Scuba equipment rentals

[teecup]

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.

 

[Montana Diver]

I used rental Regs and BCD for my OW certification dives. I had a waterski wetsuit, old mask and bought fins. The rental regs breathed hard at the surface, or maybe I was just a little apprehensive about going under. Breathed fine at depth. I bought a used set of regs and computer and very used jacket BCD shortly after certification. I switched to a BP/W six months later and have been adding gear every year.

I have a pretty cool LDS, they allow me to tryout gear anytime. If I buy from them the try is free, if I get something else, I pay a rental fee. Tried masks, computers, drysuits and reg through them. I can splash in the pool anytime they have a class. Works for me!

 

[BackpackingScubaDiver]

I learned on rental gear all the way through Rescue Diver. I just recently bought my own gear.

I don't think buying your own gear is a necessity so long as you dive with reputable shops. Some people can't afford (or choose to spend money on other things) their own gear, but still want to dive. It can be hard justifying such an expense for a hobby you might do a couple times a year.

However, I'm happy to have my own gear because I know how it's treated, who has been using it, etc. - things you can't possibly know when you rent. So for piece of mind it's very nice. And as I'm planning to go pro I feel it's a requirement to have my own gear - and I'm sure most people would agree with me.

 

[jord1990]

I dove my OW course and my first diving vacation with rental gear, but since I dive cold water and am 1.93 m they didn't have a 7mm wetsuit that fit me. And while you're buying a wetsuit why not get the rest of your gear. I never had any problems because my local lds had great rental gear.

But last week in Nemo33 (you have to use their gear) I had to try 4 different regs before I found a primary that wasn't leaking. Second dive I was lucky found a good one right away. Hit the purge button it gets stuck.... Before I could close the tank there were 10 bars gone, imagine that happening on 34 meters. I walked up to the owner of my lds and thanked him again for my great gear.

Jord

 

[scubafanatic]

I used rentals during OW certification, but shortly afterwards began buying all my own gear. I feel better/safer buying my own gear, as I know it's 'history' and I can take good care of my 'life support' equipment, moreover I can make sure everything fits properly and I can customize everything to suit me with no compromises. As I gained experience and began doing 'big boy' diving in remote open ocean locations, and saw others experience assorted issues/failures with cheap/rental gear, I can't imagine ever using rental gear other than as a brand new diver getting certified...once you're committed to scuba diving, owning your own gear is the way to go.

 

[johnatabc]

Hi teecup
I think it probably depends upon where you live relative to where you will be diving.
I am now at 115 dives, most of which has been on holidays from the UK to (normally) warmer waters with a non-diving spouse.
Experience includes 3 trips to Greece, 2 trips to Turkey, 1 trip to Iceland, 1 trip to Mallorca, 5 trips to Egypt/Red Sea, 1 trip to Mauritius and i trip to Maldives.
All my diving has been with dive operators in the resort where I was staying.
All on rental gear (other than mask and computer) all of which has been fine and I have no plans to change this approach.

The only exception to this is that I am making an effort to dive more in the UK with the local dive shop at a spring filled quary.
Having done the dry-suit card for the Iceland trip I am tending to do these dry to reduce the chilling effect of the surface interval. It turns out that I am between sizes for the rental dry suits - one size has a Quasimodo effect on me. The next turns me into a Michelin man. As a result I am currently awaiting the delivery of a made to measure dry suit.

Very much each to their own to suit their circumstances.
Am I happy using rental gear for the diving that I do - yes I am
Would I get my own gear if I had frequent opportunities to do independent diving with a buddy in clear warm water within a rerasonable dsistance of home without involving a dive centre / shop - yes I probably would.

 

[scubadiver888]

Hi teecup,

I rented my equipment at first. I started as a vacation diver and was certified in Jamaica. When I decided to start diving at home I also decided to purchase my own equipment. I still think I was still learning when I purchased my equipment and made a few purchases I now regret. So I think the idea of renting is a good idea. It is essentially 'try it before you buy it.' However if, like me, you rent gear and don't learn from renting then you aren't doing it right.

Everyone is going to care about different things. By renting the equipment for yourself you can decide if it is right for you.

For example, the first shop I worked for loved Sherwood Blizzard regulators. They were inexpensive and built like a tank. They were easy to service and never seemed to freeflow in cold water. They did everything the shop owner wanted. I wanted to get into wreck penetration diving. I was incredibly comfortable in any orientation in the water. I quickly found that upside down I would get some water when I inhaled. In confined spaces I often did not have the choice of my position in the water and found myself drawing in water while breathing.

Even if you do rent, it will reduce the chance of purchasing the wrong thing but things like regulators last decades. So sooner or later you will change and might find you outgrow the equipment.

 

[uncfnp]

We had all our own gear by the end of the OW dives. But I didn't get to fulfill my life long dream of diving until I was 50 and there was no question that I was hooked.

 

[Jon_R]

I am a new diver and had all my gear for my OW check out dives. Also had two kids get certified and got them all the gear. I have one thinking about getting certified and has a set of gear she uses in the pool. It is also spares for the rest of us in case we need it. I like toys so it was expected if I did calculations and such might recommend renting but I did not so I just bought all of it. Combo of from the shop and online. Got pretty good stuff zeagle, cressi, scubapro, atomic, etc..

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I had all of my own gear including two tanks before I did my checkouts. While it was nice having my own stuff and not having to worry about fit, function, quality, etc. It was also expensive as within two years I had to replace all of it. I did not spend enough time researching the different types of gear out there and chose it based on the shops recommendations rather than my future needs. In addition all of the stuff was not suitable for the type of diving I wanted to do. I was told it could be used for that but in truth that was just BS to avoid losing a sale. It was not until I found this board and got in with a couple of GUE trained divers that I discovered the gear I had was not suitable and could even be considered by some as dangerous for the types of dives I wanted to do.

As a result I sold all of it, have it sitting in bin or on a shelf, and try to advise my students to think carefully before buying and not to jump on the first thing that comes along. it's also why I think having them rent gear for a couple dives, IF THEY CAN GET DIFFERENT TYPES, is a good idea. I put OW students in jackets, back inflates, and BPW's during their pool sessions and let them decide what they want to use for check outs. The shop where I have them rent their gear has jackets and back inflates but not BPW's for rental. If they want to use a BPW I loan them one of mine or sell them one if they feel it is what they really want to dive in.

I have five and never take more than 4 students so it's easy enough to do.
There are positives and negatives to both owning and renting your gear as a new diver. You have to make a list of what the pro's and con's are for you. There is the initial expense yes but then you avoid rental fees and the chance of not getting a decent set of gear or even gear at all if the shop gets a run on students and rentals.

This is one of the things that a shop will use to get you to buy gear and it's a good one. But it's also what they will use to talk you into buying what's best for their bottom line and not necessarily your needs. As a new diver though you don't know that a $300 reg will breathe every bit as good as the $800 one they are trying to sell you on the types of dives you'll be doing.

Or that the lower end of the price range $250 BCD may actually be a better choice than the $750 one with all the bells and whistles and lots of d rings that are really quite useless to you is.

You can also buy used gear if you know the seller and know what you are looking for. Used fins are fine. Used BC's less than say 5 or even ten yrs old are fine as long as they hold air and you can get it checked out cheaply by someone who knows what they are doing.

Regs can be a crapshoot. Nothing wrong with used ones as long as it is understood that they may need a service that could add another 100-150 to the price. Shops will often sell off their rental gear every two years or so and you can get a good deal there. Just make sure they did the service on it before selling it.

There are also a few private sellers out there that for whatever reason take excellent care of their gear but have to have new toys every so often and as such will sell a recently serviced reg to get the new one that has an extra chrome strip or letter on it. You can get some good deals that way as well.

But before you buy your gear sit down and make a list of the things that now interest you about diving. Then every week see if it changes. If you know you DO NOT want to do wrecks and caves or anything tech and just warm water, a decent set of budget regs, travel friendly BC, and warm water regs will do you just fine for a very long time.

If you have any inkling of going into those other areas DO NOT waste money on jacket or back inflate BC's or unsealed regs. Start off with a BPW and a good set of sealed regs that are DIN or can be converted easily to it. Get regs that you do not need tools to take the second stage covers off of. And you don't need to buy $500 - $1000 regs to do that. Because chances are you're going to be buying a few more down the road to go on those doubles and stages.