How To Buy Used Scuba Diving Equipment

Scuba equipment is expensive, but used scuba diving equipment, does not have to be.

In fact, it’s the most expensive part of scuba diving. Once you buy your gear, diving becomes fairly cheap. Just $13 will get you a couple of air fills and $50 will get you a two-tank dive on a dive boat.

You’ll probably spend more than that driving to your dive site!

However the $2 - $3,000 price tag of a full set of dive equipment gives the sport the undeserved tag of “expensive.” The truth is that you can get dive equipment for a lot less than $2 - $3,000.

There’s plenty of used scuba diving equipment available in great condition. With a little effort, you could end up with a $3,000 set of dive gear for less than $1,000.

I usually don’t advocate buying used scuba diving equipment for beginners. There are a lot of things to watch out for and someone who’s not familiar with the ins and outs of dive equipment could end up buying something that’s too worn out to dive in.

If you’re not careful, you could spend more money on your used gear than you would if you bought it new.

Here are some tips to avoid buying junk when you’re hunting for used scuba diving equipment.

Buy From Your Dive Shop

Lots of dive shops consign used scuba diving equipment.

When you buy from a dive shop, you can be sure that the owner has thoroughly inspected the equipment and in some cases, serviced the equipment.

No dive shop is going to take on the liability of selling faulty equipment.

This is the safest way to buy used dive gear.

Buying From Private Parties

Should you decide to buy used scuba diving equipment from a private party, make sure you know what questions to ask and what tests to perform before you buy.

The equipment you find in classified ads and at garage sales can come in a variety of conditions ranging from “like new” to “death trap.”

Here’s how you tell one from the other.

Ask, “When was the last time you dove with this equipment?”

Ask, “When was the last time this equipment was serviced?”

The answer to these two questions will give you a pretty good idea of the condition of the equipment you’re buying. Something that’s been used within the year is a lot more likely to be good than something that hasn’t seen action in eight years.

Now test the equipment.

Always bring a full tank of air any time you’re going to buy used diving equipment. You want to test any regulator set or buoyancy compensator you’re looking at buying.

Make sure BCs inflate and hold air and make sure their air dumps work.

For regulators, you want to make sure the hoses are in good condition and the regulators and gauges work.

Press the purge button a couple of times. Do they work?

Scuba Equipment to Avoid

There are two kinds of equipment I’d avoid buying used.

The first is a scuba tank. Never buy a used tank unless it has a current hydrostatic test and visual inspection. Otherwise you may be buying a hunk of scrap aluminum.

I’d also avoid buying a used wetsuit. Wetsuits degrade with use and there’s no telling how much the suit you’re looking at has degraded. In addition, there are two kinds of divers; those who pee in their wetsuits and those who lie about it.

Need I say more?

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