Kit included. Mmm?

I am about to sign up to a long internship with a dive school , and they include "your own personal set of scuba equipment to keep" in the price (not cheap).

I have a few misgivings about this. The kit is pretty much your basic stuff (Aqualung Wave BCD, Calypso reg, Cressi Frog fins,Suunto Gekko, that kind of thing). Although reviews seem to say that it is all OK, I am not sure that if I was buying off the shelf that OK would be good enough. For example, I rather like the sound of the Sherwood SR1 reg, and DEFINATELY require an easy breathe one at the very least (will be diving warm waters). Don't think I would buy Frog fins either.

Also, their provided kit includes a mask (Hydro - never heard of them and can't find them on internet). How do they possibly know if it will fit my face? I had a few problems finding one before.

Anyone heard of a Seapro wetsuit? Not me, but looks like I could soon be the proud owner of one (hope that fits too).

Now, I am not having a go at the dive school by any means, but is it a good idea to provide all this stuff? I am tempted to negotiate a drop in price and buy kit of my choosing (which no doubt would be vastly more expensive :depressed, but am wavering undecided at the moment. It is a very good school who know a damn site more about diving than I do . . surely they would provide me with perfectly adequate kit. After all, they are teaching me to instructor and beyond (should that be infinity?)

Any thoughts?

Mermaids, perhaps?

I'd prefer to get my own gear.

Although I don't have personal experience with most of those choices, I think I would go with it myself. If you want to buy your own stuff when you re done, fine, but it isn't bad to have their supplied stuff while in the program.

One of the reasons for their offer is that they may want you particular gear while working with students. That's their call, frankly.

By the way, Cressi Frogs are excellent fins. I own a pair myself, and I know some very skilled and experienced divers who love them.

I wouldn't touch one of those zero to hero programs with a 10 foot pole. And I sure as hell wouldn't hire one of their graduates until (maybe) he had been out in the world teaching for 5 + years.


OK, On topic, while none of the equipment listed will kill you, I certainly agree with the OPs thoughts wrt not first choice. As far as standardizing all students in the same gear, that strikes me as a severe disservice to instructor candidates, who should be able to deal with the unexpected.

[hijack]

SteveAD:

I wouldn't touch one of those zero to hero programs with a 10 foot pole. And I sure as hell wouldn't hire one of their graduates until (maybe) he had been out in the world teaching for 5 + years.

Click to expand...

Sure but that's not what being discussed here.[/hijack]
Back to the orignial topic...

I'd prefer to buy my own gear. But as was stated previously, there may be some restrictions imposed by the dive school.

I have asked the school about the possibility of using some or all of my own kit (or upgrading theirs), but am waiting for a reply. Thanks for the input though, and thanks for getting the discussion back on track.

Take their gear, use it, upgrade later. If your going to do this for money, some student or customer always forgets something...

A few extra pieces of gear never hurt a pro.

Use it for teaching in a chlorine pool. More better dive toys not get trashed by icky chemicals. Yay!

Nomad

I'll speculate that supplying gear is a ruse to justify a higher price. Price the stuff they are supplying at leisurepro.com, et al., subtract the figure from the course fee, and decide if the course is still worth it to you.

This would be the first diving school that I've heard of that supplied all your gear.

Sounds like a CRAZY / BAD idea to me!!! I can't see any possible advantage to you !!!!.
Would you let a car dealership choose the car you buy?
Having someone else select dive kit that you are effectively paying for has huge disadvantages (fit and suitability) and will probably lead to you purchasing replacements very quickly. Also don't forget cheap stuff is cheap for a reason.
My advice would be to visit several dive retailers (S.D.S etc) so that you can define what your specific requirements are and pay for the right kit first time.
Good Luck.