Equipment Help

[FatCat]

I appreciate the help and yes I new the name was nitrox but forgot to type the x on the end SA. I think it was probably a bad idea to come here and probably won't come back. Thanks for the needed help STSOMEWHERE.

Oh lighten up kid! A typo like that was just way too good to let slide.

I concur with the majority of the posters that your motivation is a bit iffy. We don't post that kind of comments to put you down, we're just expressing genuine concern for your safety and by extension for the safety of every new diver.

 

[crpntr133]

I'm going to be getting certified in a few weeks, But I have never scuba dived just snorkeled . It's mostly to impress the upper management that i can get the certification because i work in the storm water division of my work and they do canal dives . I would like to be able to do that when it's ask of me.Here's the problem, I've been reading alot of material about scuba diving and I'm really excited about the whole thing but after calling around and seeing what these ppl are charging for gear versus buying the same equipment online is a pretty big difference,a mater of a few hundred bucks. After reading all the reviews and alot of the forums I'm still no closer to buying the equipment as i was 2 weeks ago, It's almost like walking into a car dealership. I can tell these guys are trying to take advantage of me. So now I pose the question to you guys, What kind of equipment should I get ? What is good for someone who may dive only 6-10 times per year ? I have about $800.00 bucks for equipment and need some good advice. I know that when someone recomends something someone else is gonna shoot it down but that's what I been getting all week. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot.

Scotty, we aren't trying to put you down just keep you alive and save you some money. You posted here and you got everyone's opinion and most did address your issue.
Again, for $1,000 you aren't going to get much. For no more diving than you think you are going to do, RENT until you are sure. Where to buy? Online I have bought from Scubatoys and got great service. In FL, don't know but I am sure that if you asked someone would tell you THEIR OPINION.

Most LDS will tell you that their gear is the best, just like a car dealer. What to buy is something that you are going to have to figure out for yourself. We can help and give you pointers but what you buy is ultimatly up to you. Narrow it down to three choices and then post to see what everyone likes. Use the internet as your friend and check out different manufacturers web sites. Pick up every magazine that you can that has dive gear information in it. Most of the reviews are biased, IMO, but at least it gives you someplace to start.
Slow down, calm down and take things one step at a time. You have the rest of your life ahead of you to figure out what gear you want, and you don't need it to be certified.
I keep reading, "might", "thinking about", "probably"...etc. I wouldn't lay out the money if you aren't sure this is what you really want. Since you haven't even strapped a tank to your back, you can't say for sure.
If you really want to get rid of part of your money then give it to Matt the Wonder Boy so research can be done to get a man with MD underwater.

 

[StSomewhere]

Again, for $1,000 you aren't going to get much. For no more diving than you think you are going to do, RENT until you are sure. Where to buy? Online I have bought from Scubatoys and got great service. In FL, don't know but I am sure that if you asked someone would tell you THEIR OPINION.

I dunno, Carpenter. Larry's Everything is Special Zeagle and Tusa Package package for $1150 pretty much kicks butt over everything else I've seen in terms of quality for the price. I know I wish to h3ll I'd come across this deal before I blew all that money at my LDS.

scotty921, renting is fine to get used to different gear types, but it doesn't take long before you've paid the LDS enough cash that you could've at least owned *something*. The more of your gear you own the more likely you are to go diving -- esp. where you live. I'd be shocked if anyone who snorkeled and was looking for a better experience didn't absolutely love scuba from their first underwater breath.

My two cents -- many times over.

 

[crpntr133]

DOH...Larry does it again. I almost looked before I posted the last time and figured that I was safe.
I do agree with renting adding up but better safe than sorry. I have done just about every water sport, including snorkeling, but almost didn't do SCUBA...just something that I wasn't comfortable with at the begining.
At first it was "I will only do 30' dives". On my first OW cert dive we did 40'...so much for that. Then that was the bottom until I found something cool that I wanted to see at 80'.
Also throw in the fact that he might be diving on a regular basis for work and diving might not be as much fun..kinda like being a chef and going home to cook, you just don't want to.

 

[moneysavr]

The only one who has gave me any real advice in this forum is STSOMEWHERE, Why is that ? All i wanted was some help for this issue and all anyone could do was tell why i was doing it for the wrong reason. TOADIE WTH forum

Hi,
Get the cert,get a mask,and fins,
Rent for a while till you find the type of dives your going to do,Its a great sport! some or most LDS shops have rental eqipment for sale,ask. most times they will service it and back it up too!
wetsuits well have no resale so are cheap,if you dive Florida a full 3-MM would be a good start. A BCD well try some and find one you like,your LDS may have a rental thats just faded from pool use.
Look out for e-bay,lots of junk! you realy got to know the questions to ask a seller!
also some online dealers may be cheap but you cant get a repairs.
Hey have a blast and chasing bugs in Florida !! you got to catch lots to pay for this sport!!

 

[GOAT]

Hey scotty, don't think everyone here is jerks just because a few gave you a hard time.

BTW - for those of you who did give him a hard time, good job on completely blowing off someone who really does need serious advice.

and contrary to the popular opinion here, i think 18k is a GREAT reason to get certified. The Zeagle/Tusa package at ScubaToys http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=ZeagleTusaPack would be a great package of you and you should Not have to upgrade. That's top of the line stuff right there at a very very good price.

don't Forget, you're going to need:
mask
fins
weights/weightbelt
gloves
boots
wetsuit



I would really suggest buying that stuff online. you can save a ton of money


Go get certified and make the big money

 

[ChrisA]

Rent the gear from the shop giving the lessions. They always want you to buy equipment but until you have done a little diving you don't know enough to pick out dive gear and will just have to trust the salesman.

But, if you must go ahead and buy gear find a salesman you can trust If you can find a saleman you can trust using the interet go for it

One other thing about on-line sales This should be a "hard and fast" rule. You WILL
need to get the gear services every year. Make abslutly certain you buy brands that
can be serviced locally. Find one or two local shops, find out what they can service.

Many times a local retail shop will price match if you will be buying a full set of gear.
Ask them, they might.

Still. my suggestion is to rent the gear. Don't buy anything until you can explain to yourself the differenct between the brands and styles of gear. Then buy just one item at a time. I bought a BC first because the rental BCs did not work well for me. Then I found a deal on a reg I wanted then I bought tanks, one at a time as good deals showed up.

You will know 10 times more after your 10th dive than you do now and will be 10 times more qualified to make decisions about what to buy.

Also please do NOT price shop for OW class. Pick the place that has the best quality instruction even if you pay an extra $200 or so.

I'm going to be getting certified in a few weeks, But I have never scuba dived just snorkeled . It's mostly to impress the upper management that i can get the certification because i work in the storm water division of my work and they do canal dives . I would like to be able to do that when it's ask of me.Here's the problem, I've been reading alot of material about scuba diving and I'm really excited about the whole thing but after calling around and seeing what these ppl are charging for gear versus buying the same equipment online is a pretty big difference,a mater of a few hundred bucks. After reading all the reviews and alot of the forums I'm still no closer to buying the equipment as i was 2 weeks ago, It's almost like walking into a car dealership. I can tell these guys are trying to take advantage of me. So now I pose the question to you guys, What kind of equipment should I get ? What is good for someone who may dive only 6-10 times per year ? I have about $800.00 bucks for equipment and need some good advice. I know that when someone recomends something someone else is gonna shoot it down but that's what I been getting all week. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot.

 

[Xanthro]

Is the pay increase tied to owning your own gear? If not, just rent. It's much cheaper if you are only diving 6-10 times per year.

Now, diving that infrequently, should you be doing work underwater? Absolutely not. You need to dive more frequently than one dive every two months if you want the skills to be safe underwater doing complex tasks.

 

[Damselfish]

The only one who has gave me any real advice in this forum is STSOMEWHERE, Why is that ? All i wanted was some help for this issue and all anyone could do was tell why i was doing it for the wrong reason. TOADIE WTH forum are you reading ? Just because I don't post My whole life story in one post doesn't mean I'm changing anything. I enjoy the water and always have , I do live 6 miles from the beach for at least 20 years BTW I should have posted that also , Im also 35 with 2 kids married 10 years oops my bad yea i can see how things are changing here. When someone gives the chance at making an average of $18,000 a year more (depending on hurricane season)
that's a big money difference on that check at the end of the week. That's more things I can provide for my family. So yes call it what you want but after class and I show them the certs for cpr course that I already took , The required storm water C cert for my job and the soon to be diving certification, I will have a better position in my company and more worth, After I do get my hands on that extra $18,000 a year I probably goto the bahamas and do a little diving with my new cert. It's really sad that I have to defend myself on what I'm doing when I'm in the right forum under "newbie"
I appreciate the help and yes I new the name was nitrox but forgot to type the x on the end SA. I think it was probably a bad idea to come here and probably won't come back. Thanks for the needed help STSOMEWHERE.

You'll find people sometimes offer opinions or answer questions you haven't asked, because you don't know enough to ask them yet. You might not like it but they are generally being helpful.

 

[DiveMaven]

I don't know that I agree with renting gear for too long after certification if you're planning to dive more than once a year. After my DH and I got certified, we went to Key Largo and the Caribbean. Since we knew we did not want to rent gear outside of the USA (too many horror stories), we decided to purchase prior to our trip to FL. In Key Largo, we had shallow, LONG dives to practice our skills and learn about our gear. A few months later we hit the Caribbean. I can honestly say that the difference between our FL dives and our Caribbean ones were night and day. In the Caribbean we had great bouyancy control, being able to hover comfortably for the first time, and our air consumption and bottom times were better as well. I do credit some of this with having a little more experience, but mostly with knowing and feeling confident and comfortable with our gear. I know exactly how much weight to carry and how much air I need in my BC for good bouyancy. YES, I still have a LOT to learn and my bouyancy always has room for improvement, but I believe having my own gear makes all the difference in the world.

Bottom line is that we're glad we don't have to struggle with different BC's everytime we dive, and since we know our gear is always kept in top condition, we never have that niggling little voice in the back of our heads wondering about when the regs were serviced last.

Oh yeah, and after seeing some of the rental gear outside of the country, I would never recommend renting anywhere but in the USA!!!