Disinfection of the rental gear

[JBRES1]

I know it sounds tough, but it works great on the reg.
From their site.

Antibacterial Scrubbing Bubbles® Bathroom Cleaner foams to thoroughly clean, shine, disinfect and deodorize your bathroom. Available in two scents — Fresh and Lemon — these aerosols easily remove soap scum, hard-water stains and dirt; control mold and mildew growth; and won't scratch surfaces. All that's left behind is a brilliant shine.
- Cleans and disinfects your bathroom in one simple step
- Foaming action easily removes soap scum, hard water stains and dirt
- Deodorizes your bathroom and leaves behind a pleasant scent

I have been using this stuff for 2 years now, and have not had any problems with it.
And afterall aren't we diving in the largest bathroom on earth ?
So if it works in your bathroom at home , why not out here.

Jim Breslin

 

[Hoosier]

Honestly, if you are really paranoid about it, you could theoretically bring along some Listerine mouth wash and pour it into the reg and slush it around a bit. Wiping off the mouth piece with an antibacterial hand wipe, and that's probably the best disinfectant that reg has seen since the last person with OCD walked on board.

Ditto..

Even though I am using my own reg, I did a mouth wash after every diving.

Check out this previous thread.

In addition, the water, both ocean and fresh, is getting more contaminated. We had a seminar about the west coast (CA) beachs' contamination with UCLA colleagues last year. Many beaches are closed due to the contamination issue. Even, we had a bacteria blooming in the local lake and kids had been sick after swimming.

 

[Crush (Virginia USA)]

Thanks Bobbin.

I was about to call all of these guys freaks (Scrubbing Bubbles to your own equipment?!?!) but you stepped in and did it way more politely than I ever would have done. Thank you because the last thing I need is one of these freaks tracking me down, following me until I rent gear, and then spraying Scrubbing Bubbles all over it.

Personally I think the ocean does have way worse stuff floating in it then we would ever want to know... certaining worse than a couple of rinsed, air dried regs. Seriously I have surfed in storm drain runoff! Now that's nasty.

 

[Damselfish]

So if it works in your bathroom at home , why not out here.

oh I'm sure it works, but I don't lick my bathroom after cleaning.

 

[TSandM]

It's more likely that this is a non-issue, that either a thorough rinse is adequete, or drying between use, or that human's defences against desease by mouth are better than we think. Many experts are now writing that Americans are overly paranoid about germs & are actually doing themselves a disservice by over using disinfectants.

We say in surgery that "the solution to pollution is dilution". Even in heavily contaminated cases, if you do enough irrigation with clean water, the infection risk is reduced significantly. And here we're talking about wounds that are full of bacteria from stool or preexisting infection.

The number of pathogenic organisms in the mouth is never going to be terribly high, unless perhaps you are someone with an active oral herpes infection. Simply swishing the reg around in the water (salt or otherwise) is going to remove a large proportion of anything nasty that's in there. If you are particularly germ-phobic, a simple disinfectant like Listerine is going to kill most anything that's left. (Remember, most pathogens also don't tolerate drying out very well!)

And the final piece of the puzzle is that we have to remember that scuba diving, in and of itself, is selecting for a fairly healthy population. Somebody with active hepatitis or AIDS (not that either of those is spread easily through saliva) is unlikely to be diving. Even someone with an active cold is unlikely to be in the water, due to congestion.

I own my own gear and travel with it, but it's not because I'm afraid of disease. It's because a) I like the way my own regs breathe, and b) I know who works on them. I actually belong to a group of divers who do air-sharing frequently, so I've had a regulator stuffed directly from someone else's mouth into mine more times than I can count. It just isn't a significant infection risk.

 

[bleeb]

The number of pathogenic organisms in the mouth is never going to be terribly high, unless perhaps you are someone with an active oral herpes infection. Simply swishing the reg around in the water (salt or otherwise) is going to remove a large proportion of anything nasty that's in there. If you are particularly germ-phobic, a simple disinfectant like Listerine is going to kill most anything that's left. (Remember, most pathogens also don't tolerate drying out very well!)

So swishing, Listerine or drying works for cold sores, too? (Wondering how rugged or sticky these particular viruses are.)

 

[bisugo767]

For some peace-of-mind, I recommend looking at buying your own reg. You don't want to be bothered by the thought of all the nasty stuff in that rental reg underwater. It is your life and enjoyment we're talking about here. One of the first scuba equipment I bought was a reg set because of the same concerns you have on rental regs. There must be some spit or phelgm stuck in those regs...who knows? Or, some roach probably has some eggs in them...who knows?

Owning your own reg means you know the condition of your regs all the time = peace-of-mind.

Phil

 

[seaducer]

oh I'm sure it works, but I don't lick my bathroom after cleaning.

Hmmm, well, to each their own, but you are missing out on one of Life's simple pleasures...

 

[seaducer]

. And here we're talking about wounds that are full of bacteria from stool or preexisting infection.

Precisely why whenever I go out to a bar I never take the highboy seats, but get a table instead. Stool is just nasty...

Btw, you know what one dung beatle said to the other?

"Pardon me, is this stool taken?"

...sorry...

 

[Riksu]

Thanks folks for the info! Since I prefer the fish poop and all the other oceanic stuff over the puke etc from the previous fellow diver, I guess I will go for my own reg... once paranoid, always paranoid