Buying versus Renting

Posted on Nov, 2009 in Home/Experience/Buying versus Renting

Hello Dip ‘N Divers

No matter what activity I get myself into I almost always find myself asking the same question over and over again, should I buy? Or, should I rent? The problem is that it is usually not just a simple answer; I have to take a look at a number of different things. When it comes to SCUBA gear below you will find a list of pros and cons.

PROS

First and probably the biggest, the gear is mine, no one else uses but me, I know where and when it was used and I also know the service record of the gear. Do I want to go on a really expensive dive trip and use a regulator that tons have used before me, do I want to spend money and go on a trip and lose dives because the gear was not properly serviced.

Second, fit and function. By having my own gear I know that everything fits me properly and I know how everything is going to function, meaning that the weight system I use is the same every single time, the dive computer I use is the same exact thing every time I dive.

Third, time, when it comes to a vacation I try to fit as much diving as I possibly can get in, if I have to go and be fit for gear or pick gear up every time before I go diving it is going to eventually cut down on my dive time, which I really hate to do.

Cons

Cost, this is the only downside to owning your own equipment, however if you think about the money that you spend renting gear, eventually you will get to a point where renting costs more than owning your own gear.

When it comes to SCUBA gear it is my opinion that owning is much better than renting, studies have shown that divers who buy their own equipment will dive 3 to 4 times as much as a diver that rents, so if in one year you rent you dive 10 times and you rent your gear, by owning your gear you can dive 30 to 40 times.

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Tags: buying, dive computer, fit, function, renting, Scuba, service

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