DAN: Sanitize equipment with 10% bleach solution.

[Bigbella]

just use Virkon that's what a lot of rebreather divers do and it doesn't wreck the gear and kills 99% of the bugs

Steramine doesn't either; is far cheaper; and has been a lab standard for decades . . .

 

[Ana]

Maybe I don't understand... why would any individual do anything different to their gear because of this virus?

I figure DAN's recommendation is for rental gear but if it is your own personal stuff, why change your routine? I mean, unless you allow people to cough and/or sneeze on the mouth piece of your regs.

Let's face it, in the outside chance of someone's buggers ending up in ones booties , do people usually lick their booties?
...or BC, or whatever other piece of gear?

I do find myself washing my hands more often than a month ago, and avoiding people more than usual, but my gear gets the exact same treatment as always.

 

[saxman242]

Maybe I don't understand... why would any individual do anything different to their gear because of this virus

I imagine most people do a poor job of cleaning their gear in general and this is a good excuse to change their mindset.

 

[rjack321]

2) I’d recommend a really long, long rinse in fresh water after 10% bleach. 10 percent bleach has about 6000 times more chlorine than swim pool water.

Yea that is going to fade fabrics crazy fast. Not sure it matters for silicon bits as much.
Steramine or vikron are far safer.

 

[Bigbella]

I figure DAN's recommendation is for rental gear but if it is your own personal stuff, why change your routine? I mean, unless you allow people to cough and/or sneeze on the mouth piece of your regs.

Let's face it, in the outside chance of someone's buggers ending up in ones booties , do people usually lick their booties?
...or BC, or whatever other piece of gear?

I do find myself washing my hands more often than a month ago, and avoiding people more than usual, but my gear gets the exact same treatment as always.

I hope that it is more about a greater awareness of elementary hygiene than the threat of Covid-19 or anything else. I have often done sampling work in harbors in years past; and thoroughly and promptly cleaning that dive gear afterwards was a primary concern. It is genuinely shocking that it has taken this recent health concern, for society to learn how to properly wash their hands; and people often play fast and loose with dive gear as well -- especially regulators. Rental gear is even worse and often bacterially contaminated. From a related posting, a few weeks back:

"While taking microbiology at university, one of our assignments was to swab everyday items and to run streak plates, in order to isolate and culture whatever we happened to find. A friend was then working at a local dive shop and we tested doorknobs; some random rental gear, all of which had received, so it was claimed, a cursory rinse. From ten or twelve regulators (via mouthpieces and second stage interiors), we isolated three strains of E. coli; Clostridium; Salmonella; Bifidobacterium; Cryptosporidium; Staphylococcus; and the lovely Candida, the causative agent of genital yeast infections, and thrush . . ."

 

[CuriousRambler]

If anyone's really curious, here's a link to the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of registered antimicrobials verified to work against COVID-19. PDF download, FYI.

I feel like I read somebody saying Steramine is "certified" against coronavirus. I'm not saying it's not, but if it's something you're concerning yourself with, I'd personally lean toward an "approval"/list of tested agents from a source I have high confidence in, not second-hand internet forum speak.

ETA: They're not in alphabetical order, so you might have to hunt for something you expect to see, not where you'd expect it to be.

 

[Jcp2]

Only 40% of men claim to wash their hands after going to the restroom. I have on many occasions witnessed simultaneous texting and urinating in the airport men’s room. Then there are those FaceTime conversations in the stalls. Hard to wash a phone.

 

[formernuke]

I'm more concerned about the sink handles in public bathrooms then I am my dive gear. I'm the only one using my dive gear unless you count when I get my tanks filled. A fresh water rinse is all the dive stuff gets, though I might start the occasional scrub with baby shampoo. Those sink handles though are the worst for collecting germs.

 

[davehicks]

If anyone's really curious, here's a link to the US Environmental Protection Agency's list of registered antimicrobials verified to work against COVID-19. PDF download, FYI.

I feel like I read somebody saying Steramine is "certified" against coronavirus. I'm not saying it's not, but if it's something you're concerning yourself with, I'd personally lean toward an "approval"/list of tested agents from a source I have high confidence in, not second-hand internet forum speak.

ETA: They're not in alphabetical order, so you might have to hunt for something you expect to see, not where you'd expect it to be.

Cleaning Products That Kill Coronavirus - The Janitor’s Closet - A CleanFreak.com Blog Post

Steramine Tablets
Steramine Tablets are used in many industries to sanitize non-porous surfaces including: glassware, utensils, countertops, tables, food dispensing equipment, and toys. These tablets effectively kill microorganisms and infectious bacteria found on non-porous surfaces, such as; HIV - AIDS Virus (Independent Lab Testing - Non-GLP), E-coli, S. Aureus (Staph Infection), Listeria Monocytogenes and Human Coronavirus. (View SDS Sheet.)

From the SDS sheet which include Corona virus: Virucidal against Steramine® was evaluated at 4 ounces per 5 gallons use level (625 ppm quat active), in the presence of 5% serum with a 10 minute contact time and found to be effective against the following viruses on hard nonporous environmental surfaces. (Testing is performed per EPA Guidance (DIS/TSS-7). Two separate lots are tested. Inactivation of virus must be demonstrated at all dilutions when no cytotoxicity is observed or at all dilutions above the cytotoxic level when it is observed. The data must demonstrate a 3-log reduction in viral titer for both lots (3 lots for Canada).)

 

[Nemrod]

Somehow I figure dive gear is not going to be an efficient vector for spreading Corvid 19 virus. You cannot give yourself something you do not have. If you are concerned about rental gear, maybe buy yourself a regulator. Unless somebody is purposely sneezing into the compressor intake or spitting into tanks before filling I am not sure why I would need to dip my dive gear in a toxic solution. It has been shown that sun screen can damage coral, imagine a BC bladder venting 10% chorine solution on the reef.