Gear Selection - Be Brutal.

Over the past few months I have picked through a lot of gear reviews, tried some stuff out, asked questions and came to a few conclusions, but now I'm ready to buy the fun stuff.

Here is what I have decided on, please tell me what you guys think, especially if you have experience with the item.

Buoyancy
Dive Rite Transpac Package (rec wing, weight system..)

REG:

Either Poseidon Xstream duration or the Apeks XTX200

I'm diving cold 95% of the time and I plan on delving in tech diving in the future - is this a good start for a novice diver with room for growth in the future?? Thanks.

i would go with a simple backplate and wings rather than the Transpac

for the money, you'll do better with an Apeks ATX50-DST combination; the XTX200 doesn't offer you anything extra for the price

the Poseidons are great regs, but they can be finnicky and sometimes hard to find service/parts

Hmmm. So you're diving single tank, right? But you want to go tech in the future, which means doubles. I agree with Andy, loose the Transpac and go Hogarthian plate/ wing combo. Do not make the same mistake I did, and try to use a doubles wing w/ a single tank adaptor. It will never be very stable. The harness and Plate can go on any wing, however. I can personally recommend Golem Gear- they make incredible wings, both single and double, but I have some friends who love their Deep Sea Supply and oxychec wings.

while equipment is being judged just thought i would get everyones opinion i am very new to diving below is my equipment

oceanic
excursion
gt3(CDX5)W/DVT
SWIVEL 180 OCTO


first dive out of class will in belize we are scheduled to do blue hole
a night dive
hol chans marine reserve
turneffe north


then we will be doing some diving in destin, fl

Rec wing is fine as a single tank wing.

I'd check you actually like one piece harnesses before committing. You maybe more comfortable with one that has a shoulder loop or even a full break to make it easier to don/doff. If constantly going from wetsuit/no suit to a thick drysuit in the same week its also a pain to adjust a harness constantly so may want to consider changing.

The transpac isnt too bad, it can work with a backplate.

As far as regs go, id opt for Apeks for no real reason other than i like them

samnewsom:

while equipment is being judged just thought i would get everyones opinion i am very new to diving below is my equipment

oceanic
excursion
gt3(CDX5)W/DVT
SWIVEL 180 OCTO

Click to expand...

The Excursion is a great BC and the GT3 is a good choice of regulators. A lot of folks like the swivel octos, I'd pass on that and (I know its heresy either way) go with an AIR XS 2 OCTO or a bungeed ALPHA 8 OCTO.

im another one that would go with a backplate over the transpac

cheers

redblanket:

Over the past few months I have picked through a lot of gear reviews, tried some stuff out, asked questions and came to a few conclusions, but now I'm ready to buy the fun stuff.

Here is what I have decided on, please tell me what you guys think, especially if you have experience with the item.

Buoyancy
Dive Rite Transpac Package (rec wing, weight system..)

REG:

Either Poseidon Xstream duration or the Apeks XTX200

I'm diving cold 95% of the time and I plan on delving in tech diving in the future - is this a good start for a novice diver with room for growth in the future?? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Another vote for a simple stainless steel backplate, pick your brand, they are generally so similar that you will not notice the subtle differences. Also, the one piece "Hogarthian" harness is far less cluttered and more comfortable in the water than almost all of the padded harness systems out there. With a one piece webbing harness you are free to put the D rings exactly where you want them, and they are generally easier to use because they are not blocked by extra buckles or padding. Pick a wing and away you go. Remember the entire system should be useful IN THE WATER, not in the dive shop.

For regulators just comparing the two brands I would choose the Apeks over the Poseidon. The Poseidons are well made and I would feel comfortable diving them, but they tend to be more difficult to get repaired. Technicians may require special training to work on them while the Apeks designs are more common, and even if a technician is not trained on the Apeks regs, they will almost certainly have experience working on that style of reg. As others have said I would get either a DS4 or DST first stage in the Apeks line since they perform just as well but cost less. Remember, with Apeks first stages they use the same parts kit and are all designed using the same set of internal parts. The differences are on the outside with small internal changes made to get the air to the different port configurations. If you feel that the hose routing of one particular Apeks first stage is better than the hose routing on another this may be a reason to get the more expensive one, but that choice is yours and yours alone. Many Apeks second stages also are the same on the inside with the differences only in the outer shell, and parts directly effected by the size or shape of that housing.

If you are willing to consider other brands of regulators you should be thinking of high performing regulators from brands like, ScubaPro, Apeks, Aqualung, Atomic, Zeagle, and many others. Many technical divers make extremely conservative equipment choices. I for one would rather use a regulator that is tried and true, rather than a brand new whiz-bang design that might be better, but also has no long term track record for reliability. In a cave, or in a wreck, or deep in open water with a decompression obligation is the wrong place to experiment on flashy gear.

Mark Vlahos

I love it when people authorize me to be brutal....

Forget the Transpac. All those buckles, pads, and clips are not necessary. You accomplish the same major goals (comfort, reliablity, functionality) with a plain-jane backplate & wing with a one-piece webbing harness. Underwater it is neutrally buoyant, so the pads don't matter. Once you get it adjusted, you don't need clips and straps going everywhere, because it's going to fit perfect every time you put it on (well, unless you had that second donut for breakfast...). And it's more reliable because there's less to break.

I highly praise the Deepseasupply.com equipment. It's what I dive, and I couldn't be happier. Plus, if you're going into tech diving, that Transpac is NOT something you're going to stay with. A regular BP/W is something that will work for everything (Even a lot of rebreathers!)


As for the regs, the Poseidons look nice, but they're expensive to service and aren't that common in the far-out regions of the earth. Which means when it craps out on day #2 of your vacation, you can't get parts for it for the next 2 weeks. I dive Zeagle, and love it. It's the Flathead IV setup. Another awesome choice is the XTX series from Apeks. Most would say the 200 isn't necessary, but hey, it's you're money and the 200 is an awesome reg. I'd go for that one if you're limiting it to Poseidon or XTX 200.

Ciao

I'd go Transplate over Transpac, and Apeks. OMS plate system is excellent, as well.