Hi! Newbie here hooked on diving. How does this gear wishlist look?

Well I've only got 7 dives under my belt, and have only been OW certified for a couple weeks, but I'm hooked on diving all the way. I've wanted to do this for years and years now, but only recently finally had the extra money to take the plunge while on vacation in the Bay Islands. The experience there was great, but yesterday I did a dive to pick up trash at the bottom of a murky lake. Both experiences were vastly different, but just as enjoyable to me, so I know that diving is something I plan to do for a long time to come.

That said, I've decided that I'd like to go ahead and start purchasing my own gear as opposed to renting. With my very limited funds I'd rather hold off on diving for a month or so and apply the money I would have used renting towards my own setup.

It looks like I'll be doing most of the big dollar purchases at scubatoys.com and I'll probably see if they can set up a package deal for me. I've got a list of items I'm leaning towards, but am open to suggestions and advice. I'd just like to get an idea of what you guys think of the gear I'm looking at so far.

Oh yeah, at the moment and for the next couple years I expect to be focused mainly on recreational diving going no deeper than 100ft or so and in primarily warm water environs with some local winter diving (56 degrees F and up on average). I plan to take the AOW course once I have a good number of dives under my belt, and from there various other certs to improve my skills.

Thoughts or suggestions?

BC: Zeagle Brigade
Reg: Atomic Z1
Octo: Oceanic Alpha 8
Computer: Aeris Atmos 2
SPG: Tusa Impex Pressure Gauge
Compass: Sigma Compass Module & Wrist Boot
Wetsuit: 7mm Neo Sport (for the coming winter months) w/hood, gloves, booties
Mask: to be determined (but interested in the Atomic masks)
Fins: to be determined

dstrain,

I can't give a lot of advice because I'm somewhat in the same boat as you as I'm just starting out as well but try some equipment out before you buy. I almost bought some gear including a BCD and recently after trying a BP/W (rented) I realized I will likely go that route. You will notice a lot of people will tell you to rent and try some gear before purchasing so you don't end up purchasing twice. I'm glad I listened to that bit of advice when I thought about purchasing.

Mike

Thanks for the suggestion Mikey. I will definitely try out some gear first. There's a dive shop within a few blocks of where I live that'll let me get in the pool to test out gear. I made my initial list based on a combination of great reviews and prices, but if they don't suit me I'll gladly move to another brand.

dstrain:

Thoughts or suggestions?

BC: Zeagle Brigade
Reg: Atomic Z1
Octo: Oceanic Alpha 8
Computer: Aeris Atmos 2
SPG: Tusa Impex Pressure Gauge
Compass: Sigma Compass Module & Wrist Boot
Wetsuit: 7mm Neo Sport (for the coming winter months) w/hood, gloves, booties
Mask: to be determined (but interested in the Atomic masks)
Fins: to be determined

Click to expand...

Don't forget:
Safety Sausage
Whistle
Flashlight
Knife
Dive Slate

As far as masks are concerned, I'll recommend the Atomic Frameless Ultraclear mask. It's low profile, low volume, and has a great wide view. I've tried quite a few masks and this one comes out on top for me.

I would also add to take your time in deciding what you want. I have bought many things in the past which I ended not using at all. I believe it happens to many as well.

dstrain:

Well I've only got 7 dives under my belt, and have only been OW certified for a couple weeks, but I'm hooked on diving all the way. I've wanted to do this for years and years now, but only recently finally had the extra money to take the plunge while on vacation in the Bay Islands. The experience there was great, but yesterday I did a dive to pick up trash at the bottom of a murky lake. Both experiences were vastly different, but just as enjoyable to me, so I know that diving is something I plan to do for a long time to come.

That said, I've decided that I'd like to go ahead and start purchasing my own gear as opposed to renting. With my very limited funds I'd rather hold off on diving for a month or so and apply the money I would have used renting towards my own setup.

It looks like I'll be doing most of the big dollar purchases at scubatoys.com and I'll probably see if they can set up a package deal for me. I've got a list of items I'm leaning towards, but am open to suggestions and advice. I'd just like to get an idea of what you guys think of the gear I'm looking at so far.

Oh yeah, at the moment and for the next couple years I expect to be focused mainly on recreational diving going no deeper than 100ft or so and in primarily warm water environs with some local winter diving (56 degrees F and up on average). I plan to take the AOW course once I have a good number of dives under my belt, and from there various other certs to improve my skills.

Thoughts or suggestions?

BC: Zeagle Brigade
Reg: Atomic Z1
Octo: Oceanic Alpha 8
Computer: Aeris Atmos 2
SPG: Tusa Impex Pressure Gauge
Compass: Sigma Compass Module & Wrist Boot
Wetsuit: 7mm Neo Sport (for the coming winter months) w/hood, gloves, booties
Mask: to be determined (but interested in the Atomic masks)
Fins: to be determined

Click to expand...

I only have one from your list and can highly recommend the Brigade.:voskl1:

dstrain:

Thanks for the suggestion Mikey. I will definitely try out some gear first. There's a dive shop within a few blocks of where I live that'll let me get in the pool to test out gear. I made my initial list based on a combination of great reviews and prices, but if they don't suit me I'll gladly move to another brand.

Click to expand...

Hope you plan to buy some of your gear from this shop, unless you will be renting gear from them and paying for the pool time. Their time is valuable, and they give it in hopes of winning you as a customer.

On your list. The Brigade is an excellent choice.
It may be work better to buy the same brand octo as your regulator--sometimes different brand second stages work better with their own first stage.
You didn't specify, but I would recommend a hooded vest or a drysuit-cut hood rather than a thick hood with the awful shroud you have to try to tuck into your collar.
I'm partial to the Suunto computers--Mosquito or Gekko in the budget range, for their great displays and user friendliness, but I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the Aeris.

Don't stress over it much, though. Most of what's on the market is good quality and functional.

theskull

If you ever plan on doing open ocean diving (like Cozumel) a BCD to consider would be the Aeris XT, which would give you the benefits of both worlds (the back mount like the Brigade plus the more vertical surface flotation like a jacket style) that you need at the end of a dive to be comfortable. It got the "Tester's Choice" and "Best Buy" per scubalab ratings. http://crazyscuba.com/pd_atmos.cfm

The Atomic Z1 regulator is fantastic, or go with one of the new Dry Valve Technology type regs that protects the first stage from water entry, like the Aeris AT400 Pro.

Check out the Gyro octo, it swivels 180 degrees for optimal positioning, it's a Tester's Choice from scubalab also. http://crazyscuba.com/pd_atmos_gyro.cfm

The Aeris Atmos 2 is being phased out, you might still get one. We have a few left. It is a fantastic computer that we use in our rental line. It's held up incredibly well with lots of use. The "replacement" version is the new XR2, which is a great computer, it's just the newer, updated version of the Atmos 2. You can get the compass mounted on the XR2 with the SPG as well, or get wrist styles and have lots of things on your wrists.

The Neosport wetsuits are great, we sell lots of them. If you want comfort and ease getting your wetsuit on and off, I'd go with the Henderson Hyperstretch. More $ but much easier to get on and off, especially with a 7mm.

Atomic masks are great. We test dove them and love them.

Lots of fins to choose from. Blade style winners for "Tester's Choice" and "Best Buy" are Velocity Open Heel, Mares Volo Power, TUSA Tri-ex and TUSA Xpert Zoom are all a "Tester's Choice". http://crazyscuba.com/cat_adjustable.cfm

We've been here 21 years, we test dive the gear we sell and we sell all types of gear. We have over 103 vendors, but we don't list them all on the web. If you have any questions or need fitting advice I'll be happy to help.

Good luck!

Britt :fish:
:fish:

BC: Oxycheq backplate with Oxycheq singles wing. Oxycheq STA required also.
Reg: Atomic is fine. So is Zeagle.
Octo: I personally like the Zeagle Envoy 2nd stage. You can get it as an octo I guess but all that does is gives you a different color.
Computer: Aeris Atmos 2 (wrist mounted)
SPG: Anything that is brass and not wrapped in a rubber boot (Salvo, Dive rite, etc.)
Compass: Sigma Compass Module & Wrist Boot
Wetsuit: 7mm Neo Sport (for the coming winter months) w/hood, gloves, booties
Mask: to be determined (but interested in the Atomic masks) <- atomic masks are okay. The important thing is the fit.
Fins: See if they have any jetfins left from when they were a scubapro dealer. Otherwise, any decent paddle style fin will work okay.

This above gear may not sound like the sexiest choices out there. But what you will find is that this kit will be usable no matter what direction you take your diving. Some examples, if you decide to pursue cave/cavern diving or technical diving, you will find that some parts may be swapped out but the configuration will stay largely the same. The same with diving doubles.. if you want to dive doubles, you can reuse most of the above equipment. The exception may be the wetsuit where you might choose to go drysuit. (And the wing will be swapped out from a singles wing to a doubles wing.)

The gear you talked about, namely the BCD, is fine for recreational diving. However, it does take you down a path where if you want to pursue different type of diving, you are looking at completely swapping out the BCD for something different.

BTW, Scubatoys is a great company to deal with. They don't always have the stuff that I want but when they do, they always get first crack at my business. Don't forget to mention that you are a scubaboard memember.

For what its worth, I have the Aeris Atmos ai and I love it. Then again I do not like the wrist dive computers.

TOM