Buyers Remorse

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jbird71

Contributor
Messages
99
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Location
Toronto, Canada
# of dives
50 - 99
I've been a recreational SCUBA diver for a few years now, and I recently decided to pursue my hobby on a much more serious level. After years of being broke, I finally have the time and money to devote to diving.

This spring I went out and bought a pretty sweet BCD and regulator setup. After years or using rental gear, I was in bliss at things that fit and worked just the way I wanted them. Or *almost* the way I wanted them. You see, I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my hobbies, and some of my gear bothered me a little. My console with built-in computer was clunky and took time to read. And my BCD was a bit bulky and had a lot of drag.

And that's when I discovered DIR, and the more I read about it the more sense it made to me. And I regret having spent so much $ on a traditional BCD/reg setup. And I'm wondering what the most economical way would be to move over to a DIR setup? For example, I'm thinking I can take my console into a dive shop and scavenge the gauges and start wearing my computer on my wrist. As for my BCD - I dunno - maybe try and sell it second hand?

Any advice on moving over without totally breaking my budget would be appreciated!
 
its hard to say w/o knowing exactly what you have... but the biggest things is to get a bp/w. it should be easy to get your console stripped and get the compass and computer on your arm. Your regs should be fine you might just have to adjust the hoses a bit or buy some new ones. Also you may want to think about doubles. They are great to dive if you do a lot of local diving b/c renting doubles can be diff in most areas.

There are some setups that can be used for singles and doubles. might be something to look into. Unfortunately the BC is the biggest problem. The good news is there are plenty of places to get check bp's and you don't need a name brand piece of metal. Also you can find wings pretty easily and inexpensively too.
 
Start monitoring the classifieds here and on places like thedecostop.com. Usually you can find some great deals on DIR compliant stuff. I would also thoroughly reading the equipment configuration pieces at GUE.com and unifiedteamdiving.com and speak with an instructor from one of those two agencies before deciding on what you will buy. That will save you time and money in the long run also.
 
I am not an expert on anything scuba, but I have overheard many a dir diver saying that you can salvage your spg and compass. get them out of the console. the compass can be put in a boot (dss sells them) and your spg should be ok, if not they are not expensive. Your depth gauge if you have one in a console can also be either mounted in a boot or put on with bungies.

As far as your bc I am afraid you just need to bite the bullet and sell it for as much as you can and get a back plate and wing. Before you do that, please do your research and get the right one the first time. You will need to give some thought as to wether you are going to use a steel bp or aluminum. You will need to give some thought as to what type of wing you want and what kind of diving your going to be doing? are you diving singles? or doubles? do you want a circle or horseshoe.

I suggest you pick up a copy of DIR the Fundamentals, it covers all the gear and the why's and what's and IMHO will save you making mistakes.

there are a ton of more experienced divers than i who will chirp in, I have upgraded over the last year and have found that if you keep your gear in good shape, selling it is not hard to do and there are buyers for everything here and on The Deco Stop.

good luck,
ww
 
I would try to sell off everything while it still has value... reminding yourself that you are not going to get back what you put into it.


This is the reason why I love Bitz's Homepage and charts

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It shows the benefit of buying with the end in mind.

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With all the realities of life pulling away resources hopefully this will help narrow down and guide your decisions. Not all of us can afford to whip out the card and kit up all at once but... building your rig with wise choices from second hand sources is very wise option
 
You will need to give some thought as to what type of wing you want and what kind of diving your going to be doing? are you diving singles? or doubles? do you want a circle or horseshoe.

I suggest you pick up a copy of DIR the Fundamentals, it covers all the gear and the why's and what's and IMHO will save you making mistakes.

Thanks very much for the advice - I just ordered a copy of DIR the Fundamentals.

For now I plan on doing mostly single tank dives while traveling, although I definitely want to keep the option of diving doubles for the future.
 
Not that I is one but I'm pretty sure that DIR folks dont use computers...............(unless it has a gauge mode on it)

At first glance this is unexpected, but I think I understand the logic here.

Just out of curiosity, is the DIR philosophy dogmatic about these sorts of things? (Or perhaps I should wait to read the chapter on Computer Diving from the DIR Fundamentals book :D)
 
At first glance this is unexpected, but I think I understand the logic here.

Just out of curiosity, is the DIR philosophy dogmatic about these sorts of things? (Or perhaps I should wait to read the chapter on Computer Diving from the DIR Fundamentals book :D)
I think once you understand shaping the decompression curve, the benefits of standard gases, and keeping the whole team on one deco schedule, you'll see computers don't fit the DIR system very well. I do however know that some DIR trained divers decide to use modern computers like the x1 at times because it's easier to read, and provides a sanity check.

At the recreational level, I don't see a huge drawback to a computer. A downloadable one would be especially nice to verify that your depth averaging is where you want it to be.
 
At first glance this is unexpected, but I think I understand the logic here.

Just out of curiosity, is the DIR philosophy dogmatic about these sorts of things? (Or perhaps I should wait to read the chapter on Computer Diving from the DIR Fundamentals book :D)

It's not the "use" of computers.... it's the reliance on them that's the issue
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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