i am considering owning my own reg (apeks flight or aqualung micron), my dive buddy is questioning rationale of buying. we are both recreational warm water divers with approx. 20 dives per year. is is worth the hassle (maintenance, travel weight) to own your set, or continue renting from reputable (padi) dive shops? so far, we only had good experience renting.
own versus rent?
- Thread starter willy_b
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
keithdiver
Contributor
Paco II
Contributor
100% it's worth owning your own reg, with one caveat: you should be honest in answering this question - is diving something you think will continue to do for at least a few years? If yes, then again, completely worth it. If not, then probably not.
LeadTurn_SD
Contributor
20 dives a year is certainly enough to justify owning your regulator.... but my advice is biased because I dive year-round, close to home.
The only real "minuses" to owning your own regulator is the need to get it serviced... this is a "cost of ownership" that is very worthwhile for most divers, but not all. If you are absolutely sure you'll always have well-maintained regs to rent, and only dive when on vacation.... well, I can certainly see the rationale for renting. A reputable shop will inspect (and maintain) its rental fleet of regulators; but if you have any questions about the dive op's regs, that would be more than enough reason to own your own set.
Oh heck... ignore what I said above, and just buy yourself a nice regulator!!! You'll enjoy it, and most folks do find reasons to dive more often when they own their own gear
Best wishes.
What do you think the maintenance procedure is for rental regulators during the busy time of the year for most dive operators?
Reality: The regulators free flows or malfunctions, they give you another one. The malfunctioning regulator gets set aside till they have time to deal with it. Most dive operators don't have a full time techinician, so they sit there till the techinician shows up. That doesn;t sound that bad till you are the one who is about to go on a dive, on a boat and you reg doesn't work. You hope that they have a spare. I have been on many a dive boat where I have had to lend people my personal spare so they can dive. Now let's add the High Season issue. Regs get used 2-3x a day with people not really taking care of them. I have sat on the island of Cozumel repairing rental regulators during the peak time of the High season and have seen regulators that I just overhauled come back a week later and they are corroded and free flowing.
Just my 2 cents,
Jim
Reality: The regulators free flows or malfunctions, they give you another one. The malfunctioning regulator gets set aside till they have time to deal with it. Most dive operators don't have a full time techinician, so they sit there till the techinician shows up. That doesn;t sound that bad till you are the one who is about to go on a dive, on a boat and you reg doesn't work. You hope that they have a spare. I have been on many a dive boat where I have had to lend people my personal spare so they can dive. Now let's add the High Season issue. Regs get used 2-3x a day with people not really taking care of them. I have sat on the island of Cozumel repairing rental regulators during the peak time of the High season and have seen regulators that I just overhauled come back a week later and they are corroded and free flowing.
Just my 2 cents,
Jim
Damselfish
Contributor
If you're going to continue diving at that rate or more I'd get your own. I found after the first couple dive trips, the frequency we traveled to dive and the amount of diving we did on trips increased.
And note that renting from a PADI shop is no guarantee of good rental gear, nor is renting from a shop not affiliated with PADI mean it's bad. The only way to help assure good rental gear in advance is to talk to someone who's used a place. If you're by any chance looking at the PADI 5-Star thing, be aware that's simply a marketing arrangement and really has nothing to do with how reputable they are or the quality of the gear (or anything.)
And note that renting from a PADI shop is no guarantee of good rental gear, nor is renting from a shop not affiliated with PADI mean it's bad. The only way to help assure good rental gear in advance is to talk to someone who's used a place. If you're by any chance looking at the PADI 5-Star thing, be aware that's simply a marketing arrangement and really has nothing to do with how reputable they are or the quality of the gear (or anything.)
cavediver256
Registered
Buy your own Willy B, for all the reasons listed here and probably a hundred more.
mksmith713
Contributor
Buy......
cost of ownership is minimalconsidering most companies offer free parts for annual service.
You just have to pay the service costs.
Do you remember the last time you rented and the mouthpiece didn't feel comfortable or the reg didn't breathe that great?
Those days will be over.
cost of ownership is minimalconsidering most companies offer free parts for annual service.
You just have to pay the service costs.
Do you remember the last time you rented and the mouthpiece didn't feel comfortable or the reg didn't breathe that great?
Those days will be over.
Similar threads
