...I leave Utility Belt for everything else, maybe gear they have, maybe they don't...

Why does everyone keep referring to the utility belt as this magic belt of holding? All it does is give you an extra endurance to carry stuff. The player still has to decide to put something in it. The fluff in the rulebook says that their contents can vary based on who is using it, but it's not specified or implied that they're full of whatever is narratively appropriate.

Ummmm, the Talent "Utility Belt" is what we are talking about......

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, that makes so much more sense.

Yep beta should have picked up on this and came up with a name change for one of the two to avoid confusion.

This is why I am not a supporter of the "just flip a DP" strategy. I think it opens the door to circumvent the RAW methods of finding/purchasing weapons and gear. Could I flip a DP to get a Disruptor Rifle? Just find it in a locker someplace and all of a sudden I've got one for the duration?

I'm noticing my general question, WRT how deus ex machina is applied, went unanswered. Though I will take it, from this response in particular, some of you feel the GM be damned. A PC is entitled to whatever they want, whenever they want, just because they flipped a token*.

*As opposed to the rule in the book, wherein a player doesn't actually flip any token until the GM says its OK and allows the proposed application to advance the story. But why let things like rules get in the way of a good hyperbole...

And to be even more clear, I will respond to one very specific part of your post...

I think it opens the door to circumvent the RAW methods of finding/purchasing weapons and gear.

You are aware RAW allows this very thing, are you not? The example on page 28 of the CRB illustrates how a Destiny Point can be used to circumvent the very thing you claim should not be circumvented...

Sturn already kind of addressed your first issue. What is given as examples in the section you cite are pretty minor items. I was intentionally using hyperbole to illustrate that I think a line should be drawn between a breath mask and an expensive, restricted, and potentially game altering weapon. Where that line is will definitely be different at different tables, but let's be clear. I am not, as you damned well know, suggesting that a player should just get whatever they want. I've got people in this very thread telling me that my charging of a HP for a gun emplacement is draconian and that I should just let them have it for a Destiny Point. You should therefore, be able to conclude that I am aware of the bit about the GM having final say over what a DP can/cannot do. With all that out of the way, let's move on.

"...The GM should decide if the request is reasonable given the circumstances and assess any impact to the adventure plot. Creativity shoud be rewarded whenever possible. However, the players should not be allowed to abuse the sustem to avoid paying for something they could otherwise afford or circumvent prohibitions that would normally prevent them from acquiring the item or service....If part of the adventure requires the characters to deal with limited resources, using a Destiny Point to find a needed item at just the right moment probably should not be allowed."

That's straight from the CRB.

It seems germane to the conversation to consider what destiny points are supposed to be.

I see the primary use of destiny points as a Story Correction Tool. Anyone who's played RPGs for awhile knows that the dice can ruin the best laid plans of mice and men.

Those minions that were only supposed to slow down the party instead critical hit and blinded the pilot making take-off pretty much impossible as he's the only PC with Pilot (Space). The PC's spend a Destiny point to have the auto defense blaster kill the minions while the doctor cleans the blood out of the Pilot's eyes.

The PCs (being the exploitive little bastards that they are) decide that next time they will lure the minions into the hanger and spend the destiny point use the blaster to hose their foes. The players go to flip the destiny point, but the GM wags his finger. "The blaster pops out of its housing in a shower of sparks. You forgot to maintain the gun and that last space battle seems to have damaged it."

The mechanic looks at the party and shrugs, "My mistake."

If the players want to repeatedly use destiny points for a given piece of equipment, they shouldn't be allowed to. If they want to use it to make the story more interesting than TPK or a boring combat slog fest, more power to them. Destiny Points are temporary in nature. In the case of the grenade you only need it to work once, and you won't need rebreathers for the majority of adventures. I just don't foresee the players needing the antipersonnel ship blaster all that often. For one thing, leading the bad guys back to your ship is dumb. Your game might be different.

To simplify things I think its only the limits of what a DP can be used for that we are disagreeing with. Everyone GM will have a limit on what a DP can be used for. In the scenario we've been discussing, what GM would allow this:

As the minion mob begins to overwhelm the ship possibly ruining the flow of the adventure... "I flip a DP as Wizzel recalls that he had purchased two Y-Wing bombers and hired crews to fly them to be on standby and ready on a moment's notice in case we got into trouble. Using a Maneuver, I radio in to them to unleash a precise bombing run on the horde".

I think we can all agree the deus ex machina element of DP use should have limits. As pointed out above, the RAW even gives examples and statements of its limits. The only real disagreement is exactly where we all think that limit rests.

I wouldn't charge my PCs a Hardpoint for a Light Repeating Blaster. I might make it take up space of the smuggler's compartment though.