|
|
04-30-2017, 09:00 PM
|
#1
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 4,663
|
Dive equipment
For those of you who are avid divers but only dive while traveling, do you own your own gear or rent? DH & I currently own our gear, but it's getting older and maintenance costs are fairly high - spent around $300 to service both sets of gear this year. It occurred to me that it might be better to just rent - newer more advanced gear each trip - but since we know how ours works and know we maintain it well, we keep using it.
What do you do? Thoughts on renting vs buying & maintaining your own?
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
04-30-2017, 09:18 PM
|
#2
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scuba
For those of you who are avid divers but only dive while traveling, do you own your own gear or rent? DH & I currently own our gear, but it's getting older and maintenance costs are fairly high - spent around $300 to service both sets of gear this year. It occurred to me that it might be better to just rent - newer more advanced gear each trip - but since we know how ours works and know we maintain it well, we keep using it.
What do you do? Thoughts on renting vs buying & maintaining your own?
|
When I was diving I owned my own gear because I could buy a higher up the food chain than typical rental equipment, you can buy a top of the line regulator for example, which will not be in the rental pool. Owning a dive computer means that you can understand how it works better than a rental one.
|
|
|
04-30-2017, 09:22 PM
|
#3
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spending the Kids Inheritance and living in Chicago
Posts: 17,094
|
I used to dive, then got away from it for many years.
I took my tank into the dive shop and found out it could no longer be used as it has a built in reserve (really just a valve trick). The cost to pressure test the tank, put on a new valve was close to just buying a new tank.
Lets not even talk about trying to use the regulator, I'm sure the rubber has deteriorated on it and while it might work at first, I really didn't want to find out it fails when I'm down 40 feet.
At that point, I literally threw the tank in the garbage (with the valve off) and decided If I wanted to dive I'd just rent.
|
|
|
04-30-2017, 09:28 PM
|
#4
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Nashville
Posts: 2,506
|
We own our own BCs, fins, regulators, masks, computers, DW's wetsuits, emergency alerts, SMBs, etc. Rent the tanks and the weight belts (I don't like integrated...)
We like having our own stuff that is familiar and can be used without having to overthink things--plus, many destinations/liveaboards don't have much in the way of rental gear when you get outside of the Caribbean/Hawaii. (Trip next year to Fiji, Tonga, Solomons, and Vanuatu; would not be comfortable renting gear and, in fact, are upgrading to lighter/better gear before trip.)
__________________
OMY * 3 2ish Done 7.28.17
|
|
|
04-30-2017, 09:44 PM
|
#5
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,321
|
When traveling we always tended to take fins, masks, snorkels, computers sometimes shorties depending on destination and then rent the rest. Locally just usually snorkel in the summer so don't have serviceable tanks and regulator anymore.
|
|
|
04-30-2017, 11:07 PM
|
#6
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,010
|
We've owned our own gear for over 35 years, upgraded a few times. Always had top of the line Scubapro gear. A couple times we rented but I always like my own gear since I know it and am very comfortable with it. One example is the Air2 octopus system. Think about it, if you or someone else is out of air at depth and very probably panicking are you looking for an octopus or just looking for bubbles? If someone grabs my regulator the Air2 is easily accessible.
__________________
You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 04:37 AM
|
#7
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Cottage Grove
Posts: 212
|
I'm a tech diver so I have tons of gear. I typically dive with 6 tanks with 6 DIN regulators (doubles for back gas, 9 cf argon bottle for drysuit, travel gas bottle, 50% bottle, and O2 bottle. I also have multiple back plates and wings as well as single tank adapters, reels, lift bags, 10 gas computer, nitrox computer, bottom timer, etc. I also 3 sets of doubles as well as at least another 10 tanks. I do the O2 cleaning and and visuals myself and bring them directly to the hydro shop as needed every 5 years and get a nice discount because my company uses them for their extinguisher inspections.
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 05:02 AM
|
#8
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: South Florida
Posts: 551
|
I'm a DiveMaster and have been certified since 1985, taking multiple weeks of dive trips annually. Yes, I own and take all of my own gear which I am familiar with. But you make a very valid point: the dive operations rent out newer gear and they do the maintenance. I can see the convenience of not traveling with your equipment, as I just packed for my upcoming Cozumel trip and weighed my gear and suitcase at 40 pounds, which allows me 10 pounds for clothes, etc. plus my carry on. If I went that route, the least I would take is my own prescription mask.
Rich
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 06:11 AM
|
#9
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Fair Lawn
Posts: 2,962
|
OP: DW and I were just like you. We only went diving on our 2X/year vacations, and had our own equipment (no tanks). I paid the maintenance costs each year. We wanted to use our own familiar equipment, knowing it's maintained, and for us knowing no other mouth was on the bite piece. For me, I just viewed these costs as part of our overall vacation budget.
DW stopped diving quite a few years ago due to back issues. I didn't enjoy diving with a buddied-up stranger, so I stopped a few years after her. We sold our equipment on Craigslist.
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 06:18 AM
|
#10
|
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,357
|
I don't dive any more, but when I did we always used our own equipment whenever possible for the reasons meierlde mentioned.
But when we went somewhere we had to fly to, we brought our own regulators and computers. Other equipment (tanks, fins, weights, etc.) was rented.
__________________
I thought growing old would take longer.
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 06:44 AM
|
#11
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: DC area
Posts: 2,495
|
We own ours and travel with it, our core gear is now ~30 years old. Over the last few years our BCs finally failed and we got low profile BCs which are much better for travel. Our regulators are pretty much top of the line and operate like new. They were packed away for a number of years when the kids were small so we didn't do annual maintenance for a long time. Now we do it every other year since our usage is pretty light.
__________________
FI and Semi-ER March 24, 2017
Consulting to stay engaged
"All models are wrong, some are useful." - George Box
“There is always a well-known solution to every human problem: neat, plausible, and wrong.” - H.L. Mencken
|
|
|
05-01-2017, 08:47 AM
|
#12
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: North TX
Posts: 1,833
|
Cozumel dive guys are usually on top of their gear. When I lived here, I still only brought my mask and fins. Dove every few weeks and just was easy. Never saw the reason for all the other stuff and did my own math without the computer. Call me simple.
|
|
|
05-02-2017, 04:14 AM
|
#13
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Acworth
Posts: 1,214
|
I have my own gear (though old, probably need to replace some of it currently as it hasn't been used in a while). I plan on renting unless I have a bad experience with rental gear as it'll cost me less to rent than to check another bag on the plane and I won't have to lug everything around. We'll see how it goes later this year.
|
|
|
05-02-2017, 10:24 AM
|
#14
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,329
|
Does this stuff count?
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 05:18 AM
|
#15
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 4,663
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by donheff
Does this stuff count?
|
What is the rectangular item in the second photo?
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 05:24 AM
|
#16
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 4,663
|
Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll always want to bring my mask, fins & snorkel as I really enjoy snorkeling too. I get cold easily so I dive in a custom 5 ml full wetsuit. Will want to bring that too. The computer would also be easy to bring if I take it out of my console and use a wrist strap instead. However I may try renting the BC & regulator next time. I'd probably still end up bringing my dive bag to hold the other items but at least I'd have more room and less weight in the bag, and I wouldn't need to upgrade or maintain my equipment.
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 05:30 AM
|
#17
|
Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,357
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scuba
What is the rectangular item in the second photo?
|
Underwater selfie stick?
__________________
I thought growing old would take longer.
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 05:31 AM
|
#18
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,329
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scuba
What is the rectangular item in the second photo?
|
That is a framing device for an original Nikonos underwater camera which I am holding. It was difficult to impossible to look thru the viewfinder but the frame could help orient the camera to the subject. Here is a wreck photo I took (on that dive I think).
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 07:26 AM
|
#19
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,010
|
Nikonos were rangefinder cameras and there was no good way to confirm focus other than using the framers. I had a Nik 5 and used the close-up kit.
__________________
You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.
|
|
|
05-03-2017, 07:56 AM
|
#20
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,329
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by folivier
Nikonos were rangefinder cameras and there was no good way to confirm focus other than using the framers. I had a Nik 5 and used the close-up kit.
|
Close up focus distance may have been what I used it for. I barely remember since I only borrowed the camera a few times. Got some wreck photos and some ice diving photos.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|