renting vs. buying?

[Ron Brandt]

Ari . Keep renting those tanks. Unless you have a real valid reasion to own - don't. Unless you own your own compressor or have terrible DS service,or teach privately it is probably more cost effective to rent.

Trust me , I have owned since day one. Have 10(80's) tanks now , stage bottles , and a set of doubles. Owning the the stages and the doubles would be the only items I would own these days.

Weights make sence.

Remember , when you own you must get a vis once a year and a hydro every 5. While not really that expensive, I do class it as a "hassle factor". I will be looking at about $100 in hydro fees this year.

I am also a blender tech and do my own visuals . I also have a yearly rental on a "K bottle" of o2 from Praxair.


I taught a class last night ,and a student , who has not yet done his OW has all his own gear including a BRAND NEW drysuit.

I have recomended he do his check outs in a wet suit but he is so compitant that I would have no problem with him using his drysuit .

Ron

 

[MikeFerrara]

I guess if you only dive when traveling by air it makes sense to rent tank and weights. However diving where I dive especialy in the off season owning tanks is a must and more than one at that. Renting to find out what you like is one thing but I don't understand why anyone would choose to dive rental gear long term. The divers that I see do this never get their weighting and trim correct. An experienced diver can wing it and get through the dive. For a new diver having different gear on every other dive is bad news. Like when the occasional diver in rented gear asks the DM on the boat how much weight they should use. Head up, feet down kicking non-stop to go nowhere.

 

[gentlegiant]

Many of the better LDS' will work a deal with you where you can rent top quality equipment to try it out and then they will apply the rental price to the purchase. If you are unsure about anything that is the way to go. As far as buying goes, once you are beyond your "personal or snorkelling gear" I would go with the reg and BC then worry about the rest. Remember, the reg is what keeps you alive under the water. I want to know when it was serviced last, whether it has had any problems, when it was last cleaned and how well it was cleaned...

My wife and I recently purchased tanks to go along with everything else we own. I think it was one of the best things we have done so far. We went with HP steel 120 tanks and find that they are much better balanced and have allowed both of us to carry much less lead uw. We also went with H valves for another level of redundancy. Then again, we dive at least one weekend a month.

 

[Curly]

I have everything EXCEPT a wet suit -- and that's the next item.

And a hood.

Wanted to get the big items in the bag first. I do have a suit in mind, but need to wait a little while before buying it. Til then, I rent the stinky suits.

One instructor's assistant we had said, "The big difference between owning and rentin a suit is that you always know who peed in your suit."

 

[Curly]

Oh yeah...

I'm also about 13 pounds of lead short of neutral buoyancy -- I made the switch to a weight-integrated, back-inflated BC, and am slowly acquiring weight.

Actually, I found that the hard weight worked better for me, too. Easier to put in & take out, and didn't require much to dry.

Can someone answer a perplexing related question: Why the hell do little two-pound tank weights (very handy for trim when you have big legs that tend to point downward) COST SO MUCH?!?!

Oy.

 

[art.chick]

Oh yeah, Lilman!

I can't leave the place without stunning myself at all the toys I did not come in to buy! That darn second -hand table always has some nifty goody that would be nice to have a spare of (I lose masks & snorkels in the surf zone.) There are neat slates with "sold-separately" retractible attachments to hook onto a d-ring. And there is ALWAYS a cute new t-shirt or some warm fleecy thing to slip into after a cold dive!

Sadly, I had to purchase my equipment TWICE! After buying an expensive BC, custom wetsuit, & perfect reg, console, & octo (not to mention top-o-the-line dive bag) I had EVERYTHING stolen out of my car only 3 years after starting diving!!! I borrowed other friends' stuff for a few months till my LDS had a seasonal sale. It was the week the new comfy wetsuit material came out from Hendersons. Before, I had months to accumulate my stuff; now I had to max out a new credit card in one day! But I bought SIMPLER stuff, no integrated BC, no 2-pc wetsuit. I felt like a better diver on my very next dive! The only regret was losing my old-fashioned US DIvers reg; I bought it used & the new lower-end Aqualung/US Divers can't come close.

Nonetheless, because I own everything, I have trade-in equity which I would not have with rentals (Although my LDS lets you rent some top-of-the line items & apply rental fees to purchase of the same if u like it. They are great guys!) I'd rather borrow or rent than own junk, but if you ask the right people, you don't necessarily have to go broke finding nice equipment. I do stilll rent tanks sometimes when I don't feel like carrying mine.

 

[scuberd]

I own all of my own equipment, but I usually rent a tank. they are only $6-9 and easier to deal with than if I pulled out mine, had them inspected, condemned, replaced, re-inspected, and filled.

 

[Jef]

Own everything but the tanks. Works best for me.

 

[achen]

One way this can be solved is for each spouse to get an monthly allowance out of a main fund, then keep separate bank accounts for these things. There are a couple of advantages:

1) Don't have to ask permission to buy ridiculous things. You want dive equipment she wants the 12th pair of hundred dollar shoes.

2) Keeps both spouses spending in check. If she doesn't have money in her cash account, she can't buy that 13th pair.

3) Can buy each other gifts and it's not just shared money. If you buy your spouse a gift it came from your allowance money and you had to give up something to give it. It makes the gifts more romantic.

The downside is that you can't just go buy anything you want. If you want a big ticket item you may have to save for it (just like when you were poor!). I consider this to be an upside because it makes shopping more fun and it makes you appreciate your stuff that much more. It also means you tend to make better choices.

Originally posted by MNScuba

To other married divers thinking about buying gear:
A word of wisdom from experience... Make sure to tell your spouse you're buying your gear and how much it costs, I made the mistake of buying, then telling... not good! But, as I've heard from my elders, "It's easier to beg forgiveness than get permission". ;-0 [/B]

 

[dive2deep]

Buy, Buy, Buy. I can't stress this enough.

This is after all, life support equipment, would you rent life support equipment not knowing how it was maintained.

I bought all my gear 2 days after certification. Go online, its like 30% cheaper than dive shops

Little story: Forgot my BC last August when I went diving in San Diego, so I rented a BC, a tank (can't take these on a plane), and lead. I was diving the Yukon, a Canadian Destroyer sunk for artificial reef. at 120 feet I decided to inflate my BC, and valve stayed open, rushing air into the BC at an uncontrollable rate. I was nowhere near the wreck, hence had nothing to grab onto, and While dumping my air (I was ascending fast) I somehow ended up under the Buoy rope, and grabbed it. At this point I disconnected the inflator hose, but I just went from 120ft to 60ft in a matter of a few seconds (with my computer screaming at me). I scrapped the dive and did a ssllloowww accent and decompressed at 60 for 10min, 30 for 10min, and 15 for 10min. Nothing happened to me, at least I don't think anything happened, after all it was the first dive of the day, and I scrapped the second dive as well. May I remind you that I'm an experienced diver with over 100 dives under my belt. Point of the story....

Rental Gear SUCKS!!!!!

I threatened to sue the rental shop, so they credited my rental fee, some compensation....

Buy everything, except tanks, I have 6 and hardly ever use them locally, and when I do the max I need is 4.