lj, I'm familiar with the process, the equipment, the expense. Most doctors give away a meter kit to their patients initially--and that meter kit is often one requiring expensive refills because "Hey, I'm just a dumb doctor, I give away what the drug companies give me, why should I know anything about money?".
And again, part of Walmart's strategy to get shoppers is to use the least expensive test gear on the market, to capture those patients as customers. Very much like a supermarket's weekly loss leaders. Sam Walton was very sharp about these things. Which is also why I suggest he get a Relion kit (and they come in varying styles and prices, the cheapest one is as accurate as anything on the market.)
Theft cannot be an issue if he is taking the kit on a boat dive. Waterproofing cannot be an issue if that kit is being left on the boat, even a peanut butter jar is waterproof enough on a boat. Similarly, there is minimal cost risk if a spare Relion kit is stashed someplace in a car that is parked near your dive site. The kit is small and can easily be stashed, literally, up under a dashboard, on in the engine compartment, or tucked into a seat cushion. Literally.
Similarly with the supplies. There's no need to take a full pack of 50 test strips on a day trip for a dive. Leave four or six in the container, put the other 45 in another container from the same lot. No big deal, no big risk.
The Relion "Confirm" strips are $42 per 100 on Amazon, possibly less in the Walmart store. If he leaves TEN in the car, that's still just risking $4.20, plus a ten or fifteen dollar complete meter kit. And they are proven to be just as accurate, just as convenient, as the most expensive ones on the market. And they also have some of thinnest lancet needles available, equally competitive.
His doctor won't get any golf junkets from Walmart.(G)
The Relion sounds like a great alternative. His current meter is tied to his pump. I keep ignoring the fact that he won't be wearing his pump. Freedom!
