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Mine your own air or pay for bottles? I made a call after a Jamestown job
Last year on a wreck job off Jamestown, Rhode Island I had to pick between hauling my own compressor or renting bottles from the local shop. Took the compressor. Figured it would pay off after a week of dives. Big mistake. The barge crew had no pad for it, so I lost half a day rigging a mount. Then the diesel pump acted up every morning. Bottles would have cost $340 more but zero headache. I still think owning gear is right long term, but that call cost me time and stress. Anyone else stuck with their own gear on a site that was not set for it? What do you do, rent or bring?
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corah752d agoTop Commenter
@zara_sanchez that ScubaBoard guy has the right idea honestly. My buddy Kevin got stuck on a job near Block Island last fall, same thing you described. He brought his own gear because the site promised a pad and they had nothing, just a wet gravel patch. He spent the first day building a platform out of scrap lumber and cinder blocks he found nearby. Then the air filter kept clogging because of the salt mist, so he was cleaning it every couple of hours between dives. By day three he called the local shop and had bottles dropped off, ate the extra cost and left his compressor in the truck. He still owns it for his own projects but said he'll rent every time on a site he hasnt worked before unless they put it in writing that they have a proper setup.
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