Rental equipment quality

[iScream]

Before I bought my equipment, I rented from my home dive shop because:

Thanks.

I hadn't even thought about a local dive shop renting equipment you can take out of town. I'm thinking if we're going to rent then we'll just do it on the island and not have to carry stuff.

But I might check and see just for the heck of it.

---------- Post added December 5th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ----------

LP has a very good price on a Genesis GS 2000 regulator right now - $159.00. Made by Sherwood, and I think that it's very, very underrated performer. It just doesn't have THAT NAME, you know. Twist the knob, and it breathes as easy at 120', as 30'.

Thanks.

One of the regulators I used during our certification was a Sherwood Brute.

I liked it just fine but I know myself well enough to know that I'll end up buying a nicer regulator pretty quick if I start with something more entry level.

---------- Post added December 5th, 2015 at 11:40 AM ----------

I would buy your own computer first. I did that and was familiar with it and all that. I knew how to use it and what it was saying to me. My OP provides free computers and explains them but that is hard to pick up right before a dive.

I would assume most any good Coz op would have decent reliable stuff. My Op, Scuba with Alison, uses Sherwoods and they worked well. Early on I was a REAL airhog and I found them not perfect deep at close to 100 feet WITH my sucking air. Regularly thoguh they were fine, NOT like your experience, and very reliable which is why she uses them. Once I had some time in and knew what I liked, I bought more equipment. Scuba Pro regs, because I like GOOD stuff. Used because I couldn't bring myself to pay for new one!!

I would trust the equipment from Aldora and BlueXTSea, though I don't have experience with them.
I have used rentals from Scuba with Alison and Tres Pelicanos, and been very happy with both. (I had an issue with a TP regulator breathing hard, only after almost an hour of the dive, not an orientation or depth issue- quite honestly it might have been in my head, and switched to my buddies octo. The DM came over and tried it, wondering why i had switched when I wasn't low on air, and it was determined the issue was me, not the reg; I just want a really really easy breathing...the people on the forum who have dove with me know that I'm a "bit" prone to nervousness... But hey- their octo's were real nice and I wouldn't have been able to try that otherwise...) I would recommend their gear to anyone looking for a rental.

Alison's regs come with computers on them. We have our own, so we didn't look into if TP rents them, but I suspect they would. Computer would be the first piece of equipment I'd buy after mask/fins (and it was, since I have my own.)

Personally, I just don't dive enough to buy my own gear.

Blue XT~Sea has purchased brand new gear this year and more is on the way next week. Our rental gear consists of Scubapro, Sherwood, Genesis and Cressi

I do always highly encourage and recommend that divers purchase their own mask, fins, wetsuit and computer as these are considered personal items. Although we do have computers for rent (including some new ones on the way) - to ensure accuracy and consistent profile readings of YOUR diving - this is something that divers should purchase. Gone are the days of no affordable dive computer options. It is easy to find a well made reliable nitrox compatible computer these days for under $300usd. it's not necessary (nor do I even recommend) the air integrated or wireless computers - I see them fail on a very regular basis. A good "old fashioned" wrist computer or console computer that is nitrox compatible in case you get nitrox certified in the future is truly all you need.

Thanks to all of you.

I was thinking it would be a good idea to wait on computers because I assumed they are constantly updated and quickly obsolete, like most of the electronic stuff I own. But what you guys are saying about really learning the computer you are going to dive with makes a lot of sense. I'll start reading up on them more.


---------- Post added December 5th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ----------

A big thank you to everyone for the replies. Still interested in hearing more but definitely leaning toward renting now and probably buying computers.

-Chris

 

[KSUDiver]

+1 for getting a computer sooner rather than later, and renting the rest of your gear for now. We always go with Dive with Martin and they have Sherwood stuff we used to use that was just fine. One of the gals I work with who is a newer diver was wondering yesterday if there was any gear she should look at buying first before anything else, and I said for me it would be a computer, hands-down. I've been using a simple Oceanic Veo for a few years... Not fancy but it does everything I need, and I won't dive without a computer again.

When/if you do decide to look at gear check out LeisurePro online. I got a package of stuff from them for a great price. Now, it was all different brands, so I probably look like the dive equivalent of the Beverly hillbillies or something with all my random stuff slapped together, but I'm not real brand conscious, and I would rather put the money toward another plane ticket. And as hubs says, I'm pretty sure we see all the same corals and critters as everyone else.

 

[halocline]

I was thinking it would be a good idea to wait on computers because I assumed they are constantly updated and quickly obsolete, like most of the electronic stuff I own.
-Chris

Not really, dive computers are very simple electronically and there's minimal computing power involved. I would avoid expensive or feature-laden computers; the only data that is really useful is dive time/depth/N2 loading/O2 loading (for nitrox) and ascent rate. Every dive computer provides that, and has for years. There are different algorithms used by the various companies that calculate N2 loading somewhat differently, but it's important to understand that there is no proven additional safety provided by using computers with a more conservative algorithm. So don't get sold something on the false claim that its 'safer' due to a conservative algorithm.

 

[BRT]

Not really, dive computers are very simple electronically and there's minimal computing power involved. I would avoid expensive or feature-laden computers; the only data that is really useful is dive time/depth/N2 loading/O2 loading (for nitrox) and ascent rate. Every dive computer provides that, and has for years. There are different algorithms used by the various companies that calculate N2 loading somewhat differently, but it's important to understand that there is no proven additional safety provided by using computers with a more conservative algorithm. So don't get sold something on the false claim that its 'safer' due to a conservative algorithm.

+1 on this. Outside of tech diving the only big change has been to nitrox capable computers. I'm still using the same algorithm I started with in the early 90's just in a nitrox version. I have no interest in air integrated as I have seen too many failures. Simple is good.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Plus 1 on buying the computer first. Different computers not only use different algorithms to compute NDLs, they also have different displays. Also, if you are going to do multi-day diving, you REALLY want to use the same computer for all of the dives, so that it keeps track of your residual nitrogen load from prior dives. If you do a two-tank trip in the morning with two very long dives (like you would using HP Steel 120 tanks with Aldora), then do a twilight double header in the evening, you will probably still not be fully outgassed by 8:00 A.M. the next morning. If you use a rental computer that doesn't have any record of your prior day dives, its calculation of NDLs for your dives that day is going to be wrong. Plus, you really want to be fully familiar with all the features and displays of your computer - where do I look for depth, for bottom time, for NDL, for O2 load (if I'm diving Nitrox), what button do I push to get other info, like water temp., how do I adjust it if I switch from Air on the first dive to Nitrox 36 on the second dive - owning your own computer and using it every time is the only way to get familiar enough with the displays and functions so that finding the info that you want is second nature, you don't ever have to stop and fiddle with the computer to try to find what you are looking for. I dive with the Oceanic Veo, and I like it.

 

[ggunn]

About renting or borrowing computers, I have told this story before but I believe it bears repeating:

Some years ago, I was out on a two tank morning dive with my wife and another couple with an op and DM who shall go unnamed, at least in part because I don't remember who they were. We went pretty deep on the first dive, and we didn't have a very long SIT. The DM was very young but still should have known better (he wasn't wearing a computer, BTW); on the second dive which was a shallow wall, he started going pretty far down the face of the wall. My wife and I looked at our computers and decided not to follow; we stayed farther up the wall but tracking the other divers.

When we got out of the water, the guy in the other couple looked over at me and noticed I had the same kind of computer he and his wife were wearing (they had borrowed them). He said something about how these computers were crappy, since his display was flashing - "Look, my wife's is flashing, too". I told him that the reason they were flashing was that they had blown a deco stop, and that the computers would not work until they had been out of the water for 24 hours.

He was incensed. "What are we going to do for our afternoon dives???" I told him that they probably should not dive that afternoon, and that they should watch themselves for symptoms of DCS. He got huffy and said something about how they had come to dive and weren't going to sit out just because their stupid computers weren't going to work that afternoon.

At that point I decided that I had done all I could, so I disengaged. I hope they survived their vacation. There's no point in having a computer if you aren't going to learn how to use it and pay attention to what it is telling you.

 

[John A Lewis]

There's no point in having a computer if you aren't going to learn how to use it and pay attention to what it is telling you.

SO right--far too many people seem to think that reading and understanding the manual for their computer means that it's all merely suggestions.

 

[iScream]

Thanks again to everybody. We decided to definitely go with buying dive computers and wet suits. Since we have a much better idea of our equipment budget now we went ahead and booked our trip. And for 8 nights rather than the 7 we were planning.

I've started reading some on dive computers. The Oceanic Veo mentioned above looks decent but I think I like the Cressi Leonardo a little better so far. Partly because the computer nerd in me likes the PC interface.

As far as ignoring the dive computer goes, that's just not something either of us are going to do. We both take our safety seriously.

-Chris

 

[djanni]

With an air integrated computer ones breathing rate is factored into the computers algorithms and improves calculations for air time remaining and bottom time.

Why would anyone recommend against that???

My wife and I use the air integrated Oceanic ProPlus. We've had them right at 14 years now or a little over 800 dives. Never a problem. Always trust it.

They do cost more but remember to add at least a $100 to the price of any non-integrated because you have to buy a seperate SPG.

 

[Brules]

+1 for getting a computer sooner rather than later, and renting the rest of your gear for now. We always go with Dive with Martin and they have Sherwood stuff we used to use that was just fine. One of the gals I work with who is a newer diver was wondering yesterday if there was any gear she should look at buying first before anything else, and I said for me it would be a computer, hands-down. I've been using a simple Oceanic Veo for a few years... Not fancy but it does everything I need, and I won't dive without a computer again.

When/if you do decide to look at gear check out LeisurePro online. I got a package of stuff from them for a great price. Now, it was all different brands, so I probably look like the dive equivalent of the Beverly hillbillies or something with all my random stuff slapped together, but I'm not real brand conscious, and I would rather put the money toward another plane ticket. And as hubs says, I'm pretty sure we see all the same corals and critters as everyone else.

I second this. I dive a air integrated Oceanic VT Pro that is 10 years old. The tables are tried and true and I don't even switch it around for nitrox. I just dive nitrox on air tables. So there is not much to learn lol. It comes on and I dive. Shows me the 4 things I need. So like Halocline said - go simple! Less is more!