Help explain to my dad...

[PepsiTwist]

I'm going to get open water certified in June and my dad wants to go with me but he is weary b/c he doesnt want to use the same regulator someone else already used for another class. How does this work? He thinks that he will be breathing through something someone else has breathed through and thats just something my dad would never do. I bought him a mouthpiece for it, but I wanted to hear what you all had to say about them and the situtation before I presented it to him. Thanks for any and all opinions and ideas.

 

[24940]

I'd worry more about the rental wetsuit, but there is a solution: Buy personal gear.

 

[The Chairman]

A weak/weak solution of bleach will rid any reg of all contaminants.

 

[Gombessa]

My GF is like that. She was actually fine with the rental regulator (though she did make a mention of the issue), but on a snorkel trip, she caved at the last minute and paid $50 for a new one so she wouldn't have to use the rental

A new mouthpiece is a fine idea imo. But tell him that he's going to need to perform and practice airshares (if using an Air2) and buddy breathing, so if he's really serious about this, there's not much way to avoid it.

Besides, 1) if he goes OOA, how much will he care about the germs on someone else's reg and 2) how comfortable would you be with someone who was reluctant to give you air because you'd be depositing cooties on his personal reg? Everything in context...

 

[Teamcasa]

Me thinks it is just his way of saying, "I'm going to buy my own gear." or secretly saying, “I need an excuse to get out of this SCUBA thing altogether.”

If he is serious about diving with you he will happily buy his own gear.

 

[Web Monkey]

I'm going to get open water certified in June and my dad wants to go with me but he is weary b/c he doesnt want to use the same regulator someone else already used for another class. How does this work? He thinks that he will be breathing through something someone else has breathed through and thats just something my dad would never do. I bought him a mouthpiece for it, but I wanted to hear what you all had to say about them and the situtation before I presented it to him. Thanks for any and all opinions and ideas.

Definitely get him his own mouthpiece.

Although as far as I know there has never been a case of disease transmitted by using a rental regulator or sharing air, however it still grosses people out.

If money isn't a huge issue, and it makes him happy, let him buy his own reg. He'll need to share air with another diver during the class (it's a required skill), but if you're his buddy he probably won't mind too much. In any case, it's always nice to know how your stuff has been maintained and have your own equipment.

Also, in a lot of areas, a new reg is about the same price as maybe 20 rentals, so it's not a hard thing to justify purchasing.

Terry

 

[Hallmac]

He thinks that he will be breathing through something someone else has breathed through and thats just something my dad would never do.

He does it every day. If he has walked into a breeze way at the local store he has breathed exhaled air from the people in front of him. If he has sat in a car with another person he has breathed exhaled air from another person. The fact that you called him DAD tells me that he has shared air with somebody.

As to germs, Air is delivered to the second stage under pressure greater than 125 psi. or 8.5 times that normally found at sea level. Germs swimming up stream would be some strong creatures indeed. The air in the tank under most conditions has been through a series of filters that remove unwanted gasses. Since a molecule of gas is smaller than most germs the logical conclusion that the air is infested is very slim as long as it comes from a reputable source.

That only leaves the second stage. As mentioned above it is easily decontaminated with solutions found around the house or available in spray bottles at the dive shop.

 

[Tigerman]

Sharing reg is not a required skill with PADI. PADI mention buddy breathing but its not required to practice it. What PADI require is donating/breathing form the octopus, not your primary.
Still youll be breathing off someone elses reg in one way or the other..

 

[Web Monkey]

Sharing reg is not a required skill with PADI. PADI mention buddy breathing but its not required to practice it. What PADI require is donating/breathing form the octopus, not your primary.
Still youll be breathing off someone elses reg in one way or the other..

By "air sharing" I was referring to donating a regulator to an OOA diver. Few places teach buddy breathing, and AFAIK, it's not a requirement for any of the popular recreational certification agencies.

Depending on the instructor, this will involve either switching to an Air-2 type alternate air source and donating your primary, or keeping your reg and donating your octo. In either case, the "OOA" diver will get a reg that someone else has used before, unless they're all brand-new regs.

Terry

 

[JohnW]

If your LDS uses close to what our LDS uses for Chlorine in the pool, I'd believe that any equipment is sufficiently disinfected by simply being in the pool.

BTW...I have no scientific proof of this, just a thought. Maybe a pool tech could weigh in on this?