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Since you're in Texas....anywhere near Dallas? ScubaToys - Scuba Regulator Repair - Scuba Annual Service
You may also want to price anything you're considering buying thru them - they often have the best deal, can include something else so it becomes the best deal, or at least will match the best price you find. Everything they sell also has a full manufacturer's warranty so you can also work it the other way - buy something your local shop is also a dealer for from Scubatoys and get it serviced locally. If your local shop has a dealer agreement they can't refuse to service the same gear bought new elsewhere. Most of the smart ones don't anyway.
I've been buying from ScubaToys - and LeisurePro.com for the better part of a decade. It is worthwhile to call Scubatoys also - sometimes there's a mfr's price they're required to post publicly and another price they can offer you in person. I believe being in TX you will have to pay any sales tax.
There's certainly no reason not to support your local shop also if they're competitive. I have occasionally bought from them at a slightly higher price when something needed to fit. I don't local dive so air fill availability etc. are of less significance to me - I probably only visit a dive shop once a year or less.
LeisurePro is another good option except that some of their lines carry their equivalent warranty instead of the manufacturer's since they aren't licensed dealers. It's generally going to be the stuff where their price is phenomenally better than you can find elsewhere. Their warranty coverage is spelled out on their website but it's basically ship it to them for anything. You may/may not want to do that. The problem will be that you'll pay full price for service if needed somewhere else - even if that dealer also sells your gear. On LeisurePro this is mostly an issue with [-]ScubaPro[/-] Aqualung gear and maybe a couple of lesser brands. They are licensed dealers for many of the lines they carry. Every mfr. has a dealer locator on their website to check.
i wouldn't buy before certification for two reasons. One is you may not certify. Not everyone does for various reasons, often something not foreseen when you start - like medical complications at depth etc. Most issues can eventually be resolved with extra training etc. but a small percentage of people do flunk out. Usually even the shop you work thru has some sort of re-stocking fee because technically gear used by you in their pool is still used.
The other is that you don't know what you don't know right now. You can take the best recommendations of your shop but had I done that with mine I would've bought $2500 worth of gear pre-certification. Even the best, most honest shops have to make enough of a profit to keep the doors open - for most new students going thru certification are their best shot at selling them gear - sort of a captive audience.
Also what you're training in is based on what the shop has decided is the best thing for their rental fleet, not optimized for your diving. Since rentals take some abuse, it's probably lower end gear also. Most large mfr's have a rental line and a more optimized line. Very few shops stock the more expensive gear as rentals.
A basic example is that many shops rent Jacket BC's. They're perfectly fine and work well - one size fits all so they work well for your shop also. You've likely seen posts here about both back-inflate BC's and Backplate/Wings (BP/W) Either is possibly a better choice when you start to optimize your gear selections. Some people like and always dive jackets. Anyone I know whose switched has never switched back to their old Jacket. Except one person who liked the way hers floated her at the surface better. If you're doing it right, most BC's at depth have little to no air in them during normal diving.
You may also want to price anything you're considering buying thru them - they often have the best deal, can include something else so it becomes the best deal, or at least will match the best price you find. Everything they sell also has a full manufacturer's warranty so you can also work it the other way - buy something your local shop is also a dealer for from Scubatoys and get it serviced locally. If your local shop has a dealer agreement they can't refuse to service the same gear bought new elsewhere. Most of the smart ones don't anyway.
I've been buying from ScubaToys - and LeisurePro.com for the better part of a decade. It is worthwhile to call Scubatoys also - sometimes there's a mfr's price they're required to post publicly and another price they can offer you in person. I believe being in TX you will have to pay any sales tax.
There's certainly no reason not to support your local shop also if they're competitive. I have occasionally bought from them at a slightly higher price when something needed to fit. I don't local dive so air fill availability etc. are of less significance to me - I probably only visit a dive shop once a year or less.
LeisurePro is another good option except that some of their lines carry their equivalent warranty instead of the manufacturer's since they aren't licensed dealers. It's generally going to be the stuff where their price is phenomenally better than you can find elsewhere. Their warranty coverage is spelled out on their website but it's basically ship it to them for anything. You may/may not want to do that. The problem will be that you'll pay full price for service if needed somewhere else - even if that dealer also sells your gear. On LeisurePro this is mostly an issue with [-]ScubaPro[/-] Aqualung gear and maybe a couple of lesser brands. They are licensed dealers for many of the lines they carry. Every mfr. has a dealer locator on their website to check.
i wouldn't buy before certification for two reasons. One is you may not certify. Not everyone does for various reasons, often something not foreseen when you start - like medical complications at depth etc. Most issues can eventually be resolved with extra training etc. but a small percentage of people do flunk out. Usually even the shop you work thru has some sort of re-stocking fee because technically gear used by you in their pool is still used.
The other is that you don't know what you don't know right now. You can take the best recommendations of your shop but had I done that with mine I would've bought $2500 worth of gear pre-certification. Even the best, most honest shops have to make enough of a profit to keep the doors open - for most new students going thru certification are their best shot at selling them gear - sort of a captive audience.
Also what you're training in is based on what the shop has decided is the best thing for their rental fleet, not optimized for your diving. Since rentals take some abuse, it's probably lower end gear also. Most large mfr's have a rental line and a more optimized line. Very few shops stock the more expensive gear as rentals.
A basic example is that many shops rent Jacket BC's. They're perfectly fine and work well - one size fits all so they work well for your shop also. You've likely seen posts here about both back-inflate BC's and Backplate/Wings (BP/W) Either is possibly a better choice when you start to optimize your gear selections. Some people like and always dive jackets. Anyone I know whose switched has never switched back to their old Jacket. Except one person who liked the way hers floated her at the surface better. If you're doing it right, most BC's at depth have little to no air in them during normal diving.
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