To buy a regulator, or keep renting

[ScubaJill]

I find the whole would you eat off somebody else's (fill in the blank), eat off someone else's spoon or drink from their canteen comments hilarious. Anyone who deployed to Irag or Afghanistan and participated in a meeting with local leaders can tell you meal stories that would astound Western sensibilities. But to the OP'S question, I say buy and then dive local.

Or worked in development in rural west Africa. I didn't have a gun, though. Just my dimples and pretty good grasp of the local language.

I only have a regulator because it was a gift. Renting for the first 75 dives was cheap. Like $5 for all gear. I likely would have purchased one by now, if I wasn't gifted one, but to be honest, the range of choices and the expense produced a bit of fear of making the wrong choice.

 

[Nation of Heat]

To me using someones regulator is like wearing someones underwear.

I genuinely get that, but for me personally that's not an issue or a decision point. For me it's primarily about safety and to a lesser extent about comfort/ease. (I haven't felt that breathing is difficult w/ the gear i've rented so far...).
To the credit of the forum, (and hopefully not the annoyance of others) my thoughts going into it have been adjusted a bit. I figured that safety would be a slam dunk, but there seems to be equal votes on either side. And i assumed that breathing would be roughly the same bought or rented, and so far that seems weighted towards it being vastly/somewhat improved with buying a higher quality reg. So thanks to all who have weighed in so far....i appreciate the input. Regardless of which way i go, the education is priceless.

 

[mattia_v]

the cost of renting gear this year alone would have come to an estimated 550 dollars. That was enough for me to buy a full set of gear, regardless of other considerations

 

[Lorenzoid]

Or worked in development in rural west Africa. I didn't have a gun, though. Just my dimples and pretty good grasp of the local language.

Or had a Bedouin guide cook you dinner with unwashed hands and unwashed everything else. There was not enough toilet paper in all of Egypt to handle what came the next day.

 

[ScubaJill]

Or had a Bedouin guide cook you dinner with unwashed hands and unwashed everything else. There was not enough toilet paper in all of Egypt to handle what came the next day.

You're speaking my language, Lorenzoid.

 

[dmaziuk]

And i assumed that breathing would be roughly the same bought or rented, and so far that seems weighted towards it being vastly/somewhat improved with buying a higher quality reg.

It would be roughly the same but if you shell out on something like cressi t10, it has a knob for adjusting breathing effort on the fly.

 

[shurite7]

When it comes to renting just remember you are not the only renter. I've witnessed people puking into regs due to sea sickness. Watching them puke into the second stage wasn't as bad as watching the next renter breathing off the same reg a few hours later.

 

[ScubaDoo83]

Yep, folks often puke, burp, slobber and cough in rental regs. I literally cannot think of anything else that would convince one to buy.

 

[Rapid Star]

Beyond the bodily fluids besides air that pass thru rented regs, I have seen people dragging them on the ground and just mishandling them in general. After all, it's a rental not theirs! So yeah purchased mine right after certification. Now I know when it is serviced and by whom! As well I know that it is cared for and handled properly.

 

[Neilwood]

Beyond the bodily fluids besides air that pass thru rented regs, I have seen people dragging them on the ground and just mishandling them in general. After all, it's a rental not theirs! So yeah purchased mine right after certification. Now I know when it is serviced and by whom! As well I know that it is cared for and handled properly.

This would be my main reason for purchasing - I know the state of my own regs but I have no idea about the rental regs. Even if only serviced last week there is nothing to say whether it was dragged along the bottom (and getting filled with sand/gravel) or dropped on the previous dive. All it takes is one schmuck being less than careful on one dive.

With my own regs, I have no problem in knowing how they are performing. If I drop it or misuse it it is my fault and I alone am responsible.

Not as worried about the hygiene aspect as most companies will take steps to deal with this with antibacterials etc.