To buy a regulator, or keep renting

[Nation of Heat]

Currently debating whether or not to buy my first regulator. Here is my situation in a nutshell: I'm relatively new (2 years/15 dives) but definitely plan on doing it regularly. However it will always be in a vacation situation, and Im guessing i'll never be much more than a 15-30 dives a year type of person. It will probably almost always be in warm-ish Carribbean water. The main motivation for me would be to have confidence in how it is maintained for safety reasons. I'm not really worried about comfort, etc as I've always found rental gear fine in that department. Currently I own a computer, mask, fins. If I do end up buying, i'll want to buy new, but keep it as reasonable as possible (which seems to translate to $300-500 from what i've seen so far?).

Looking for any advice on a) buy vs. keep renting, given my situation and b) any tips/suggestions on buying, if that's the verdict.

 

[Marie13]

Why not buy if it's in your budget? That way you know you're diving on safe equipment, as you mentioned.

 

[frndrfoe]

I have heard second hand of people finding black mold on the rental mouthpieces in less sanitary locations. The regulator was the first thing i got after mask fins and snorkel

 

[Caveeagle]

I hate to be negative about shops who rent gear, but I have a strong bias against renting regs. The only two in-water reg failures I have seen in person were with rental gear.

Now if you have a trusted shop or maybe a pool to check it out in advance, that might be ok.

I might also want to know the IP has been checked recently.

 

[cubbiegirlem]

I would absolutely buy. They are relatively easy to carry with you and I would be very concerned about the quality of rentals, especially in certain areas of the Caribbean. Along with my computer my reg is the only thing I take in my carry on because I would feel ok renting everything else in the event of delayed baggage.

I also have a relatively small mouth and had some discomfort when I first started diving with rental regs. I now have an aqualung Mikron which is lighter weight and I love it.

 

[Patoux01]

My experience with rentals was that a stone would have given me more air than that reg. Happy I never took it deeper than 5m because it was hell.

The issue I see with rental is that it is some sort of lottery, on which you usually win. It does depend on countries though.

Now you can do the maths and see what would cost you most, renting or buying.


Depending on your region, owning your own gear can help dive more often... Even though I own my full gear and am unable to land in more than 15 dives a year...

 

[KeithG]

I hate to be negative about shops who rent gear, but I have a strong bias against renting regs. The only two in-water reg failures I have seen in person were with rental gear.

Now if you have a trusted shop or maybe a pool to check it out in advance, that might be ok.

I might also want to know the IP has been checked recently.

And the only reg failures I have seen are owned ones that were just serviced by the owners LDS.

If you are using a shoddy dive op, then I WOULD be worried about their regs. And their air, and their boat and their...

If you are using a reputable op, then the rental gear will be in great condition. Most likely better shape than stuff you own that is worked on by your LDS. Reputable ops have consistent high volume and see lots of kinds of gear that your LDS never see. They also turn over their gear on a regular basis since it gets used so much. I have never seen "old" rental gear.

Also consider the cost of ownership and the hassle to pack and carry your reg on vacation.

I own, but last trip a pair of divers showed up with just a small back pack each. They owned mask and snorkels and rented everything else.

 

[halocline]

Owning your own regulator will likely make you feel a bit better about diving, so it's worth it. But with your dive schedule it makes no sense at all to go for the free-parts-for-life in return for annual servicing. That would add about $100/year to the cost of owning your regulator. My suggestion is to buy something at a discount without the service requirement, dive it and care for it well, and get it serviced in about 4 or 5 years. You can get it inspected much more frequently, or you can do it yourself. But if its a good, simple, proven design, it should easily last 4-5 years (in your case less than 100 dives total) before needing service. Two good solid budget regulators are the SP MK2 and the aqualung titan. There are others.

If you own a regulator for several years, annual service costs can easily add up to more than you paid for the regulator, even with the "free" parts.

 

[scubafanatic]

The 'ew, yuck!' factor in using a rental reg is all the argument I need to buy my own regs!

 

[AdivingBel]

'ew yuck...really? Diving is a sport where you spit in your mask, pee in your wetsuit (don't say you don't, you're lying ), only God knows what's hangin' out of your nose when you climb up the ladder, and who knows when those boat towels were last laundered. I'm not saying you can't participate, but if you're an "ew yuck" person, a day of diving is gonna be a loooooong day. IMHO