I must disagree with Sandy Hess's idea that pump kits should be returnable.
They are classified as personal hygiene items, and as such, are not
re-usable unless autoclaved.  Even then, I would suspect that most people
want their own, not a pre-used one.  At least they aren't going to pay full
price for a used kit.  I don't see how the individual lc could manage the
liability and the financial risks of such a policy.  What I have done in the
past is autoclave demo kits and allow people to try-before-they buy or rent.
This way a more informed choice can be made.  Other people have different
mechanisms in place for essentially the same opportunity.

There have been some studies which looked at the pressure generated by some
commerically available pumps which exceed the safe range.  Good pumps
generate similiar pressure ranges as babies, and do it with cycle lengths
calculated to immitate a baby's sucking rhythm.  I have limited experience
with soft flanges.  They appear to work best with mother's with larger
breasts.  Many mothers I trialed with soft flanges complained they pinched.
I have had several mothers who presented with nipple trauma (two with
candida) who could not subsequently get over pain until they switched,
temporarily, from PNS to Lactinas.  My theory is that the diaphragm release
of the PNS is a touch slower than the suction release in a piston pump.  The
longer sustained negative pressure was, I think, traumatic to
already-injured tissue.  Selection of equipment is supposed to be
individualized when that equipment is used to achieve a clinical result.

  I have actually gotten so tired of all the pump-hustling that I have given
up selling pumps and other paraphenalia and am only now dealing in rental
units which are called for in my clinical practice.  This is not meant as a
criticism of other LCs -- as the sad truth is that that is where the money
is.  I just continue to see that there is a pull in our field to become
commercialized to survive.  My vision is that we are clinical specialists.

Barbara

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BS, IBCLC
Private Practice, Austin, Texas
Owner, Lactnews On-Line Conference Page
http://moontower.com/bwc/lactnews.html