What is your experience with rental regs?

[Artimas]

I recently got back into diving and have been renting regs instead of using my old Voit Titan (30 years old).

The ones I rented seemed well used but OK, but was wondering if the performance of a new mid-range reg would be much different than using a typical rental or my old Voit. I have no idea what brands or models they were.

A couple of questions:

Do manufacturers build specific lines of regs to be used as rentals? Do certain models usually end up being rental lines? Where are they in the quality range?

Of course all operations are different, but I'm wondering what people's general experiences with rental regs have been. Happy with rentals or not?

Thanks.

 

[Jim Ernst]

I used rentel Reg's for quite a while when I was new to diving.

I have never used one again after one fell apart on me at 35 feet.

End of story.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

peoples experiences are going to vary...but my personal experiences sucked. When I use to rent gear something was always broken and it was often the reg. Hence why I bought my gear after less than a year of diving.

 

[Hallmac]

I can't speak for others, however we use the Aqualung Titan as rental units. We just ordered an extra 25 and marked them for rentals. Each unit is inspected every time it is returned. I have to overhaul them every six months. They are abused and neglected by 90% of the people who rent them. I find them full of sand, rocks and mud from being dragged. They are banged and crushed. It is an expensive operation, I don't blame shops for handing out garbage.

My personal experience is, I will overhaul a rental regulator 4 to 6 times more than a personal unit owned by a customer. Just like a rental car, the overall attitude appears to be * It's not mine who cares*

 

[Couv]

I have used rentals only 7 or 8 times, but never had a problem. Also, I used to work in a shop that rented regulators and to my knowledge, we never had a complaint. We used the same set for training.

c

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I recently got back into diving and have been renting regs instead of using my old Voit Titan (30 years old).

The ones I rented seemed well used but OK, but was wondering if the performance of a new mid-range reg would be much different than using a typical rental or my old Voit. I have no idea what brands or models they were.

A couple of questions:

Do manufacturers build specific lines of regs to be used as rentals? Do certain models usually end up being rental lines? Where are they in the quality range?

Of course all operations are different, but I'm wondering what people's general experiences with rental regs have been. Happy with rentals or not?

Thanks.

Like you, I just returned to diving last summer after many years away from the sport. My original equipment was from the mid-70's, so with the exception of my old faithful steel 72' tank I decided to get all "new stuff". I started out renting for awhile until I had a better idea of what I wanted.

I think many (but not all) dive shops choose simple, easy to service, "bullet-proof" regulators as their rentals. For example, ScubaPro Mk2plus/R190 was and still is a regulator that is commonly used as a rental regulator.

Most rentals fall in the "lower-end" of most manufacturer's product line. This does not mean inferior or "low quality", just simpler, less frills, but still entirely adequate for typical shallow recreational use.

So if you decide to buy a "mid-range" or better regulator, then yes, you can certainly expect better performance on deeper dives. At least that was my experience.

Here in Hawaii I rented before I bought. My experience with renting regulators from my local dive shop was always great --- because the owner took good care of his rental equipment. Like your experience the equipment was well used, but well maintained, and worked 100% fine.

Despite having a great LDS with well-maintained rental gear, I am much happier with my "own stuff". I bought "mid-range" equipment, and I did notice an improvement in breathing performance. Not gigantic, but enough to be pleasantly surprised.

Happy Diving!

 

[Luis H]

Your Voit Titan is a classic and it can be serviced by someone with interest on vintage single hose regulators.

Hopefully Greg Barlow or Nemrod will drop by and comment on it. Greg in particular is a real fan of Voit (and Mares). Voit got absorbed by Mares years ago.

I think Greg has tested some of those classic Voit and some are known to perform as good as some of the best regulators.

 

[SoCalSwami]

Last time I used a rental reg, it stopped working at 60fsw.
While some shops will treat their rental equipment with care, you will encounter shops that don't. Do you feel lucky?
Why not pay $300 for a regulator setup you can call your own. Easy to travel with. Easy to get serviced. And you'll know how the computer works.

 

[Kevfin]

The quality of the rentals just depends on the shop. I have seen bottom of the barrel beat to hades rentals and decent ones too.

I agree with Hallmac, as my experience working in a shop is that rentals will get abused. I don't think its done on purpose (I don't think renters are mindful of the gear either), it's just that when you spend a couple hundred on your own regs you're probably going to take better care of them.

One LDS owner used his rental regs for his OW class. He purposely used old beat up looking regs that didn't perform or look as nice as the regs he wanted to sell. They did worked fine, were serviced regularly, and were safe.

 

[nwdiver2]

There are often high end regs available in many rental shops, the store wants people to have access to them as demos so they will buy that model, ask when you rent.

The rental regs are sometimes the easiest to maintain and service not the cheapest, as an example piston regs are often the cheapest but many shops use easier to service diaphragm regs (which I have been told are easier to service, I have both in my gear)