Buy own gear or not, and what to buy?

[KJackson60]

Hey Lardo5150,
If you are only diving three times a year and one of the outings is out of country I would not buy anything more than mask, fins, snorkel and boots. The hassle and expense of transporting all that stuff to the Caribbean is not worth it. Plus, the wet suit that is appropriate for the mid-west is way to warm for the islands. Just rent at this time and concentrate on building skills and comfort in the water.

Oh, and congrats on the baby! If you raise it right you will have a built in dive buddy! You then get brownie points for going diving with the kid, "Honest honey, it a great bonding experience!"
Seriously though. I dive with two of my three children and have a great time with them. Oh, and the third wants to get certified next summer. So my equipment rental bill is going to make the national deficit look manageable.

Be safe, Keep Diving!

 

[scubafanatic]

sabbath999,
I live in St. Charles. I got certified through the Dive Shop (they are now part of the great american divers).
I have never heard of New Melle, I will need to look it up. Thanks for the info.
Shoot me a PM, would be nice to go diving with some people since none of my buddies dive.

This is all good info. I think it is going to come down to budget.

...is your 'budget' amount classified ? ...it's kinda hard to provide useful help until 'we' know how much $ you have to play with......

 

[imwright1985]

I kinda agree with some people saying reg is more important then BC but if you arnt diving regularly the regs are way more expensive when they develop problems and a bc full overhaul of mechanical parts other than bladder replacement can be done by yourself for about 50 bucks and you probably will drop only 30 when you have problems with the BC so cost wise with maintnance for how rarely you will be using it i would say BC gets bumped up