Heres my two cents:
Mask- I would just try some on and choose which one fits the best. But I would not get a mask with more than two planes of glass. My mask has four and the picture can sometimes get distorted, for ex I might see doubble. Also If you plan on night diving I would look into a mask that has a black skirt. My mask has a clear skirt and when I am night diving it seems like there might be a few more people in the water if you know what I mean.
Fins- I currently have seaquest fins (dont know model) and I hate them. For one thing the blades are way to long. The total fin is almost three feet long! Now for quick bursts of speed there great, but for a slow steddy pace my anckles and quads get a little sore. The best pair to get I think is the Scubapro (US-Diver) Jet Fins. They are more than twenty-five years old, made out of unbreakable (well I havent seen them break besides the straps) black rubber. There not to stiff, not to soft, just right. And they are also fairly short so dont worrie about trying to get them in your suit case when your traveling to go diving. theres also other great fins, but if you want the best, go Jets.
Snorkel- I used one for all my checkout dives and two open water dives, its been under my bed collecting dust ever since. Just get the cheepest snorkel for Ow checkout dives and any other specialities you want to take. The biggest mistake you can make is going out and blowing fifty bucks on one of those stupid dry snorkels.
Regulators- Now its getting intresting. I have Scubapro regs. I chose Scubapro for a number of reasons. One, made in the good old US of A, so I dont have to wait weeks if for some odd reason my reg has to be sent back to the factore. Lifetime limited warrenty. And they are used in cold water, by tech, cave, wreck divers ect.... There everyware. The setup I have is the Mk25 with the G250HP as my primary and a R190 as my backup. Setup cost me lots of $ but it was worth every cent. And on Leisurepro you can save money. I would go with the Mk25 (I think now it has some soft of anti-freezign thingi on it) a good primary like the G250HP or there other high end model with a R190 or R380??? backup. I also highly recomend Apeks regs, there some of the best made, same quality if not greater than Scubapro. The only reason I didnt get an Apeks is that they are located in Europe. But now I think Aqualung? owns them so more parts and regs are comming to the US.
(Writers cramp.....)
SPG- Simple 1-5000psi or bar brass pressure gauage. Currently I think OMS makes some of the cheepest, but many other manufactors make em including Scubapro, OMS, Halcyon(dont know about it yet) and I think Dive Rite makes one too, if you want it all to match.
BC (this is only my oppinion)- I would go with a Bp/Wings setup for sure. I have a Halcyon pioneer 29lb wing with a stainless backplate and harness. Halcyon right now seems to be one of the most popular with Oxycheq growing in popularity. If you want to go the cheep way go with a regular Stainless Steel black plate, rig your own harness (directions every where on the net) and get a good wing form OMS, Halcyon, Dive Rite, Oxycheq ect... And also depending on which wing and backplate you get you might have to get a single tank adaptor. Pretty much all Bp/Wing manufactors sell one. (Links will be posted at end of post)
(lets see what else)
Computer- After I got my Bc, I ran out of mula ($) so I went the cheep way. I got a Scubapro/OMS bottom timmer and depth gauage. I dont know much about computers but most LDS seem to recommend Sunnto dive computers. They have an AI unit, but it will set you back about 750+ dollars.
Well I guess thats it.
Heres some links:
Backplates and Wings-
www.diverite.com/
www.halcyon.net/
www.omsdive.com/
www.oxycheq.com/
Regs-
www.scubapro.com/
www.apeks.co.uk/
Computer-
www.suunto.com/
Mask, Fins Snorkel-
www.scubapro.com/
(Dont know any others off hand)
O ya wetsuit. Just get a cheep one because before long your going to eather want a dry suit (most logical choice) or stay in a wetsuit.
Bare
DUI
Whites
Viking
Andys
ect..........
Good Luck!
Tekkie