I've been diving a few months, renting gear from the LDS. Only thing keeping me from diving more is that I have to rent gear from the LDS.
So I am thinking about buying myself a scuba set-up. The only problem is, only having ever used the LDS rental gear, I have no real sense of what I need. Looking online and at my LDS, it is really amazing how much price variation there is between the cheaper and the more expensive regulators or BCDs etc etc.
So my question is, being a poor student, how do I figure out what to get? Obviously I need gear that will be reliable, but I don't want to spend more than I have to (ie, more than I can afford).
Relevant information: diving off southern California (ie water temps 50s+, no ice diving), basic OW and eventually AOW. No tec, no caves, nothing that would require special equipment.
Any advice? Before I despair at being unable to detect a difference between a $300 reg and a $1000 reg?
So I am thinking about buying myself a scuba set-up. The only problem is, only having ever used the LDS rental gear, I have no real sense of what I need. Looking online and at my LDS, it is really amazing how much price variation there is between the cheaper and the more expensive regulators or BCDs etc etc.
So my question is, being a poor student, how do I figure out what to get? Obviously I need gear that will be reliable, but I don't want to spend more than I have to (ie, more than I can afford).
Relevant information: diving off southern California (ie water temps 50s+, no ice diving), basic OW and eventually AOW. No tec, no caves, nothing that would require special equipment.
Any advice? Before I despair at being unable to detect a difference between a $300 reg and a $1000 reg?