critique this equipment selection

[houe]

For cold water I would strongly suggest you give a BP/W a try. I have dove wet (2pc-7mil wetsuit) in the somewhat cold waters of Pa. and all I can say is carry the 20+ lbs of weight was no fun at all. The BP/W will allow you to lose 6-8lbs of weight.

Sorry... BP/W?

 

[ams511]

Backplate and wing.

 

[eelnoraa]

I will look more closely at the HP100. I don't think I need the air capacity since i will be diving fairly shallow however it may not hurt either.

Maybe not yet, but when you get recreation nitrox cert, your NDL time will increase, additional gas will give you potentially longer bottom time.

 

[quickfreze]

All your gear selections seem to be pretty good besides the fin choice. I understand then allure of split fins, but one day you're going to put on a pair of OMS Slipstreams or even my rec fav the Tusa Imprex's and really see what we're talking about. I've dove the Atomic splits, and they're no better than the SP splits, which are not much better than the Tusa splits... they're all split fins in the end. And however I do disagree that I feel I have great control and "dexterity" with my old twin jets that I've had for 15 years than most blades, I am also a soccer player and prob have a lot more ankle dexterity than most ever will. But this is not control, this is me VERY lightly flicking my feet to make small movements. Nothing like the control with a good jet style or blade fin. Sorry to put my nose in the argument but I have used everything you want to buy and I promise, snorkeling a few hundred yards to your dive site or not, a blade fin will be much better in the long run.