I agree with sarysa the Greek. Just be careful of the "LDS". I hope you read the PM I sent you. The first shop I went to set me up all wrong. Luckily my gut was telling me something was not right after a few pool sessions, internet searches, a phone call to a fellow diver, a discussion about nitrox (Death Gas? not my opinion) and Long and short hose (Dog Leash? not my opinion), I found a second shop within an hour's drive. They straightened me out gear wise since I only used the gear in the pool and only had to add a couple hundred dollars to switch/upgrade out my Oceanic vest, console, octo for Hollis bp/w solo, VT3, and a GT3 (long /short hose config) (Thank you Wayne @
The Scuba Connection and Oceanic/Hollis Rep).
I see Doppler sent you a PM. I'm sure it's great advice.
The
DIR GUE gear config is an awesome foundation that will be used for all your diving, from rec to full trimix. As for a pony/stage, go with a Luxfer 40cf. This worked great when i dove single tank and was required to have a pony for the boats off Jersey. When in trim, clipped on your left side, you will not notice it's there and can be used for more advanced diving. I was lucky to find a dive shop/instructor that set me up right That's the beauty of finding a great instructor. As my diving progresses, I add a piece of gear, but nothing else changes on my rig. Also, a great instructor will tell when you are NOT ready for the next step and
will tell you what you need to work on and how to do it.
Some people say get experience before thinking tech. Just dive. But without proper training, how do you know if you are doing something wrong? Get proper training and then take it slow when extending your dive abilities. My car can reach 120mph, but I follow the speed limits posted (+/- 9mph
![Winking :wink: :wink:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
). Same with diving when acquiring the tools and skills.