My First Scuba Set

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taliesin58

Contributor
Messages
137
Reaction score
1
Location
Yamaguchi, Japan
# of dives
200 - 499
Please tell me what you think about my set. I wanted something that would be pretty good quality and be good for a variety of dives.

Mares V16 Proton Metal Reg.
Sherwood Avid BCD- 2006 model
Aeris Atmos 2 Console
Dacor Brigade Viper Octopus
AERIS Barracuda Ultra Dry Snorkel


Purchasing a custom wetsuit from Hotwave in Thailand. However, I do not know if I should go with a 3mm suit or 5mm suit. I would like a good all purpose suit. I will be diving in south-east asia and also during the summer in temperate water around Japan. Any suggestions?

Still trying to find good:
Fins
Mask



Please give any opinions you have.
 
your going to get much better answers from other people, but if you tried them on and you like it it will be great :) and by try on I mean hopefully in the water.
personally I prefered a back inflate bc from day 1, but thats beyond the point it only matters if you like it.

but I must ask are you planning to do a lot of snorkeling also? I ask because thats an awful fancy snorkel for somethig that you will never use. and no matter how "ultra dry" it is, after you submerge it doesn't make a freakin difference.

Personally when diving off a boat I stopped carrying a snorkel unless the dive op requiered it. I stow a cheap o one from a us divers set in my bag and be done with it.
 
Well, I got a good price on it ($25), and I do a good amount of spear fishing around my island.
I am a bit fuzzy about the laws with spearfishing in my area (in terms of what i can do with a reg. and spear gun) so I do it only with snorkel equipment and without a gun.
 
Mares V16 Proton Metal Reg.---parts and service after a couple of years problematic

Sherwood Avid BCD- 2006 model---prefer back inflate or wing

Aeris Atmos 2 Console--consoles are always a poor choice, guages should go on arms and wrist

Dacor Brigade Viper Octopus--Dacor---no--same possible problem as Mares since Dacor is owned by Mares

AERIS Barracuda Ultra Dry Snorkel--way to complicated--get a simple J snorkel.

When you ask for opinions you get them, those are mine, take some of that stuff back while you can. N
 
heh heh heh... I hate to do this to you... but I have to agree with Nemrod, but I'm way not qualified enough to pass any real judgements, but I only know what I find out from reading, asking and trying.... so it's just my 2 (very small) cents.
 
While I would prefer some better equipment, such as the back inflate or wing, I am on an extremely limited budget. I managed to get the above set for around $700 which is at the very very top end of what i can afford now. My max price was $250 for a single item.
 
If you already got the gear it doesn't seem there's much point in asking about it?

Are you already certified? I ask because usually people have at least a mask and snorkel before getting certified. If you're not certified yet best to wait to buy major equipment.

But there's nothing wrong with any of that stuff if you like it, fits, etc. Lots of personal preference involved here (and it's hard to even know what your preferences are right away when you're new at it.)

Fancy snorkels are good for snorkeling but a pain for diving so you could save a few bucks there. If you wear a big snorkel it will be pulling at your mask and in the way. If you just want to carry it with you something compact/foldable works better. If you wind up not even carrying it then you wasted money on a snorkel. (There are foldable snorkels that still have purge valves and simple splash guards which can be nice to have.)

There isn't really a all-purpose wetsuit.
 
I just got my OW a few weeks ago. I had my JOW but stopped diving 10 years ago when I moved away from the ocean.
I have a mask and fins, but they are crap, and they don't fit correctly.

In ideal circumstances, I would live near a dive shop where I could try the equipment out and decide. However, the dive shops in my area are grossly overpriced (two of them tried to sell me a ScubaPro MK2 plus/ R190 reg. for over $500 and an Aeris XR-1 wrist computer for over $400). None of the equipment fits because I am about 25 cm taller than the average Japanese person. And my Japanese is not good enough to get details for the equipment. And a shop here will not special order equipment just for me to try it on.
The standard rental rate for a set of gear in my area is about $100 a day. I figure if I buy my set (before wetsuit, $700) that will equal to about 7 days of renting equipment here. Plus, if my gear doesn't work out for me, I can at least sell it and recoup some of my loses.

That is good advice about the snorkel. I will keep it because I do some snorkeling around my island, but now I know I should get a cheap collapsable one.

Again, if I had the cash, I would love to get the ScubaPro MK25/S600, a backplate and wing bcd, an air-integrated wrist computer and all that jazz. But, like I said, I am on a budget. I was wondering if I did the best I could on shoe-string budget.

I was also hoping for some good recommendation for my wetsuit thickness.
 
Japan? a 5mm is good enough in most conditions, with some prefering the 7mm. At least that's what my japanese friends tell me.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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