good quality but very standard. I Also purchased full gear for my wife before she began her open water course, and it was important to her to have proper fitting equipment that was "hers." There is nothing wrong with using quality, properly maintained , and up to date rental equipment. There is also no real downsidee to owning your own equipment, and lots of up side as far as fit, familiarity, comfort, reliability, maintenance, and control over condition and use.
DivemasterDennis

 

[smokin3000gt]

I bought full gear for myself and my girlfriend after the pool work of OW and before our checkout dives. The most expensive part was our BCs because I bought those new. My thoughts were that the BC is the most important part of a comfortable dive. I didn't want to have to hope that a dive op had BCs in our size that fit right, and if they didn't have to make due with something that was too big, too small, or not well taken care of. Which is why I also bought our wetsuits. I wanted us both to be comfortable and familiar with our gear under water. The next step was regs and computers. The rest of the stuff (regs and computers) I bought used and got great deals on. SP 1st and 2nd stage regs (had them serviced of course) and Oceanic PP2 dive computers. Then of course weights.

There is a lot to be said for the ability to pack our bags and head straight for the dive boat without having to go rent gear or stop by the dive shop before the trip, then have to make a return trip to drop everything off. I figure out our weighting before we leave, load up, go to dive op, walk on boat. Everything we need is in hand. I honestly believe it brings a certain level on comfortability and confidence when you are diving your same gear time and time again and have been diving more as a result of it. If we had to hassle with everything else, we probably wouldn't get wet nearly as often.

Keep an eye on SB's classified section, ebay, and craigslist. You will find steals of a deal. Just make sure you have everything serviced/checked out by the dive shop before using.


edit:

Just read Divemaster Dennis' post and he pretty much hit it on the head.

I purchased a complete set of gear before my first class, and have never regretted it. MY LDS has rental gear, and it is updated very frequently, and is of good quality but very standard. I Also purchased full gear for my wife before she began her open water course, and it was important to her to have proper fitting equipment that was "hers." There is nothing wrong with using quality, properly maintained , and up to date rental equipment. There is also no real downsidee to owning your own equipment, and lots of up side as far as fit, familiarity, comfort, reliability, maintenance, and control over condition and use.
DivemasterDennis

 

[teecup]

Thanks for sharing your views, everyone.

I continue to invite those who have not yet posted a response to do so.

These are really great, insightful answers (and advice) I'm getting.

Gratefully,

 

[Storker]

I bought my gear shortly after completing OW certification, all of it - except for the dry suit - used. Like TS&M, that enabled me to start diving without having to rent and return gear for each dive, and I'd probably have just a tenth of the number of dives in my log if I'd relied on renting each time I'd like to go diving.

I don't regret the expense even though I've already switched my jacket BCD for a used back inflate and probably will switch the back inflate for a BP/W and the neoprene DS for a membrane suit when my budget allows. If I had rented instead, I'd still not have had the opportunity to test anything else than neoprene dry suits and jacket type BCDs, since that's what's offered as rental gear around here.

So, for me, buying the gear enabled me to dive a lot more than if I'd chosen to rent for every dive.

--
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Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[gopbroek]

Several years back I took a trip to Mexico, specifically to learn how to dive, and did my first 2 dives with rental equipment. It was well used but also functionally well maintained equipment. An El Norte blew in and I was unable to finish the course until 6 months later. During that period I found a deal on Craigslist on an old but service gear set, best thing I ever did. It was not as good a quality set as I was renting but I became familiar with it and I think from a safety standpoint this is the best way to go. Rental equipment is usually pretty well maintained but the downside is the renter’s lack of familiarity with it. If you are a vacation diver, such as me, I believe the most dangerous dive is the first dive of any trip. This is the dive you are settling into the boat, equipment, fellow divers etc. plus you are emotionally keyed up with anticipation. The more variables you throw in the higher the chance for failure, being at ease and familiar with your equipment lessens your risk. Since my initial purchase I have replaced my entire set one piece at a time from classifieds, E-bay and Craigslist to a more optimized set while attempting to keep the costs down (I really need to have a garage sale to get rid of the surplus). Bottom line, in my opinion, most rental gear is well maintained but I feel it is safer to have your own.

 

[freewillie]

I tend to divide scuba gear into two groups. First is personal fit items like mask, fins, wetsuit, and BC. Second is standard gear without fit like tanks, regs, weights.

For divers that have size problems getting good fitting gear may be difficult with standard rental sizes. My daughter, for example, needs an XS wetsuit and BC. And, since wetsuit sizes vary even amongst same size categories (i.e. tend to run large or small even for the same size) getting a good fit with rental stock may be difficult. Same for BC's. I bought her a XS BC on sale and she noticed the difference the first dive. And, looking back at how much I paid for each rental I would have been better buying her one sooner rather than later.

For items like tanks, weights, and regulators size isn't an issue and they would be just fine renting anywhere provided you trust the dive shop. And therein lies the rub if you travel overseas. I have my own regulator but I rented a reg and computer for the week through my dive shop when we went to Cancun, Mexico. I just felt safer (and so did my daughter) renting through an LDS I know and trust. BTW they use Atomic Z2's as standard rentals. Again, for what it cost to rent we are getting to the point where it will pay off in the long run to buy her a set and stop spending the money on rentals.

I bought my mask, fins, gloves, and booties before open water. Within 2-3 dives bought my own wetsuit and hood. By 10 dives had my own BC and weights. About that time added an entry level dive computer. It took a year and a half to get my regulator, mostly because I was saving to buy a really nice top of the line brand. I know I could've bought less expensive one sooner and would breath just fine but kinda wanted to wait a little for the new one. I tried to justify the price to my wife by telling her the lighter titanium components are better for travel. I don't have my own tank yet since I would still have to make trips to the LDS for refills and they do rent steel tanks in addition to the standard aluminum 80's. And I don't have to pay for the visual inspections. Most of my dives need to be preplanned for an open weekend so I don't have the opportunity to dive at a moments notice so I don't really need my own tank at the ready anyways. Besides, if my daughter is my dive buddy I'm still going over for rental gear anyways.