Best rental fleet Regs?

[beanojones]

Best rental fleet Regs?

Including all the stuff: rebuild costs, customer reaction, ease of whatever...

I am thinking that the XS Scuba line looks to be a pretty good alternative. The Spirit (basic piston model) with an AirWave inline octopus (which has a effort/free flow adjuster!!) with the Companion BC looks to be a nice minimal rental set.

XS Scuba RG100 Spirit Scuba Regulator
XS Scuba RG325 AirWave Inline Kit Octopus Scuba Regulator
XS Scuba BC500 Companion Buoyancy Compensator

Are there any gotchas anyone knows about to rolling this out for a rental fleet? How is XS Scuba at dealing with problems with rental gear? Is it stupid to put a balanced second stage into a rental fleet? Do i need to put a swivel on the main reg hose to make the long hose comfortable for customers? Will customers just freak out with an underarm reg?

 

[diveandclimb]

I have no experience with XS Scuba gear but most of the LDS around here use Oceanic gear and seem to be very happy with them.

 

[diversteve]

Since you're talking about rental use, the assumption is that most of your customers would be newer or infrequent divers.

Do i need to put a swivel on the main reg hose to make the long hose comfortable for customers? Will customers just freak out with an underarm reg?

Would they be familiar with a long-hose and how to deploy it in an emergency?

Don't the agencies still teach donate your octopus secondary in an OOA situation? I don't knoiw, it's been a few..

I don't think newer divers - who likely learned on a primary/octo rig - would be comfortable with an in-line octopus as a secondary. I wouldn't like diving with an underarm reg as I've never used one.

You seem to be applying tec/dir processes to basic rec diving.

Most resort rental gear I've seen is Sherwood - often Magnum's. Higher end is some Scubapro variant.

 

[scubafanatic]

...I'd say the most common rental regs I see are :

Aqualung Calypso
Aqualung Titan
Scubapro M2 / R 190
...and the low-end Sherwoods.

...although I use/enjoy swivels on my 2nd-stages, another possible simplier option are those new MIFLEX-super-tough-flexible hoses to achieve the same result.

 

[beanojones]

although I use/enjoy swivels on my 2nd-stages, another possible simplier option are those new MIFLEX-super-tough-flexible hoses to achieve the same result.

Good thought there.

 

[beanojones]

Since you're talking about rental use, the assumption is that most of your customers would be newer or infrequent divers.
Would they be familiar with a long-hose and how to deploy it in an emergency?

Don't the agencies still teach donate your octopus secondary in an OOA situation? I don't knoiw, it's been a few..

I don't think newer divers - who likely learned on a primary/octo rig - would be comfortable with an in-line octopus as a secondary. I wouldn't like diving with an underarm reg as I've never used one.

You seem to be applying tec/dir processes to basic rec diving.

Thanks for your input. I'll explain some stuff about how we would use them and please tell me if this makes any sense for you, or whether you still think it would be not a good idea.

I would be working as an independent dive operator, and not at a shop with these, and the focus would be tourists who would expect to dive under the direct supervision of an instructor, including, I imagine a heavy dose of 'Discover Scuba' or the equivalent cutomers. So the rental gear would be really cusomer use gear and not 'rental to the general public' gear. I would be giving a fairly detailed briefing to anyone before diving, and they would be diving under my direct supervision. So they would hear how to route the hose directly from me, and I would be the donor in any OOA/low air situations.

As far as teaching goes, for at least the agecies I know (PADI, NAUI, IANTD) the OOA steps are as gear requires. Air2 (or inline inflators) are perfectly fine.

Any feedback on my feedback is appreciated. Knowing that you would not like diving with this sort of set up is exactly the sort of thoughts I need to hear.

 

[diversteve]

Any feedback on my feedback is appreciated. Knowing that you would not like diving with this sort of set up is exactly the sort of thoughts I need to hear.

I'm certainly no expert in gear configuration but in the scenario you describe having an inline inflator actually may be a better idea as it puts the emergency reg on a hose they're likely already holding onto. Or at least very aware of it's location...

My personal biases aside, the underarm routing might also make more sense as it would be potentially harder for them to lose track of their primary.

 

[herman]

Looking at it from a totally different approch, these regs are going to need service...maybe more often than you would expect. I would take into consideration the difficulty of getting parts and what the ease/difficulty of service is. A simple piston first with non adjustable seconds (nothing for that diver who simply must mess with the controls to mess with) would be my choice. Sherwoods are simple, very reliable and easy to service plus you can get parts for them without all the must be dealer BS. The Zeagle Razor might also be a good choice. Scubapro MK-2/R380s or Aqualung Clypso would be good choices if they would drop the parts and service BS.

 

[mike_s]

I think that you're going to get answers all over the place on this question...


why?

1.) because shops all carry different brands.
2.) They will use a brand they carry for the rental fleet
3.) They want to "push" a brand they carry to sell

typically their rental fleets I've seen in most shops is the lower end to mid end setups...

 

[batmanusa]

This is a very timely thread because I have a similar question. I am part of a not for profit youth leadership program, part of what we do is offer scuba training as a leadership tool. We have a great staff of educators, all dedicated to the mission. The program as operated so far with use donated and serviced gear from many manufacturers. This year we resolved that we would devote the necessary time and recourses to the acquisition of a uniformed fleet of gear. Every student being issued an identical set of the appropriate size, i.e. (reg, bcd, and tank). As funding is always an issue we would like to get the best bang for the buck you know, work horses and reasonably priced. Longevity is important. Looking for ten sets, six M, two S, two L, with that background, in your opinions what is the best choice?