Are airline bag fee's changing gear ownership

[teknitroxdiver]

My two dive buddies always rent equipment. This makes sense to them because we typically do one or two 10 day trips per year to places that have good quality dive stuff.

I own all my equipment and have noted that the annual servicing costs about what they pay for renting. The Delta Gold Card eliminates the cost of hauling it but really, they are getting a better deal when you add up the annual cost of the Gold Card $95 to the cost of servicing BC and Regs $120 and compare it to what they pay for renting what gear they don't own. (just BC and Regs)

You could easily double or triple your cost advantage over them by more reasonable gear servicing intervals. Regulators can be evaluated yourself with a simple IP gauge, and you'll find that you can go many years without actually needing service, so picking a middle ground of 2 or 3 years between service saves a lot of wasted part kits and money with no change in safety. Many of us here have saved a lot of money and a lot of time not spent dealing with a shop every year by employing these simple procedures.

That's even more true for the BC. As long as it holds air and the buttons on the inflator don't stick, there's nothing to service. Anyone can evaluate this themselves in about 5 minutes.