Rental gear sanitation.

[CUMBIAMAN]

I´ve heard lately a couple of cases of people getting nasty infections after using rental gear. What would be the best guidelines of getting rental gear sanitized? I am not very worried about skin or feet diseases, but oral ones.
Some dive shops should clean the regs and gear on a regular base (or should do), but is it a standard procedure?

 

[Diver0001]

I´ve heard lately a couple of cases of people getting nasty infections after using rental gear. What would be the best guidelines of getting rental gear sanitized? I am not very worried about skin or feet diseases, but oral ones.
Some dive shops should clean the regs and gear on a regular base (or should do), but is it a standard procedure?

A quick rinse is standard procedure but sanitizing is not, in my experience.

With respect to regulators, one option you have is to put your own mouth piece on it.

R..

 

[kelemvor]

When I was renting regulators, I rinsed the regulator with chlorinated swimming pool water prior to use.
Alternatively, or perhaps in addition to a quick rinse; It would be pretty trivial to purchase your own mouthpiece and attach that to a rental regulator. They attach with a ziptie. I'd expect to spend around $5 on a normal mouthpiece if you wanted to go that route. I can't imagine that the shop would care, and I bet that they'd even be willing to install it for you if you asked them to. You'll probably want to bring a second ziptie to reattach the original mouthpiece afterwards unless you're going to donate the one you bought to that shop.

I've seen shops that don't include a mouthpiece with rental regs because they expect you to buy your own.

 

[glennster]

i have never run in to a problem, but i suppose you could put a little chlorine bleach in a pump bottle with water, give it a few squirts and then rinse it it clear water. be not much different than rinsing it in a swimming pool.

 

[tomfcrist]

I have seen steramine used on community regulators....

 

[flyboy08]

Bring your own/new mouth piece?

 

[oly5050user]

If so worried about this, buy your own gear..chlorine in pool should take care of any bugs you are afraid of. For open water dives think about it, fish poop and pee in water all the time, so if worried about this do not dive. Funny thing is same people afraid of this will use a rental wetsuit that 100 or more people wore and peed in rather than spend a little to purchase one. Maybe they all share other people's underwear as well.

 

[togatown]

My wife and I have always brought our own mouthpieces everywhere we've gone, and so far, every dive operator has accommodated us. I always ask ahead of time prior to booking, and we always bring zipties and a pair of pliers to make it extra easy on the operator.

 

[BoltSnap]

Get your own equipment!!

 

[fmerkel]

Rinsing is good, your own mouthpiece is better, but it's really not quite enough if you want it to be 'clean'. Reality is that we all slobber a bit while breathing through a reg. That goes into the mouthpiece and the body and coats it a little. Unless you work at it you can't just rinse that off. It needs a soak and scrub to first remove all the biological material. If you ever use a semi-clear mouthpiece you'll see over time as the gunk builds up and starts to grow.

Sterilizing solutions used in a quick dunk will help, and a mouthpiece improves that, but unless you open it up, soak it, then scrub it, your aren't....really.....going to sterilize it. This is basic asepsis. How clean does it have to be to satisfy you?

If you are really concerned, and don't want to buy, I'd minimally buy a whole 2nd stage and swap that out.