What's next in equipment?

[CompuDude]

I'd suggest BCD (or back-plate / wing) - you can chew on any regulator available, but you need a boyancy compensator that fits you. BCD / bp-w will also have a large influence on your diving, ideally you'll begin grow more aware of good in-water position (horizontal). Regulator won't influence your diving style, bcd/bp-w is also less technical then a regulator.

Not a regulator - when renting it, two people have checked it out (LDS and yourself). If you don't trust the dive shop to give you a functional reg, DON'T DIVE WITH THEM. You'll have the rest of your life to be independant, let someone look over your shoulder for a few more months. When you buy a reg there is no supervision.

Best,
L

I concur.

If you're worried about germs (seek help) on rental regs, just dip the mouthpiece in some Listerine for crying out loud.

As a new diver (and throughout your diving life, for that matter), the single most important thing to work on is your BUOYANCY. Since you already have your wetsuit, the single most applicable piece of gear is your BC. All regs work the same way: Insert reg, breathe. There's nothing new to learn there. But renting a different BC every trip is a great way to guarantee confusion as you learn it's in's and out's, where to reach for the inflator, what type of buttons on it, etc., every time you're handed a different model.

Scuba Diving: It's all about buoyancy.

Only after the BC should you go for regs, and only after regs should you go for a computer. Tables work just fine and don't cost a penny, and frankly at this point in your diving you should be staying shallow, and your air supply will determine how long you can stay down more than the no-deco time limits.

 

[Blackwood]

I'd suggest BCD (or back-plate / wing) - you can chew on any regulator available, but you need a boyancy compensator that fits you.

I respectfully disagree. You don't need a buoyancy compensator at all (at least not unless you get into diving which heavily loads you with multiple tanks, etc.)

Strictly speaking, a tank and a way to safely breathe the air in it (i.e. a regulator) is all you need to SCUBA dive. Tanks are pretty resilient and renting them is fine. I'd buy a reg.

 

[Ursus]

My thoughts...spend money on good regulator. You shouldn't consider it just another piece of dive equipment, but rather LIFE SUPPORT. My view is that your regulator and dive computer are essential life support equipment. Take care of that and then worry about other items.

 

[tgsmith]

If you decide a BC, Dive Rite is closing out their older model wings. You could pick up a Venture, Travel or Rec wing which all work well with single tanks. They're only $159 or so, then get an OMS aluminum backplate from Leisurepro for $59 and a simple harness and you're set.

Or you could get a reg. There's plenty of regs for sale on ebay. Just a couple weeks ago I snagged a Scubapro Mk20 with a G500 2nd stage and 63mm OMS spg for $140. If you want to buy new you could check out TDL (Tech Diving Limited) and buy one of their re-branded regs for something like $200 and it'd suit you fine.

If you're having such a hard time deciding then I'd say there's obviously no real cut and dry advantage to buy one or the other. Just buy something. You're going to buy more in the future.

Backplate: OMS 2 lb. Aluminum BackPlate Only (BP-020)

Wings: Dive Rite Air Cells (Wings) for Singles and Doubles

Regs: TDL Regulators : Tech Diving Limited, a subsidiary of Scuba Training and Technology Inc.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I respectfully disagree. You don't need a buoyancy compensator at all (at least not unless you get into diving which heavily loads you with multiple tanks, etc.)

Strictly speaking, a tank and a way to safely breathe the air in it (i.e. a regulator) is all you need to SCUBA dive. Tanks are pretty resilient and renting them is fine. I'd buy a reg.

I'll second what Blackwood is saying: Regulator.

You know how your personal regulator has been maintained and treated, you have to trust that the rental regulator has been properly maintained. I think the vast majority of dive ops are pretty careful with maintaining and inspecting their "rental fleet", but I've also seen a rental reg almost go out that had the 2nd stage dragged through the sand earlier that day and was freeflowing... in this case the shop owner caught the problem in his final check just before handing it to me... and I would have caught it when I did my own pre-dive inspection.... but still... it is nice to have your own reg.

 

[USFishin]

I'd say a computer/regulator or both if you can afford them both at the same time. Having a computer and being familiar with it and how to use it is a very powerful device to have. It's also good to have your own regulator so you know how it's been taken care of. If you're not in a big hurry I'd be watching Ebay for a good deal to come along. There are going to be a lot of people getting rid of their dive gear in these hard economic times. SCUBA gear is something people can do without considering a lot of people that have gear only use it a couple times a year.

 

[Gen San Chris]

I would say a computer first and if you do not like spit flavoured mouth pieces then buy your own and use it on rented regs!

 

[MichiganScott]

My vote is for a reg setup, you can dive without a computer, but I hate using someone elses mouthpiece...

 

[Jorgy]

Lots of great advice here.........

On the part about is being life support.........we would only use a dive op where we trust both the rental equipment and the boat/guides themselves..........if we were concerned about a rental regulator then we wouldn't leave the harbor in their boat.........

Good advice is to bring your own mouth piece if you have special needs our 13 year old daughter needs a small mouth piece to be really comfortable and so we bring them, zip tie them on the rental regs.........

Personally, I feel the life support argument is designed to sell expensive over-the-top regulators, for most recreational diving any reputable brand, well maintained and properly used regulator is just fine............

Technical, cold water or other specialty diving is a different case.........

We own all our own gear as we dive locally.........but we have slowly shifted to using rental gear for most locations.........it makes traveling is much much easier..........after all we are on vacation............

We always bring our own masks, booties, computers, fins, see-me tubes, whistles, small lights and sometimes bring wetsuits (if it is cooler water)..........

Hope this helps...........M

 

[rstofer]

I would put the computer very near the bottom of the list. I dove for many years with tables, depth gauge and dive timer. There are a lot of cheap wrist watches that will do an adequate job as a bottom timer although I had a Seiko dive watch The only reason I have a computer now is the added complications of Nitrox. The rest of our herd also have computers, for better or worse.

Using the tables forces you to spend more time thinking about decompression and dive planning. And they never fail under water.

IF I were buying a computer, I would skip air integration and, since I wouldn't have a console with anything other than an SPG, it would be wrist mounted, gas switchable and Nitrox capable. The Dive Rite Nitek DUO comes to mind since I have bought two of them.

Assuming I could swim my gear up from the bottom with a blown BC, I would get the regulator first. If I couldn't swim it up (huge change in buoyancy from the wetsuit, highly negative tank at the start of the dive) then perhaps the BP/W would come first.

Tanks would at the bottom of the list. There is no money in owning tanks when you can rent them for a dollar or two more than the cost of a refill.

Richard