DM said "Don't worry about it".

[Hoag]

For the OP, IMHO, you were totally justified in questioning the state of the rental gear you were using. You should always question what has been referred to as the "3Ds" - anything that is Dumb, Dangerous or Different.

Having said that, if I was renting a reg, I would spend a few bucks before I left and pick up a generic mouthpiece at my LDS before I left home. If the rental mouthpiece was as badly chewed up as you say, then the $15-20 for a new one that nobody had used would be worth it. (Besides, who knows how well it has been disinfected between users. Not everywhere has the same health standards as home.) For a minor cost, you can avoid the risk of getting cold sores or potentially worse from the mouthpiece on a rental reg.

I hope you have a better experience on your next trip.

 

[TMHeimer]

@TMHeimer since I am squeamish about peed-in wetsuits my first thought is to buy every type of exposure protection, so my wetsuits are, well, ALL mine.
Since I'll be starting dry suit, I will have to choose regs that work with that, which would not necessarily be best to travel with. Same for bp/w set up from cold water to travel to warm water. I have a lot more research to do!
Edit to add: you don't dive dry in Canada? Maybe Gulf Stream brings you warmer water to Nova Scotia? But still, off Mass, we get cold.

I own a 7 mil farmer john, shorty and body suit for tropics (only one trip so far). I don't dive dry because we usually do 2-3 months on the FL panhandle in winter. Can do one dive in a day here in NS wet by using the basement to gear up (we live right on the ocean). It's a short dive with water in the 30s, but the rough part is taking the suit off outside like in Dec. No real point in buying a drysuit for colder times of year since I visit the same sites here in the "warm" summer/Fall weather. We don't really get much from the Gulf Stream as between it and us is the Labrador Current.
Why would there be a different reg. for a drysuit?

 

[Bubblesong]

I own a 7 mil farmer john, shorty and body suit for tropics (only one trip so far). I don't dive dry because we usually do 2-3 months on the FL panhandle in winter. Can do one dive in a day here in NS wet by using the basement to gear up (we live right on the ocean). It's a short dive with water in the 30s, but the rough part is taking the suit off outside like in Dec. We don't really get much from the Gulf Stream as between it and us is the Labrador Current.
Why would there be a different reg. for a drysuit?

so does that make you a "Scuba Snowbird"? I am trying to sell my husband on the idea of living 3 months of year in Florida.
So dry suit reg has to inflate dry suit, plus I would want one that I can ice dive in without it freezing up. I wouldn't want to take such a high end reg to travel diving to warm water. For travel I'd want the light weight, plus low cost, in case, lost reg.

 

[Akimbo]

As a genera rule, I don't mind when someone says "Don't worry about it because ..." and it makes sense to me. I get very concerned when I ask a question about something I'm uncomfortable over and all I get is "Don't worry about it". Then I worry about the original question and the person I asked.

 

[Adam Grose]

<SNIP>

Integrated bcd's. Cool. New to us. Just before the dive I check the releases and they don't work. Just a piece of thread hanging where I assume pull tabs should be. DM says "Don't worry about it"..ok. I reason it's only 35 ft. Hey, what could go wrong. Dive was fine with a stronger current than expected. No big deal I guess. Guy says we'll have the bcd fixed for tomorrow.
<SNIP>

.

A dive operation that brushes off a safety concern with "don't worry about it" is NOT one that I would want to dive with. Remember you are ultimately responsible for your own safety, and it is up to you to make sure the equipment you are using is not going to kill you (ie. Not able to dump weights in an emergency). Just my 2 cents worth.

Adam

 

[boulderjohn]

Ha! My own alternate air source was leaking as we prepared to dive the Blue Hole. DM disconnected it and said "Don't worry about it". So I didn't and had a fantastic dive!

Non-functioning safety equipment is never a problem until it is needed.

Take the fairly recent case in Florida in which an overweighted OOA diver with non-functioning integrated weight pockets tried to share air with a woman whose rental gear did not have an alternate air source. They had to buddy breathe (share one working regulator). Two divers. Two non-functioning pieces of safety equipment. Two fatalities.

 

[Nick Steele]

Take the fairly recent case in Florida in which an overweighted OOA diver with non-functioning integrated weight pockets tried to share air with a woman whose rental gear did not have an alternate air source. They had to buddy breathe (share one working regulator). Two divers. Two non-functioning pieces of safety equipment. Two fatalities.

Where did this happen can you point me toward a thread or something on it?

 

[Diving Dubai]

So dry suit reg has to inflate dry suit, plus I would want one that I can ice dive in without it freezing up. I wouldn't want to take such a high end reg to travel diving to warm water. For travel I'd want the light weight, plus low cost, in case, lost reg.

The Dry suit uses a second LP hose for the suit, it's supplied with the suit. The hose fits into a LP port on your first stage. So for Dry suit diving you don't need a different reg set. However I take your point that you want a cold water reg set for Ice diving

 

[boulderjohn]

Where did this happen can you point me toward a thread or something on it?

There was a ScubaBoard thread on it. It happened probably 5 years ago or so. The thread will be in the Accidents and Incidents forum, but it may take some searching.

 

[dmaziuk]

The Dry suit uses a second LP hose for the suit, it's supplied with the suit. The hose fits into a LP port on your first stage. So for Dry suit diving you don't need a different reg set.

You do, however, need an LP port to connect it to. That's probably where that comes from: you don't need a different reg set if you have an available LP port.