101 Gear

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aprils0909

aprils0909

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I'm new to the game (DH has 15 years+ of experience diving). I am taking my class in March. The guy at the dive shop was great and I got my basics (mask, snorkel, boots, fins, etc). My question is about buying the rest. He offered some complicated "deal" for $800, that was way over my head. My dear husband (DH) saw all the cool new stuff out there and it looks like we're buying 2 of everything!

Anyway, my question is this: I want good stuff for a good price. Can you guide me in what to get vs what to avoid in the big purchase this week?

Thanks in advance!

A Rookie
 
LOTS to read here on the board, especially in the gear section - check especially under the mask fin and snorkel board. http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39 ... Your husband hopefully will have some good advice for ya' too - if you have questions about specific gear post them here and folks will try to help answer them. Do you know what was included in the $800 "deal"?

Have fun diving
Tim
 
your question is as broad as the answers you will receive.

My gear is mostly ScubaPro it works for me and for what type diving I do.
 
Believe us when we say there are no easy answers when it comes to dive gear. The one no brainer is: do not buy now.

Spend some quality time here and in the gear forums learn the features and go from there. Wetsuits are try before your buy items and BCS are test before you buy. If you can rent the model you want for open water diving that is great. If not at least try it in the pool of the dive shop.

If you make the first trip in a rental BC and regulator that will at least give you a frame of reference before evaluating gear and IMO will not be watsed money. Take your time , the wrong gear is the most expensive gear. Nearly anyhing you buy will be good enough to be safe. The key is getting the right gear to effectively adapt you for scuba diving.

Becoming gear Savvy is in many ways more of a challenging than getting certified. Take your time.

Pete
 
I am also very new, and the one thing I can say is "ask lots of questions". The people here will tell you like it is and are not trying to sale you anything. Please take your time and do your research and ask all the questions here first. A little time here can save you a lot of time and money later. Good lot and fun diving.
 
If you read some of the many old threads on this topic, you will see that most people recommend that you do not purchase the major pieces like reg & BC at least until after you take your class. This equipment is usually included in the cost of the class, or can be rented at a good rate. It is very hard to know what you want when you have not dove yet, not to mention it would be helpful to hear about gear in class before you try to buy it. eBay is full of dive gear for sale by people that bought too soon and either bought the wrong thing, or discovered diving didn't suit them for one reason or another.
 
aprils0909:
He offered some complicated "deal" for $800, that was way over my head.
Click to expand...


can you give us the details? $800 is on the low side for a complete start-up package, but we need to know what he offered to sell you
 
Follow everyone else's advice. I know I took my training dives in rental gear and it helped me decide what I did not want. I didn't like my non-weight integrated jacket BCD(I also hated that piece of velcro that always gets stuck behind you when you are trying to don your BCD), console computer or the weight belt (lost 3 different weights on my training dives from that stupid belt). I tried on some different gear, tried it in the pool and bought what I wanted. I have now been on several dives in my new gear and what a difference it makes. I don't think I would do the package thing. When I was trying on my dive gear I know I tried several different things on to find what I liked. I decided on a woman designed BCD because of my short torso and I couldn't be happier.
 
"My question is about buying the rest. He offered some complicated "deal" for $800, that was way over my head."

Here is a rule of thumb that has kept us out of the poor house. Don't partake of any complicated deals in any enadeavor regardless, not scuba, not property, not business, not stocks and bonds, not anything until you understand where your money is going and what you are getting in return. This works well for me.

Your question can only be answered by you and you will know when you are ready to purchase gear because you will have formed opinions--on the other hand---if you got money to burn--go for it----keep what you like and give the rest away.

Oh, impulse buying---never---ever. N
 
Best way to look at "complicated deals" is break out each piece of equipment - make and model number - and then do pricing research at LDS, on the internet and maybe even ebay too. Then, you can figure out if you're "really getting a deal" or just a load of crap you don't really need (which is more often the case). For me (and how I tell people to do it) take some time, find out more about the equipment (for example, what do you know about the different types of BCs out there? Nothing, exactly), try it out (when possible) and then make a decision later. Also, KISS (keep it simple stupid) is a good rule to follow. Ebay has some great deals, but my rule about ebay is I check to see if the things I want are on ebay, not decide what I want based on what is on ebay. Also, there are some good dive equipment sellers on ebay with new equipment, not only used equipment and stuff from give up or trade up divers...
 
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