Scuba Gear, Do I Buy or Rent?

Educate. Engage. Explore.

Scuba Blog

Diving, Ocean, Gear, and Travel articles.

This is a question many divers ask: "Should I spend money on buying my own scuba equipment or, should I continue to rent gear each time I go for a dive?" If you’re on the fence about buying new gear, you can start by doing a cost estimate of renting gear for the amount of diving you plan to do in the next year and compare that to buying your own. Here are a few other things to keep in mind when deciding.

Benefits of Owning scuba gear

Fit and Comfort
Improper fit does not only affect comfort, but also the diver’s safety. The best way to make sure that your gear fits perfectly is to carefully choose and adjust it to your specific size. Rental gear may not always be available in the necessary size or thickness or have limited options available.

Safety
Having your own gear means that you know it well. This is very beneficial should any situation arise, enabling you to find all your dump valves and releases with ease, which might not be the case with rental gear. Also, having a dive computer allows you to better manage your dive profile, be up to date on nitrogen saturation and also know the minimum time before flying.

Specific
If you are looking to specialize in Technical Diving, Rebreather, Cave or Ice diving you will certainly have to buy your own diving equipment. You will also need to have your own full kit if you want to become a Dive Professional.

Benefits of Renting scuba gear

Easy & Convenient
When travelling you don't have to stress about space, weight and insurance on your dive equipment. After the dive, it is not your problem to wash and store the gear. There will never be the "Oh I forgot this and that at home".

Worry less
Don't sweat over gear maintenance and replacing gear that perished. No need to transport gear to and from dives.

Cost
If you are a holiday diver (only diving on holidays, not diving that often) you save money by only paying for gear rental when you use it. You will also not have to spend extra on repairs or servicing of gear.

Buying Gear

The gear you buy should meet your personal requirements; like how frequently you will be diving, gear upkeep and maintenance, experience level and future plans for your diving adventure. It is best to fit and test the gear physically at your nearest dive shop, instead of buying online. This way you get expert advice and can compare different brands to see what works best for you.

Soft Gear

Scuba soft gear includes a wetsuit, fins, mask & snorkel, dive boots

If you are looking to buy scuba gear, I would suggest starting with soft gear (wetsuit, fins, mask & snorkel, dive boots). A great quality, well-fitting mask & snorkel, fins and comfortable wetsuit and dive boots. These items are the most important for your comfort while diving, as anyone who has made a dive with a mask that leaked or had to jump into a smelly wetsuit can confirm. They’re also relatively inexpensive, easy to pack, and something you will not regret buying.

Hard Gear

When looking at hard gear (regulator, BCD and weights) I would suggest following the advice from well-experienced dive gear retailers, but make sure not to be bullied into buying the most expensive gear.

Scuba hard gear includes regulator, BCD, weights and cylinder.

Keep in mind this is what keeps you alive and provides you with air while you are exploring the underwater world. This being said, when buying second-hand hard gear, ensure that it is serviced and in good condition.

Things to keep in mind

Servicing and Maintenance

If you have your own gear, you need to look after it. Apart from rinsing it properly after dives, regulators need annual servicing; dive computers need battery changes; BCD inflator hoses need to be cared for and cylinders need annual visual inspections.

When renting gear, you don’t always know what condition the rental gear is in, especially when diving in more remote places or new places that you have not dived with before. There is always some risk in this.

Storage

You will need somewhere to store your gear at home when you are not using it. This should be somewhere cool and dry. You will also need something like a dive box or bag to transport wet gear home after a dive.

Sizes

When renting gear, write down your wetsuit thickness and BCD sizes in your logbook. If you are diving only on holidays, it is easy to forget how many weights you used at your last dive. Writing everything down each time eliminates the struggle of figuring everything out every time.

Safety First!

Always make sure that you buy from a reputable dealer and follow the manufacturers’ instructions.

At the end of the day, you should be comfortable and safe while diving. Scuba gear contributes to the whole experience and should be something that brings you joy. Whether it be colour-coding your own kit or having more space in your suitcase when travelling.

If you’re keen to get some advice or browse your options you can visit our dive shop in Gordon’s Bay.