buying new Equipment, need advice

[PatW]

I would suggest a wet suit or skin and a computer. It is nice to be familiar enough with a computer so you can actually understand it when you are underwater. Going through the manual at 80' is inconvenient.

if you are going to a place with a good shop, the rental gear should be fine and their computers should be easy to figure out.

 

[uncfnp]

Your own mask for sure. But then I thought most scuba shops required your own mask, fins and snorkel for class? Personally, I would also buy my own wetsuit (fit and the ewww factor of rentals!) and if I have extra change, a wrist dive computer...for consistency and familiarity with its functions.

For those few dives and travel to factor in, I would definitely not invest in a reg set unless you just really want to own your own. I also would not do a BCD unless you know you are hard to fit.

 

[00wabbit]

I just booked my honeymoon to Bali and my future wife signed up to get padi certified this week (Great Week!!). I have never owned any of my own equipment (other than mask, fins, snorkel) and am looking into getting some. I only dive on vacation every year or 2 so i dont think ill get alot of use out of everything. Is it worth it? or should i just find find a good rental place and not deal with it.

thanks
Ross

For now rent. But don't think just because you are in Indiana you can't get your dive on.
I lived in Indianapolis and dove year round. If you find after certification and diving that you really like it there is some good diving to be had in the area. There are also some good facebook groups:
Great Lakes Wrecking Crew
Ohio Quarry Divers
Travelling Divers and Liars

Places to dive:
France Park in Logansport IN, shallow depth but clear and cool big paddlefish.
Phillips Quarry In Muncie. Not great vis but they have a bunch of sunk boats and a jet.
Natural Springs in Ohio. Mostly Shallow but some nice fish.
Gilboa Quarry in Ohio (My favorite and the meeting site for the spring and fall meet and greet of the great lakes wrecking crew) Modest to very deep depths. In the 45ft range there is a sikorsky helicopter, a gulfstream jet you can swim through, many boats, cars, school bus and fish.
Whitestar Quarry in Ohio, A little further away but supposed to be very nice.
Haigh Quarry in Kankakee, IL. A very nice quarry with moderate depths and some nice underwater sites.

For a little travel there is Bonne Terre Mine in St Louis, Missouri. Indoor temperature controlled diving yer round in an abandonded mine underground. Check it out online.

You are alos very close to Lake Michigan so you can dive real shipwrecks right off of Chicago.

See if this diving thing hooks you like it did me. If so then you can start thinking about the appropriate gear. A lot of this diving will be colder water so cold water regs, a good wet suit or even a dry suit would be helpful.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you don't have to limit your dives to a couple times a year. There are a ton of opportunities to keep diving if you are interested.

 

[Atomic081]

Thanks for the Advice everyone!!!

We both have our masks, fins, snorkels, and wetsuits. The only equipment I was really serious about buying was a regulator and a dive computer because of traveling size and its gross using rental mouth pieces. After seeing that a average combo of the 2 would be around 800 for each person and maintenance can be a hassel. I have decided to just Rent.

I have saltwater fish tanks and love to see the Reefs in the wild. Being that there are no reefs near Indiana, its pretty safe to say that I will be a "vacation" diver for a long time.

 

[Tippytoes12]

My hubby and I have probably done 100 or even 200 dives in Indonesia with rental equipment which has been absolutely fine . We have our own gears now , which we love , but at the beginning just your own mask is all you need. Consider packing an extra pair of socks to wear inside rented footwear ...the freebies from the aeroplane are perfect for this.

Have a wonderful wedding , honeymoon and diving adventures xx

 

[Atomic081]

If i wanted to get a Dive computer, What im i looking for. Ive never used one before. Would my future wife and i both need one? She will be with me every time she dives and im sure ill be much more aggressive depth wise

I found a few on amazon for around 200 to 250 usd.

Amazon.com : Cressi Leonardo Dive Computer Watch -Wrist (Black / Blue ) : Digital Diving Gauges : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Oceanic Veo 100 NX Wrist Air/Nitrox Dive Computer : Digital Diving Gauges : Sports & Outdoors

would these work?

thanks again,
Ross

 

[PeterNBiddle]

If i wanted to get a Dive computer, What im i looking for. Ive never used one before. Would my future wife and i both need one? She will be with me every time she dives and im sure ill be much more aggressive depth wise I found a few on amazon for around 200 to 250 usd. Amazon.com : Cressi Leonardo Dive Computer Watch -Wrist (Black / Blue ) : Digital Diving Gauges : Sports & Outdoors Amazon.com : Oceanic Veo 100 NX Wrist Air/Nitrox Dive Computer : Digital Diving Gauges : Sports & Outdoors would these work? thanks again, Ross

I started out with a VEO 300 console. Bought a VEO 100 for dive buddy, but regretted it because it was a bit too primitive. Bought another VEO 300 wrist mounted. They are solid comps.

Now have a Geo 2.0 I got on Amazon for a killer price (sold as a Geo 1.0). Nice comp, small enough to serve as a watch, dual gas, easy batt change, highly tweak able. A couple of the DMs I saw in Coz had one as well.

 

[00wabbit]

You should both have your own computers. In case she doesn't dive with you one day etc. It is also helpful to watch your computer when ascending to make sure you don't go too fast. It would be better for her to have her own so she doesn't crutch on you.

I have the leonardo and another computer. Leonardo was my first and now my backup. It works very well and is very easy to understand the info on the screen. The wrist model is the way to go over the console because it is easier to watch as you are diving. The computer interface is another $100 or so and not really worth it. The computer logs a lot of dives and is easy on batteries.
Another very popular entry level computer is the Suunto Zoop. I don't have experience with it but I have seen a lot of them. It is also very straight forward.

 

[eelnoraa]

The main reason to own your computer is that you are familiar with it, ie, how to set it up properly, understanding each signal and icon, know what the computer is telling you. However, if you are diving once a year on vacation, you really never get a chance to be familiar with the computer. For this reason, I will say also rent.