Should I buy my own equipment???

[KeithG]

go ahead and buy as soon as you have learned enough to know what you need and understand the trade offs between various equipment features.

this board has lots of stories from noob divers that initially bought what their LDS recommended (highest profit?) and then rebought much of their gear once they learned a bit and realized the original gear did not meet their needs.

as long as you "know" you are going to continue to dive, don't worry too much about rent versus but costs. much of your gear will last many decades if you take care of it.

 

[Scubagolf]

If you have disposable income and you think this is a sport for you for the long term, by all means take the leap. I bought my regs, BC, and computer after 25 dives. That was 10 years and 300 dives ago. My wife got her gear immediately after her OW course, and 200 dives later, we are both happy we did.

 

[BRT]

I like having my own junk. It may not be better than the dive shops rental junk but I am familiar with it. When we certified, 30 years ago, we bought some new equipment. Having been vaccinated I am now fairly immune to that. We dive used everything except some new small stuff like masks, gloves and booties, and warm water wetsuits. I just bought a complete reg setup, computer, octopus, and inflator hose for about $110. You will probably have to pay 2 1/2 times that but I am watching Ebay all the time and buy when really cheap. Have not hooked it to a tank yet, and have not replaced the computer battery yet but I bet it all works fine. The last one did. As did the one before that and so on. Buy 3 and carry a complete spare reg set. We do but we have never needed to use the spare except as a loaner.

The last new name brand top line BCD I bought failed completely in Mexico in less than 20 dives. So I've been vaccinated against that too. It stung a little but I'm cured. I did not bother to haul it back for warrentee. Why would I want another one like it? I prefer stuff that has been proven. Not worn out, but used enough to know that it works and is not a known problem child.

The price difference will go a long ways toward tilting the scales in favor of owning instead of renting.

 

[TMHeimer]

A common and arguable question. Some will say buy your own regulators, because it is probably the most important life saving piece of equipment, and I agree. I still use the used reg. I bought during my OW course 10 years ago. BCD, tanks, weights,etc. I probably agree with those saying rent in your situation. But it's the usual conundrum: Should we buy a house now or throw money away on rent but invest the other money we would have used for the house down-payment. It may be a toss-up. How many years of "vacation" diving would you do for the cost of renting then eclipse the cost of having your own stuff (plus lugging it around)? I imagine for most people it doesn't matter which way you go come 20-30 years from now. Should your local diving opportunities change (if you move, etc.), I strongly advise to buy everything.

 

[Keith.M]

I think you need to buy your own gear. Probably several times.

You can't truly get addicted to this without buying gear. That's part of the fun!

 

[Keith.M]

Have two rear inflate BC's hanging in the garage.

Just finished the webbing on my second BP/W

 

[RJP]

I think you really have to question the overall diving comfort of anyone who says that you need to own your own gear so that you can be "familiar with it" and therefor safer and more comfortable diving.

Yeah, if you do own your own gear it's kinda nice. But In the grand scheme of things there's precious little difference between regs, bcd's, computers, etc. Why don't people bring their own CARS with them on vacation? I mean, how on Earth can you be comfortable with a rental car? You don't know its use history or service record. If something goes wrong you could get killed! Do people struggle with the unfamiliar plumbing fixtures in a hotel? Have a hard time figuring out how to operate the doors and windows on a villa rental? Get completely stumped by the different outlets and light switches around the world?

Hell, it's unlikely that you'd be all that familiar with your OWN gear if you only dive it once a year. Other than gear that simply doesn't fit or is on the verge of not functioning properly, the once-a-year vacation diver will probably take just as long to "re-adapt" to their own gear as they would take to get used to rental gear.

Of course, beyond avoiding the significant cash outlay, one upside to renting gear on vacation is that if something is amiss or needs to be adjusted on a piece of gear you can simply walk back to the rental counter and swap it out for a different one. If it's your own gear you're either stuck with it, stuck paying to have it repaired on vacation, stuck renting a replacement on vacation, or stuck not diving on vacation.

No one can rationalize spending big bucks on gear better than I can, and few people travel with as much gear as I do, but if I were a once-a-year vacation diver there is no doubt that I would rent everything but mask/fins/snorkel.

 

[TSandM]

A lot depends on the kind of person you are, and how much money you have. Some things are nice to have -- your own dive computer, for example, makes it easy to keep a computer log of your dives. But you can keep a paper log with any computer. Your own exposure protection ensures it will fit properly and maximize your comfort, but if you are a pretty stock size and don't easily get cold, that may not be an issue for you. The same with a BC -- if you can easily be fit from rental stock, you're good to go; if you fall outside the average in size and shape, you might find that all the extra-small BCs have already been rented, and you're stuck in something that is slopping around on your back.

If you are going to do one trip a year and a little diving during the trip, it's never going to pencil out to own, especially if you have to pay extra bag charges. But if there are ANY local diving options where you are, at least consider renting some gear a couple of times a year and going and practicing. This sport is safer and more fun if you are comfortable with everything you need to do in the water.

 

[RJP]

BTW - there is an inherent "respondent bias" at work asking this question on ScubaBoard. I went and looked as some recent research I conducted, and broke out ScubaBoard divers vs Non-ScubaBoard Divers. Doing so reveals some significant differences between the two groups:

And, last but not least...

So, invariably this question is being asked by "average" divers of ScubaBoard divers who
- dive more than average
- travel more than average
- and don't rent gear themselves

Of course such people will be likely to counsel a new diver to BUY gear rather than rent... even if it doesn't make sense for that new diver to do so.

 

[freewillie]

Part of the answer is how expensive is the equipment you are looking to buy and if you prefer to spend the money up front all at once versus spending smaller amounts over time. Your underlying financial situation will also factor in if it is prohibitively expensive to put out that kind of money now or if it is better financially to just rent when you go diving.

Just for argument's sake.

Computer $200
Regulator $500
Octopus $250
BC $500
Total $1,450 x 2 sets (you and the wife) = $2900

Rentals
Regulator $15/day
BC $15/day
Computer $10/day
Total $40/day x 2 = $80/day x 5 days = $400/ for 5 days for two people

So depending on how many days you would have gone diving for a weeks vacation it could take 4-8 years to break even. Add a few more days rentals for local AOW training and a few more days or a few more dive vacations per year and the cost then becomes more reasonable in a shorter period of time.

I currently own all of my own gear with regulator, BC, and computer. My daughter has only a BC. I have not yet spent the money for her own set of reg's or a computer. I will go diving locally but she only likes to dive on vacation. She is a very petite size and even an extra small size from standard rental sizes doesn't always fit well. I found her a travel BC at clearance at LeisurePro. Having her own BC was more important since any regulator or computer will work regardless of size but having a BC that fits well was not always guaranteed for her.

We own several credit cards from different airlines. We try and accumulate as many miles through those cards as possible. When we fly we always book through that specific airline's credit card and will get most of our bags checked for no charge as frequent flyer club members. I pack all of my scuba gear with my daughters and it will usually travel free of charge. Even so, if I paid $50 to check the gear it usually winds up being less expensive than if I rented all of her gear for several days worth of diving anyways. Plus the added benefit we are comfortable with our own gear.

Interesting enough I had to borrow a BC once for a dive when I was on vacation. I had left my alternate air/power inflator back in the hotel room by mistake. I was still able to use my own regulator and the Dive shop added an octopus for me. But instead of my usual back inflate BC I used a jacket BC for that day. And the BC was just fine. It wasn't the one I was used to but I didn't have any problems or issues with the rental BC either. Just goes to show that you don't have to have your own gear to be safe and have fun.