Bring your own mouthpece -- for rental gear?

[scubatoys]

Yea, one of our distributors has that stuff, but I could not see clipping people 6 bucks for 2 oz of something which is basically just mouthwash, and you can get a gallon of generic store brand mouthwash for the same 6 bucks! That's kind of a rip...

 

[stargazer61]

I'm going to keep a spare mouthpeice in my BC pocket in case my next instabuddy has an air2 and i am too deep for CESA

 

[halocline]

There's a new "sport model" seacure which does not have the rigid plastic band around the mounting area. It might fit more reg models because of that, I don't know.

But, let's say you have to buy three seacures, that's almost $100 I believe. Plus, you have to deal with taking the rental mouthpiece off, which may or may not annoy the dive shop, plus put your own on, at each rental. Maybe a nice $200 reg, of which there are several, is a better idea, and then you're finished with the rental regs forever.

 

[RonFrank]

If you have to rent a reg, by all means sanitize the mouthpiece, but as pointed out it's likely not going to prevent germs from hiding inside a second stage.

Check THIS OUT!

For just over $200 you can get a Reg, AND ScubaToys is running a special where if you buy any oceanic reg, you get an octo for free! I'm not sure I've ever seen a NEW reg plus an octo for as little. Heck, my LDS wants $125 just to SERVICE that setup! :shakehead

 

[nwflyboy]

Well, the idea of buying new regs is attractive, but as I said, it's not going to happen before our trip (leave 2 weeks from today). I'm picky about the expensive gear I buy, so I would want to spend some time shopping for the reg setup that I'll want to keep for a while (I'm not suggesting the gear that was suggested isn't fine or a great buy or anything, but I've got LOTS of other stuff to square away in the coming days and I don't feel I have the time to do all the research necessary before buying a reg - two regs, actually).

We will be diving at several locations (mostly the north coast of Bali and Sulawesi/Bunaken). Most of our diving will be done through two dive ops, so it's possible I can find out what brand of regs they have. Maybe I'll be luck and find they both use the same? If so, I might be able to get SeaCure mouthpieces that would work for them. We will also be making a handful of additional dives at other shops, so it would be much more of a crapshoot there (not literally, I hope...). Still, if we could set things up to use our own mouthpieces for 90% of our dives, that would probably be worth it.

Otherwise, I guess I'll get the mouthwash spritzer (of course, the TSA morons would consider that a grave threat to the nation, so I'll have to go shopping for mouthwash when I land in Bali...but I'm sure they have some lovely mouthwash there).

 

[DiveMaven]

Keep in mind that SeaCure mouthpieces can be really difficult to install (at least in my experience). It isn't that hard to rip the base while trying to install it (been there, done that).

 

[skynscuba]

On the one trip I made before I had my own gear, I rented at home and took it with me. Much cheaper, knew I had good working gear, and could have rented at the destination if a problem came up. I don't think the destination shop would have had dive computers for rent at all. Rental price difference depends on your home rental market, and that of your destination, but was something like 3x in my case.

 

[rickydazla]

From a resort point of view: taking your own mouthpiece is fine in theory but can be a pain in practice. Every time you dive they would have to cut the tie to replace your mouth piece at the start and end of every dive. It doesn't take that much time does it? No, but when the staff are running around trying to sort everything else out it can be a pain, like I said. Couldn't I just use the same reg all the time? Assuming that they don't need it for any other dives or classes yes but this will probably not be the case if it is a busy resort and you are asking them to allocate something especially for you when they may not do this for anyone else who is renting gear.

My advice if you decide to go this route: Ask nicely and consider it in your tip if they let you.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

It surprises me that people use rental or training gear and have no problem with using the same mouth pieces. To me that is like brushing your teeth with someone elses tooth brush.

It surprises me that people make such a fuss about sharing mouthpieces. Do you guys bring your own, autoclaved plates and mugs when you go to a restaurant, too?

Think about it: The rubber material the mouthpieces are made of are inert surfaces, that means as long as they're exposed to water-soluble substances (read: saliva), it doesn't stick and flushes away in plain water even without any use of detergent. Furthermore, I can hardly think of any other piece of equipment that experiences as much rinsing as scuba gear. I bet your reg mouthpice is flushed clean by the time you are climbing on the boat, unless you decide to keep your reg in your mouth until you actually sit down on the bench. Even then the rinse tank will take care of whatever remains. Another thing most of us don't consider is that even if any "remains" from previous users were to be left on the mouthpiece, they don't pose any harm after they dry. HIV, to use an extreme example, survives less than a few minutes outside the human body, apart from the fact that saliva has a neutralizing effect on the virus by itself.

The whole issue is purely psychological and personally I'd feel much worse about renting a reg whose orifice is totally worn down by folks insisting on attaching their own mouthpieces. I'd rather share my reg with others than have the mouthpiece come off at 100 feet and potentially drown.

If you are worried about germs, here are some things to really worry about: Elevator buttons, computer keyboards, shopping cart handles. If you don't believe me, check this out:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2859060

When it comes to germs, it's all in our heads. (Isn't it amazing how many people live by "3- or 5- or whatever-seconds rules", when any fourth grader when actually thinking about it must realize this has to be complete bogus?)

How many of us would ever drink from a toilet bowl? Nobody? And how many of us would take a call on their office phone and then reach for their sandwich without washing their hands? Anyone?

Guess which is worse for you?

;-))