Newly Certified - Want to start the ball rolling on equipment

[lmorin]

IMHO, buy a wetsuit first. You will pay $10 or so/day to rent one and can capture that cost very quickly with a decent wetsuit purchase. You will also know the cleanliness of your own wetsuit.

For what it is worth, I recently purchased wetsuits on Ebay for my son in law and two daughters at a cost, including shipping, of about $100 for the three suits. No suit had been worn more than about 5 times according to the owners and, on arrival, they all looked brand new.

Then, if you can afford to do so, buy everything else at once. You will save about 25-35% of the total price. Either buy a package via the internet or assemble a package list and take to two or more dive shops. Negotiate and offer to pay cash.

 

[cliffhanger]

First things first I must ask if you have any gear at all (mask, fins, wetsuit, etc)? The other is how much do you want to dive and what kind of diving to you want to do. If all you are looking forward to is recreational diving and going out occasionally, then just about any reg/BC set will work out for you. If you are looking at getting into more technical diving, then its better to make sure you are getting better quality regs because of the depths and situations that you will be diving in. None of the regs on the market are unsafe, but everyone has their preferences. I have to agree with CAVDVR93538 in that the first purchase I would get would be regs, then your BC.
The reason that I would buy regs first is simple. I want to ensure that my regs are serviced properly and I have high quality regs to breath off of. Whether it is for technical diving or diving the florida keys, the easier my regs breathe, the more I will enjoy my dive. My personal preferences are atomic regs, followed by Hollis. The best advice I can give you is to buy the best regs that you can afford. As far as the BC, ensure it is weight integrated. Beyond that, I have not worn a jacket style BC for long enough that I cannot guide you in that.
One of the biggest reasons that I would say to make sure that you buy your own gear is that you are much more likely to stay with diving if you have your own stuff. The only thing that I would not necessarily rush into buying at this stage would be your own tanks. They are something that can be rented at most any shop and will not show any real change in your diving, beyond some of the buoyancy characteristics between the different tank brands. If, after you get all the other gear that you need, and you still want to press on, then and only then would I look at buying tanks.
Hope this helps. Feel free to shoot me a message if I can help answer and questions for you. Talk to your LDS and local divers too. They can be a large wealth of information and quiz your dive instructor too.

 

[fdio]

After my certification I posed the same question, "In what order should I start purchasing my gear" to which the response was 1) Regulator 2) BCD 3) Wet Suit

I already have Mask/Fins/Snorkel/Boots

Just saying.

By the way, there's no right/wrong just opinions.

I like thr aeris package BCD,REG,2ND STAGE AND OCTO AND ALSO THE COMPUTER FOR 749.00 GREAT WARRANTY FOR PARTS
FRANK

 

[CDN_Bubbler]

Just came back from my local LDS who was pitching a Beauchat(sp?) and Poseidon package. Don't know enough about either except that Poseidon Regs look a bit odd, but supposed to be good.

He also mentioned aqualong Titan LX Legend.

I'm a bit overwhelmed and not sure if these brands are value or premium ... they didn't have much in the way of equipment in the shop but said they can source everything pretty much.

 

[Crush]

Just came back from my local LDS who was pitching a Beauchat(sp?) and Poseidon package. Don't know enough about either except that Poseidon Regs look a bit odd, but supposed to be good.

He also mentioned aqualong Titan LX Legend.

I'm a bit overwhelmed and not sure if these brands are value or premium ... they didn't have much in the way of equipment in the shop but said they can source everything pretty much.

Check out leisurepro.com and scubatoys.com. When I first bought gear I dropped about $1,200 on a full setup at leisurepro.com. Even paying the $75 brokerage fee (thanks, FedEx), shipping, and GST (no PST in AB) it was a steal compared to my LDS. I am not saying that you should buy online, but check out the prices (duty is usually $0) plus GST&PST and decide what suits your needs and pocketbook.

If I was to buy regs again, I would seriously look at HOG regs. I have an aqualung legend supreme LX. It works very well.

If I was buying a BC again I would buy the same Zeagle Scout or the same BP&W (I own both).

If I was buying a computer again, I would again buy the same liberal (non-conservative) computer.

 

[scubadiver888]

Just came back from my local LDS who was pitching a Beauchat(sp?) and Poseidon package. Don't know enough about either except that Poseidon Regs look a bit odd, but supposed to be good.

He also mentioned aqualong Titan LX Legend.

I'm a bit overwhelmed and not sure if these brands are value or premium ... they didn't have much in the way of equipment in the shop but said they can source everything pretty much.

I have heard about Beuchat. I saw shops in Europe whenever I am over there. I didn't know there was a Beuchat dealer in the GTA. Don't know much else about them.

Last year I would not have recommended Poseidon. They are great regulators. You can breath them left or right, they have great air delivery. I know a few people who have been diving for 20+ years and still use their Poseidon regulators. Recently, Poseidon has created a renewed presence in Canada and the USA. My shop is now selling and servicing Poseidon regs. If money is no object, I'd buy Poseidon regs.

That said, they are not cheap. If you do want to save some money there are regs for half the price and almost as good. If Poseidon is 9.9 out of 10 for $1000, you can find regs which are 8.9 out of 10 for $500.

Even $500 is a lot of money. If The Dive Academy cannot justify which reg is right for you, shop around a little.

 

[Crush]

Or you can buy this cold water reg set for $244.90: HOG D1 Regulator discounts on sale HOG I have not heard any bad feedback about HOG regulators on SB so far.

 

[scubadiver888]

CDN_Bubbler, ScubaToys is a good place to order things from. However, for Ontario the costs are a little higher than the ScubaToys website will show.

Load up your cart, change the country and province, input your postal code. Whatever the price after shipping is, add 20% for duties and taxes. That is what I have found I end up paying when I order things from ScubaToys.

After you know how much something from ScubaToys cost, check locally. There are restrictions on what stores can advertise. You need to ask if they can price match. Or in some cases, if you are buying multiple items they can sell you one thing at full retail and the other thing below cost. So the package price works out to be a good deal.

 

[Crush]

Load up your cart, change the country and province, input your postal code. Whatever the price after shipping is, add 20% for duties and taxes. That is what I have found I end up paying when I order things from ScubaToys.

I have never paid a penny of duty on dive gear shipped to me from the US (it was all made in the US and had a 0% duty rate). Of course you have to add GST/PST/HST, but that is true of any purchase made in Canada. Shipping and brokerage fees might be as high as $75, but that is 7.5% on an order of $1000 which might cost significantly more if purchased locally.

My LDS used to not want to match internet shops. I kept showing up with new gear, none of it purchased at the LDS. They have since asked me to approach them with my internet prices to see if they can match them. I am happy to do so.

 

[scubadiver888]

I have never paid a penny of duty on dive gear shipped to me from the US (it was all made in the US and had a 0% duty rate). Of course you have to add GST/PST/HST, but that is true of any purchase made in Canada. Shipping and brokerage fees might be as high as $75, but that is 7.5% on an order of $1000 which might cost significantly more if purchased locally.

My LDS used to not want to match internet shops. I kept showing up with new gear, none of it purchased at the LDS. They have since asked me to approach them with my internet prices to see if they can match them. I am happy to do so.

I have always had to pay approximately 20% of whatever price I get quoted from the US. I know that 13% of that is HST. I have never received a good answer for where the extra 7% is coming from.

With the Canadian dollar on par with the US dollar I have found (US price + shipping + 20%) is the same price my shop charges me (after tax) for the same item.

Many shops in my area charge notably more than shopping online but I found one shop which is more or less the same as shopping online. If it costs a few extra bucks I think it is worth it. There used to be a dive shop within walking distance of my house. They went out of business. Now the closest shop is an 80 km drive from my house.