Average life expectancy of equipment

[drrich2]

If your reg. warranty (or your peace of mind) requires annual servicing, find out what your local dive shop charges for that.

If you own your own tank, it may last decades, but will need occasional visual inspections & pressure testing. Find out the frequency intervals and costs there.

Odds are in a few years some new dive computer will woo you away from whatever you buy now. See if the one you have your eye on has user replaceable batteries, & if not, how often you need to send it in, roughly.

Richard.

 

[stafford530]

Thanks all for the great feedback.

 

[drbill]

Depends very much on the quality of the gear you buy. My main tanks all date from the 70s. My BCD has over 2,000 dives on it and is 9-10 years old. I'm still diving with regs from the 80s and 90s. My computers are much more recent (no older than 5 years). Up until recently I used to do 300-350 dives a year. Of course much of my gear LOOKS old and I'm not known for frequent servicing... but good stuff lasts.

 

[BDSC]

Very little "wears out". Usually, you decide something else appeals to you more.

Exactly! I have yet to replace any of my dive gear because I needed to. I bought new stuff because I just couldn't help myself!

 

[aquaregia]

My gloves and booties were trash after a year / a hundred dives. My regulators are from the 70s and my tanks are from the 60s. I'm from the 80s.

 

[james croft]

I'll be diving a Voit 50 Fathom regulator this weekend that was made in 1959. I bought it used in 1967 for ten bucks. I would say I have gotten my moneys worth from this. I also know it will be diveable for a long time to come.

 

[aquaregia]

I wanna find one of those for $10 pretty badly

 

[diveprof]

I dive an 80's Sherwood reg (also have newer SP). I've switched to BP/Wing, but have a mid 90s Seaquest Pro BC (love this BCD - only 18lb lift, simple cumberbund). Wetsuits/boots - I replace every 2 years or so (they've been compresseed so much they lose thermal efficiency). The newer dive computers don't seem to have the longevity of older units. Tanks- I'm in steels so I'm good. I go through masks about every 5 years. I have scuba pro jets from 1986 and a newer pair of twin jets.

 

[Banyan]

Exactly! I have yet to replace any of my dive gear because I needed to. I bought new stuff because I just couldn't help myself!

Or you realize that you made a "mistake" in your initial purchase. In my case, I finally jumped into the SCUBA money pit with a vest BCD with octo-integrated inflator, tri-console AND air-integrated computer, and split fins, only to decide after about 150 dives that I really wanted a BP/W set up, a simple hosed SPG backing up my computer with a compass wrist mount, separate octo and inflators, and stiff paddle fins. In one sense, this is optional since I could still dive with my old gear, but once you realize how much more efficient/effective you can make your rig, you can't resist. Money money money.

There are a bunch of "things I wish I had known..." threads on SB if the OP wants to learn from the folly of others. I remember a suggestion on one thread that you should simply assume that you're going to eventually decide to replace your gear for preference reasons, and if you did your research you'll only to have to replace it once. It's not the craziest thing I've read on SB.

 

[AZRyan]

Any thoughts on low pressure hose life? My gear is five years old with about 80 dives total, taken care of, and stored inside in a dark air conditioned closet. I don't know the hose manufacturer.

High pressure hose was recently replaced when weeping tiny bubbles (hose was for an Aeris AI computer), so that got me thinking about the low pressure hoses........