Question Time to sell? Need Advice

[Dermochelys]

Over the years, I hoped I would go diving more, but I've come to the realization that living 4 hours from the nearest decent diving spot means that I've basically just become a vacation diver. As such, having some of my own gear doesn't seem to make sense any more, especially my regulatory set that costs far more to service annually then the cost to rent once or twice a year. In order to break even, I figure I'd need to rent more than 10 times per year, and I just don't see me being able to dive that often happening any time soon.

But I'm torn, maybe I'll be able to go diving more someday? Maybe I don't want to give this stuff up because it was once, and maybe still is good gear? On the other hand, if I get to do more diving, wouldn't I want something newer?

As such, I'm at a crossroads....do I sell off and buy new "if" I can go diving more often, or do I just hoard my stuff and hope it doesn't go so out of date that one day I can still get it serviced? If I do sell, how much is this stuff really even worth? Here is a list of the items on the chopping block, I do not have a backup for any of this so I'd be renting anything I sell.

- Apeks ATX200 1st and 2nd Stage: Has a total of 6 dives on it. 1st stage is black in color, haven't seen others like that, does that make this one special in some way? I bought it off a friend about 15 years ago.
- Apeks ATX50: Used as an octo, but was once a primary, so it's black but on a yellow hose
- Dive Rite Mini Brass and Glass SPG
- XS Hose Mount Depth Gauge (Imperial): Used on 4 dives
- Various Hoses (Unknown age, never used, but seem good)...but should these just be tossed in the garbage?
* Halycon Dir Dive Systems LP Inflation Hose (22 in.)
* Apeks LP Hose (29")
* Unknown (no marking) LP Inflation hose (25")
* Unknown (no marking) LP Inflation hose (30")

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Rocklin is not that far from the ocean.
Why don’t you consider diving the north coast from Sonoma County up through Mendocino County. Make a weekend out of it. There are great campgrounds and places to stay.
Go up to Tahoe too.
If warm water is all you’ll dive then I suppose maybe it makes sense But for me I’d like my own stuff especially regulators. I would never rent one, somebody before could have puked in it or was a smoker, you don’t know. They just rinse them but don’t necessarily clean them that good.
You don’t need to service your regs every single year with that light of use. Those are sealed and can go a few years without needing to worry about them. Do you really need the money that bad?
You’re not going to get even close to half of what you paid.

 

[runsongas]

you're basically between sonoma and tahoe and a bit further out from monterey, its not like you live in iowa. apeks still uses the same service kit, so servicing isn't an issue. the black atx200 was the black pearl version, but it only goes for a bit more than a standard atx200, its not a big collector's item like a gold RAM. most dive operators do not rent regs that would perform as well, so the inconvenience and cost does have an upside vs renting. the only knock against the ATX series is they made the exhaust tee smaller without the option for the long exhaust that they brought back for the XTX series.

 

[rick00001967]

welcome to the club. many divers are in the same situation.

if it helps.....there is no need to service your regs annually if you only dive on vacation. if you look after your stuff properly (stored clean and dry, rinsed properly after each use etc) a sealed reg like yours is good for quite some time before it would need to be torn down and serviced. you could even buy yourself an IP gauge to check if the pressure is correct and holding if you like.

otherwise, if you are comfortable using rental regs, and use a shop where you travel that provides solid, well maintained gear, then dump it. then you dont have to carry it on vacation anymore, you dont have to worry if it needs servicing, and you will put a few bucks back in your pocket.

 

[happy-diver]

Sell it and never go diving again

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Why do you service your regs every year?

That’s decent gear and still will be decent in 10 years. Outside of computers, not much changes.

 

[Alekseolsen]

If you have access to a tank, go through this before each trip, and stop servicing unless there's a need for it.

Regulator Inspection and Checklist (Rev-8)

Discussion of this thread can be found here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/260452-regulator-checklist-inspection.html First off, I would like to acknowledge my friends who have done more than their share in developing this checklist. Due to my laziness and resistance to answering...

scubaboard.com

Rental reg as an infrequent diver seems like a somewhat bad idea when you already have a reg. You don't want a poorly tuned reg (to avoid free flow at all costs!) Gor your first doves every year.

 

[Anbaric Cog]

It sounds like you've got nice reg's. I'd keep those, as others have said, you don't need to service every year. Since you dive infrequently, having a reg you know well is one less point of variation from known. Some rental regs have been good for me, some have really had hard work of breathing, this degraded my enjoyment of the dive.

 

[Dermochelys]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I thought these regulators needed to be serviced annually, but it looks like from what I can see online the recommendation is if more than 50 dives per year, then annual service, but if under 50 dives then every 2 years is what's recommended. I last had them serviced in 2016 and it cost about $200 at the time. I'll have to see what my local shops will charge for an inspection vs. a service and go from there. Back in 2016 only one shop in town serviced Apeks, but one of the other shops changed affiliations, and so maybe now they'll work on Apeks and there might be some more competition in the local market on prices. Of course, before I use these again I'll have a full service done on them.

These are nice regulators, the ATX200 was a gift to the friend that I purchased it from (long story) and I got it at well below market value at the time. But because I've been out of diving for awhile, I didn't know if these were still considered worth the cost to maintain vs. just renting or buying a newer model.

Anyway, thanks again for all the info!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I thought these regulators needed to be serviced annually, but it looks like from what I can see online the recommendation is if more than 50 dives per year, then annual service, but if under 50 dives then every 2 years is what's recommended. I last had them serviced in 2016 and it cost about $200 at the time. I'll have to see what my local shops will charge for an inspection vs. a service and go from there. Back in 2016 only one shop in town serviced Apeks, but one of the other shops changed affiliations, and so maybe now they'll work on Apeks and there might be some more competition in the local market on prices. Of course, before I use these again I'll have a full service done on them.

These are nice regulators, the ATX200 was a gift to the friend that I purchased it from (long story) and I got it at well below market value at the time. But because I've been out of diving for awhile, I didn't know if these were still considered worth the cost to maintain vs. just renting or buying a newer model.

Anyway, thanks again for all the info!

These regs aren’t costing you anything just sitting there. It’s not like a boat that sits there while you’re still making payments on it.