DM said "Don't worry about it".

[JohnN]

@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.

A sealed diaphragm regulator will work just as well in the warm as it will in the coldest water you ever want to dive. My 32lb wing and steel BP works just fine in the tropics, since with it I don't need any additional weight to dive with an AL80 and it is the preferred configuration for single tank drysuit diving.

I don't even bother to remove the drysuit hose from the regulator, I just tuck it under the wing in the tropics.

Buy once, buy right. . .

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

A sealed diaphragm regulator will work just as well in the warm as it will in the coldest water you ever want to dive. My 32lb wing and steel BP works just fine in the tropics, since with it I don't need any additional weight to dive with an AL80 and it is the preferred configuration for single tank drysuit diving.

I don't even bother to remove the drysuit hose from the regulator, I just tuck it under the wing in the tropics.

Buy once, buy right. . .

What about if you dive steel? (such as in the Med). I found I was overweighted. Going sidemount, I don't have that problem, and with a buttplate, I can switch back and forth between aluminum and steel.

 

[JohnN]

What about if you dive steel? (such as in the Med). I found I was overweighted. Going sidemount, I don't have that problem, and with a buttplate, I can switch back and forth between aluminum and steel.

I was diving a steel HP120 in Cozumel (and a big thumbs up to Aldora) without any problem. Yes I was a little heavy, but not so much that I couldn't swim the rig up if I had a wing failure. . Yes there is a bit more drag with a 32 lb wing than with an optimally sized warm water wing, but I'm still miles (or kilometers) ahead of everyone diving a poodle jacket

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I was diving a steel HP120 in Cozumel (and a big thumbs up to Aldora) without any problem. Yes I was a little heavy, but not so much that I couldn't swim the rig up if I had a wing failure. . Yes there is a bit more drag with a 32 lb wing than with an optimally sized warm water wing, but I'm still miles (or kilometers) ahead of everyone diving a poodle jacket

Fair enough. I just don't like being overweighted, so I don't see a perfect solution for both warm and cold water, other than sidemount

 

[JohnN]

Fair enough. I just don't like being overweighted, so I don't see a perfect solution for both warm and cold water, other than sidemount

In all fairness I just took advantage of the DGX killer deal on an Al backplate and 25 lb wing

Of course I was able to rationalize the purchase because my wife has finally agreed to become certified. "But it's for you dear. . ." The point I was trying to make that if you have an unlimited budget (or a pliable conscience), more gear is easy to justify. It is possible to buy gear on a budget. (I scored a sealed HOG D1 + 2 classics + SPG +hoses for <$190, also for my wife)

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

In all fairness I just took advantage of the DGX killer deal on an Al backplate and 25 lb wing

Of course I was able to rationalize the purchase because my wife has finally agreed to become certified. "But it's for you dear. . ." The point I was trying to make that if you have an unlimited budget (or a pliable conscience), more gear is easy to justify. It is possible to buy gear on a budget. (I scored a sealed HOG D1 + 2 classics + SPG +hoses for <$190, also for my wife)

That's fair. I know I've spent way too much money on dive gear, and I do my best to help my students buy once so they don't waste as much money as I did.

 

[NYCNaiad]

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.

Totally get your point, but just to play devil's advocate...

If you use the same equipment (or as much of the same equipment as you can) for all of your dives, you always remember how everything works during the split seconds you may have in an emergency. I dive both cold & warm (though I prefer warm water & haven't yet been ice diving, I do dive in 43F/6.1C water). I take my cold water reg & gear which I could use for ice diving on all my dives including travel to hot climates with extremely warm temps. The extra pounds in weight are worth it to me personally because I don't want to forget or fumble around with gear I only use some of the time. And I take as much gear as I can in my carry-on so it's not lost & I also insure it as well.

 

[Storker]

I don't even bother to remove the drysuit hose from the regulator, I just tuck it under the wing in the tropics.

I prefer to remove the DS hose since I don't like potential danglies. It takes me all of two minutes, including picking the wrench, allen key and blind plug out of my save-a-dive box. It's noticeably more bother to take the weights off the backplate and adjust the harness for a wetsuit instead of a DS with heavy undergarments.

And to get back to the thread topic: What @Akimbo said.

 

[Neilwood]

I would certainly have no hesitation walking away from a potential dive if I consider the equipment to be in poor repair or it is outwith my comfort zone.

Better to be on the boat/shore wishing I was down there than to be in the water struggling to get back to boat/shore.

 

[Blasto]

Diving safety comes from the assumption that some of your equipment will fail. In rec diving, the margin of safety is 1-2 tolerable malfunctions (most but not all combos of 2; buddy away counts as malfunction). By having one malfunction to begin with, you're removing that margin of safety.

Personally, I'd be OK with diving that BCD on an easy tropical dive, where my weight is less than my lung volume and the BC is only a convenience. But I wouldn't be OK telling someone else to do that.

The dive shop was especially not OK for saying what they did. The minimum acceptable response would probably be "Oh, sorry, we'll have to fix that. Here's a weight belt / spare / my BC". If there's nothing, at least asking if you want to postpone the dive, and if not, quick instruction on what to do if there is a problem, plus the DM's close eye. "Don't worry about it" is the worst possible response - the least you have to do is see it as a problem and take extra caution about it.