Sanitizing regulators and gear for Covid 19

[TMHeimer]

I don’t rent gear, even tanks. No one lays a hand on my gear unless they’re helping me by steadying doubles while I’m getting in/out of harness.

If it’s all your own gear you’re diving with, there’s no reason, IMO, to go all OCD and germaphobe.

I know he didn't ask that, but I agree. I would simply not mess with rented gear until they have a vaccine. Why take the chance the disinfectant missed a spot?

 

[Streydog]

Just rinse your regs in the wet suit only tanks. I don't remember the name of the movie but it is staring David Spade and it just came out on Netflix. Rob Schneider does a great job cleaning a reg in it.

 

[Sbiriguda]

Thank you guys I heard about steramine but I never tried it before
As far as I understand it is a disinfectant used in places where there are kids or pets and it is not (it should be not?) toxic even if some traces of it remain in the scuba gear

In Italy they sell it under the commercial name "Steramina", here the Amazon link
https://www.amazon.it/Steramina-Igi...steramina&qid=1589616840&s=hpc&sr=1-1-catcorr

Oddly enough I found it under this name only in Amazon Italy, nothing similar as far as I noticed in Spain, France, Germany, etc. It must have a different commercial name

 

[Sbiriguda]

Well COVID-19 can live on surfaces for up to 5 days. So if that is all your worried about wait 5 days.

Salt water kills it so dip in salt water wait and rinse.

Chlorine bleach will kill it so you could spray or dip in chlorine wait and rinse. I'm pretty sure chlorine is bad for your gear.

Alcohol will kill it so spray or dip in above 60% let sit and rinse.

Or since I'm the only one touching my gear I just rinse it and not worry about it.

LOL very simple and very wise advice. Anyway I'll do the cleaning and sanitize the gear just because it wasn't used for long time, regardless the Covid 19

 

[dalee2]

How often do people get sick from rented gear? There are plenty of viruses already around which are equal or more contagious than covid. I don’t rent gear but if you weren’t sanitizing gear before this, I don’t see any reason this should change your behavior.

 

[dalee2]

Well COVID-19 can live on surfaces for up to 5 days. So if that is all your worried about wait 5 days.

Salt water kills it so dip in salt water wait and rinse.

Chlorine bleach will kill it so you could spray or dip in chlorine wait and rinse. I'm pretty sure chlorine is bad for your gear.

Alcohol will kill it so spray or dip in above 60% let sit and rinse.

Or since I'm the only one touching my gear I just rinse it and not worry about it.

It can live on some surfaces in carefully controlled lab conditions for 5 days, but realistically it will be much less than that. Also keep in mind there’s a difference between what can be detected and what is actually enough to infect a human.

 

[StefinSB]

How often do people get sick from rented gear? There are plenty of viruses already around which are equal or more contagious than covid. I don’t rent gear but if you weren’t sanitizing gear before this, I don’t see any reason this should change your behavior.

Interesting argument Florida style.

 

[Umuntu]

How often do people get sick from rented gear? There are plenty of viruses already around which are equal or more contagious than covid. I don’t rent gear but if you weren’t sanitizing gear before this, I don’t see any reason this should change your behavior.

The resort shops where I worked put a small dose of strong disinfectant in the regulator rinse tank and extra in the wetsuit rinse tank, long long before Covid. I would be very surprised if any shop that rented gear did not follow a similar approach.

 

[Sbiriguda]

How often do people get sick from rented gear? There are plenty of viruses already around which are equal or more contagious than covid. I don’t rent gear but if you weren’t sanitizing gear before this, I don’t see any reason this should change your behavior.

Well, many people wash the gear (both rented and their own) in big plastic containers together with the gear of all the other divers, in many resorts it's like a standard procedure. That is probably worse than not washing the gear at all...

 

[formernuke]

The resort shops where I worked put a small dose of strong disinfectant in the regulator rinse tank and extra in the wetsuit rinse tank, long long before Covid. I would be very surprised if any shop that rented gear did not follow a similar approach.

I would agree provided it is enough to quickly kill everything.