Rental Hire vs Buying

After my recent trip to Queenstown and a great day a Coronet Peak I thought to myself. Why did i just schlep (bring along) my own snow gear when The Peak has great rental gear (All boards and bindings are burton!). All jackets etc are of high qualty gortex. Sure you will look like everyone else but it saves the hassle!

So I ask what are the pro and cons on rental hire vs buying?

On a side note - Air NZ allows an additional 10kg plus your 20kg luggage for ski/snow gear

Id prefer my own gear, no matter where I go. I know how my gear rides and getting on a totally different board isnt that nice. Especially when your riding a good board and switch to a rental board, even if its burton, rental still isn’t top of the line.

Buying is a better investment if your heavily into snowboarding. If not, rent.

Buying
Pros: Cheaper over the long haul, You know what your getting/using etc.
Cons: Can be a pain carrying everything

Renting
Pros: Save the hassle of brining own stuff.
Cons: Apart from that what else is good? boards can be in bad condition, completly new setup etc.

I have always seen buying as a much better long term investment. It guess it depends on how much you ride, but personally I would never travel without my own equipment.

Buying:

Pros - Cheaper over the long term, you get used to your equipment which helps your progression, generally much better quality/performance, more choice, no hassles on arrival.

Cons - Not many. You have to carry your gear to the destination. That’s about it.

I’d rather my own gear, especially my own boots, no way am I getting into another pair of gungy hire boots after sitting around the house in my new thirtytwos, and I haven’t even ridden in them yet.

I like to know what has happened to my stuff and where it’s been and what it can dish out, if I want to use a different board to my own I’ll go on a demo day.

I bring my own gear, but if you’re riding the odd day or two during a business trip, then renting is probably just fine.

If you’re going to the destination resorts, like Whistler or Vail, then renting is probably fine. I had the chance to demo some top-of-the-line stuff at Whistler and rented a pair of boots for the day from the Burton center at Vail, and that gear was perfectly OK.

If you are doing some exotic travel (even Japan, keep in mind that they might not have your size!), then bring your stuff. And some tools in case that binding gets loose or if you need to adjust stuff. Now try to find a proper set of tools when you’re riding in Lebanon!

If you can afford to buy, the do it.
If you’re only going 2 or 3 days a year, that difficult to spend the $ I know.
Truth is… you love snowboarding and maybe you just need an excuse to go more. buying your own gear will give you that excuse! You will get more and more hooked as you keep going.

The pros and cons are listed above, I cant add much to what has been said.
you know, a jacket is a jacket, you need one for every day wear in winter, just buy a snowboarding jacket.
Gloves are nice to have in cold weather, so buy snowboarding gloves.

Each season buy a little more items and not all at once, you’ll not notice how much you are spending on it.