Rental gear sanitation.

[KeithG]

I´ve heard lately a couple of cases of people getting nasty infections after using rental gear. What would be the best guidelines of getting rental gear sanitized? I am not very worried about skin or feet diseases, but oral ones.
Some dive shops should clean the regs and gear on a regular base (or should do), but is it a standard procedure?

Dive shops turn over rental gear on a regular basis. They can not economically test and/or clean gear after every rental (worst case is gear that gets rented twice a day, best case is once a week).

If you are really worried and super paranoid then the simplest fix is to carry a few small packets of vinegar (steal some from a fast food joint or drag the reg to the restaurant next to the dive shop...) and give your second stage a quick squirt and shake. Let the reg sit in the sun for ten minutes and then rinse with fresh water.

Do not over think this.

 

[ystrout]

I rented for a while and never had any problems. I think it's very unlikely that you'll catch anything.

I'd be most concerned with wetsuits around the privates since they stay wet the longest. Regulators dry pretty fast so any virus/bacteria won't be able to live too long after that. Just ask for the driest gear to minimize your odds.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've never rented, and am super fussy about germs and washing stuff. Having said that, I don't think I'd think twice about using a rental wetsuit. In fact, the two I've owned were previously used for shop courses many times. It's probably hard to contract something with water (even salt/fresh unchlorinated water) always sloshing through the suit. I wouldn't worry about a rental reg either, but I think I would at least thoroughly rinse the mouthpiece first. But that's just me.

 

[Kyle Musick]

Rinsing is good, your own mouthpiece is better, but it's really not quite enough if you want it to be 'clean'. Reality is that we all slobber a bit while breathing through a reg. That goes into the mouthpiece and the body and coats it a little. Unless you work at it you can't just rinse that off. It needs a soak and scrub to first remove all the biological material. If you ever use a semi-clear mouthpiece you'll see over time as the gunk builds up and starts to grow.

Sterilizing solutions used in a quick dunk will help, and a mouthpiece improves that, but unless you open it up, soak it, then scrub it, your aren't....really.....going to sterilize it. This is basic asepsis. How clean does it have to be to satisfy you?

If you are really concerned, and don't want to buy, I'd minimally buy a whole 2nd stage and swap that out.

Getting a separate second stage isn't the best idea. The second stage is adjusted to the first stage output pressure. There is a special tool to match the 2nd stage to the first. It can be done without it but it's a pain and the rental shop probably won't want to deal with it. If the second stage isn't adjusted properly, it could hard to breathe on or free flow easily

 

[Mr. Sunday]

You might try dunking in a Povidone Iodine solution. I use it to disinfect rebreather loops and counter lungs etc....

 

[Texasguy]

Buy a bottle of mouthwash, rinse with it...

 

[Geobound]

If so worried about this, buy your own gear..chlorine in pool should take care of any bugs you are afraid of. For open water dives think about it, fish poop and pee in water all the time, so if worried about this do not dive. Funny thing is same people afraid of this will use a rental wetsuit that 100 or more people wore and peed in rather than spend a little to purchase one. Maybe they all share other people's underwear as well.

Whaaaaat?? Say it isn't so??

 

[outofofficebrb]

I am having flashbacks to that rental wetsuit MRSA thread.

Severe soft tissue infection, presumed related to rental wetsuit

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I am having flashbacks to that rental wetsuit MRSA thread.

Severe soft tissue infection, presumed related to rental wetsuit

Damn. People are nasty.

The first pricey piece of gear I bought was a wetsuit for my upcoming OW dives (big guy...so got to pay a premium for the larger suit).

If I wasnt using brand new regulators and guaranteed that I was going to use that set for the whole course (class size of one)...I'd have bought my own regulators.

 

[fmerkel]

Getting a separate second stage isn't the best idea. The second stage is adjusted to the first stage output pressure. There is a special tool to match the 2nd stage to the first. It can be done without it but it's a pain and the rental shop probably won't want to deal with it. If the second stage isn't adjusted properly, it could hard to breathe on or free flow easily

Almost all first stages are set to 135-145 psi. There are oddballs but you won't find them in rental stock. Almost any decent 2nd stage properly tuned will handle that just fine. A balanced 2nd will be somewhat more forgiving and may breathe a bit easier. You can mix balanced and unbalanced 1st and 2nds.
I service my own regs, and have LOT of different brands and models. I swap around 2nds all the time with no issue at all. If you do, something is not set right or has a problem.