As a New Diver, Where to Invest Money First

[Colo Hippie]

Bob: I have been eyeing up some pretty sweet computers. Guess my ROI would be enjoyment

Colo: Fresh perspective, and good point. Probably should look at getting some dives under my belt. I do have to say, buying that Impulse 3 was the best decision so far in my gear. It makes clearing the snorkel so much easier than my previous rig.

and in 100/200/300 dives that Impulse 3 will probably not be attached to your mask for most dives .

My point being, at this point in your dive career you do not know what you do not know.

As a couple examples:

For dive computer, will you be diving Enriched air or regular air? Will you want to go tech and be diving trimix using mutiple mixes doing deco on 100% O2 ? or ??? how much do you want to reply on a computer? do you want air integrated or not?

For a BCD - do you want a vest BCD or a back wing & plate, will you be diving doubles in the future?, how about side mount?, or carry a bale out ?

 

[kelemvor]

I am a few open water dives away from becoming NAUI certified and I am having so much fun, My wife and I know we want to continue diving.

Question for more seasoned divers:
Where should I spend my first thousand dollars?
Where will I see the most noticeable improvements in comfort and enjoyment that will go beyond rental gear?

So far I have invested in:
mask - AquaLung Favola
snorkel - Impulse 3
Fins - Mares Volo Power
Dive Skin - 1mm AquaLung Hydro flex
Weight Belt

Weight integrated BCD. Even if you go BP/W (a darling item on scubaboard) you can get integrated weight pouches for it. Retire the belt. Also a good regulator. If you look for sales, you can get high end both for around $1000.

 

[nolatom]

Buying all my gear right after certification has worked fine. This was "Chevy Malibu" gear rather than the most expensive stuff. And it made me go out and use the gear and get some dives in, in order to "get my money's worth out of it" (I guess I'm just cheap that way).

My friend from OW class, got certified just before me, and was going to rent, then buy "Cadillac" gear later on. He did neither. Never dived at all. So my buying gear was a good motivator for me, and saved me the rental fees.

that was 17 years ago. I'm still using most of that gear (Scubapro MK2 plus R-190 reg, and BC). Standard weight belt. It's fine. I added a Nitrox-compatible computer early on, which I recommend rather than starting with an air-only. I'm not a gear geek and not a techie, and believe any reputable (and regularly serviced) gear that's comfortable on you, will likely make you happy.

I guess if I had to do it in a sequence, I'd do it in order of portability-- regs and computer first. Then BC or wing. Then wetsuit.

 

[kelemvor]

I added a Nitrox-compatible computer early on, which I recommend rather than starting with an air-only.

Last time I looked there were no currently manufactured dive computers that were not nitrox compatible. Unless you're buying used gear, this is no longer a concern.

 

[nolatom]

Last time I looked there were no currently manufactured dive computers that were not nitrox compatible. Unless you're buying used gear, this is no longer a concern.

Shows how long it's been since I bought gear ;-)

 

[runsongas]

if you only plan to dive occasionally on vacation, then a dive computer and personal gear is all you really need. consider getting bc/regs/etc only if you dive locally.

 

[FinnMom]

First piece of dive gear I ever bought was my Zoop dive computer. It has served well as a "recreational" computer and as a back up to my Petrel. My dive buddy uses it now. I do not regret spending my first dive dollars on a computer.

Agree. A cheap but perfectly good computer, like a Zoop/Vyper/Puck/Leonardo/Smart costs as little as a bottom timer so I see no purpose in buying bottom timers anymore. You need a computer, you need to know it's in good working order and you need to know how to use it - so have your own.

Used is prefectly good too. My daughter uses my 8 yr-old Gekko (doesn't want anything else) and my favorite computer is a Vytec DS that's at least as old (I'm it's 3rd owner, had it maybe 6 yrs). If you later decide you want something fancier, the standard war horse is perfectly good as a backup or you can sell it to free up a little cash. The world is full of new divers needing an basic computer.

 

[Professor Nemo]

While I don't have as many dives as the other contributers to this post, I think I may have a little useful information. First, my biggest issue when getting cerified was finding equipment which fit my body type (6ft 300 lbs, no backside). This meant that I couldn't wear a weight belt without it sliding down as soon as put it on regardless of how tight it was. Suspenders didn't work because of the types of bcds avaliable for rent, none of which were really large enough for me and didn't really allow for enough room for weight I needed in the right places. Needless to say, my first dives were miserable because of equipment issues. So, I was effectively presented with two choices, give up diving or gamble on buying equipment to see if that would make diving an enjoyable experience. I took the plunge and I'm hooked now. This probably relates to your question only tangentially but my point is that having your own gear intensifies the pleasure of diving. Just FYI, I use a Oceanic Excursion qlr4 dive master bcd, HOG classic 1st and second stage regs (HOG offers a class you can take to learn to service these regulators yourself. Once you are certified you can buy service kits for $30 bucks and service your regs whenever or wherever you want/are.) And a Mares Puck Pro DC, which is a good basic computer that does every thing I need it to. I would say purchase priority should be based on what you feel will make your diving safer and thus more enjoyable, which probably means getting a good DC that frees you some from dive tables and human error.

 

[rx7diver]

I am a few open water dives away from becoming NAUI certified and I am having so much fun, My wife and I know we want to continue diving.

Question for more seasoned divers:
Where should I spend my first thousand dollars?
Where will I see the most noticeable improvements in comfort and enjoyment that will go beyond rental gear

Pawel G Majkowski,

Too bad there is not someone you know well and trust completely to advise you on what gear to purchase for the conditions you expect to be routinely diving in. If there were, you might take his/her advice, purchase your gear now, and go diving now and as often as you want.

I purchased the gear my first instructor (univ professor) recommended. He sold Scubapro and US Divers gear on the side. I began purchasing my gear (in 1987), piece by piece, before I became certified. He recommended the same gear, more or less, to all of the divers he taught. We all dove the same gear.

Having my own gear freed me up to go diving at any time, at a moment's notice, anywhere. My friends and I would dive most any local lake, or quarry, or mud hole that we encountered here in central Missouri and southwest Missouri/northwest Arkansas. We did a LOT of diving! I used this same gear in the Florida Keys, Grand Cayman, and north of Boston. My gear, as recommended, was flexible enough to accommodate diving in all these locales. With slight modification, I used this same gear for my NSS-CDS cavern and basic cave certification courses.

When I moved to near the Great Lakes (1991) and began deep wreck diving I needed to purchase additional/different gear—technical diving gear—but I still made use of much of my original gear.

Upon moving back to central Missouri and returning to rec diving, I reverted to usually using my original gear—with the exception of my double hose regulator which I purchased last year. I've been back in central Missouri since 1997.

FWIW.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[outofofficebrb]

I would go with anything where fit is paramount -- wetsuit, BCs......and computer. Regs last. But that's just me because rental stuff never fits me well.