First Time Gear Buyer...

[RaixenViper]

I am wondering which to start buying first in order to build my own Scuba gear?

-I already have my personal gear such as mask, snorkel, fins, and booties.

Should I buy BC first? Regulator first? Wetsuit first? What??? HeH!

[mkutyna]

How often do you go diving and what sorts of locations/conditions do you dive in? What kind of budget do you have right now?

[iridiumjd]

I tend to be a travel oriented diver. While I got a wetsuit first and then recently got my BC, regulator and computer, if it were me I would buy the stuff I can travel with better and need to know how to work better. So I would buy regulator computer and BC first. Probably would go with regulator and computer first because those are smaller and easier to travel with.

My .02 worth.

[RaixenViper]

Ahh thanks you both for your responses.
I am in So Cal so I will be diving off of the local beaches such as Malibu, Catalina Island, Laguna Beach and so on.

I came to a decision I will start off with BC then wetsuit then Regulator, then so on. =D

[RaixenViper]

Ahh thanks you both for your responses.
I am in So Cal so I will be diving off of the local beaches such as Malibu, Catalina Island, Laguna Beach and so on.

I came to a decision I will start off with BC then wetsuit then Regulator, then so on. =D

[LIVES4SHARKS]

I don't know about you...but I don't want to wear a wetsuit that had someone else in it! I know what goes on in them and really don't like the idea of renting one. Especially if I don't know how well they clean them! So for me, a wetsuit would be my first major purchase. I do recommend going on lot of the scuba supply sites. Many times they have incredible sales, especially if a manufacturer changes the color or design for the next season! I got a Mares Tri-Flex 5ml for $80 that way!

Good luck!
Carolyn:sharks:

Ps: I purchased all my gear because I was a newbie. The thought of renting just didn't work for me! But I did do some test runs on BC's then demo'd a wing and never looked back!

[XXXL]

Personally i think that is the wrong order. I purchased my regs first, the reason for that is that they have only ever been in my mouth, I know they have been serviced & well maintained. People say they will never wear a wetsuit that somebody else has worn cos they may have pi$$ed in it, yet they are quite happy to put a reg in there mouth, that they hope has been washed out thouroughly & cleaned with disanfectant.
Then I would purchase the wetsuit for the reasons above.
Last would be the BCD & the reason for that is that OK you may not be familiar with it when you dive, but you do get to try lots of them before you buy & commit yourself. You will find out which are comfortable & which ones work for you.

Look on any website & see how many are for sale, usually wiht the comment, "upgrading" or hardly used

[Sas]

I agree with Live4sharks, wetsuit is something I bought first for hygiene reasons! Also it is much more comfortable to have one that is fitted correctly than one you hire in a shop (and I dive in coldish water so wanted a semidry, which isn't rented out at many shops) I bought the rest together, but if had I to buy separate I would have then bought reg, computer, BC, weights and tank in that order.

My reasoning for this is that regs are really important and I found rental ones started breathing harder once I got to 20m. Also again, there are hygiene reasons with sharing regs!

Then computer to go with my regs as I got an air integrated console one. I liked the idea of having a computer I knew well and that I could upload data to my computer, but that is a personal preference to me.

Then BC, I used a few types of different BCs when renting and found them all good enough not to have to worry about them so it is fine to take your time and find out what is really comfortable. Also there are a number of types so you should decide on what kind of diving you are going to do before you get one. Like my BC can't really take doubles and eventually I want to get into wreck diving so will probably need a BP/W set up. I got a backinflate BC for example as I found it much better than a jacket style. It is less expensive if you wait and see where you want to go with your diving than buy two BCs. I know you said you want to start with the BC, but I would really advise against that personally or if you still do, try out lots of types! Others may disagree with that though...

Weights and tanks, last priority. They are easy to hire and don't need a good fit so low priority.

But yea, just my 2c.

[emttim]

Buy a wetsuit first. As others said, hygiene considerations plus on top of that you want a wetsuit that fits you well and isn't a POS that's already lost most of its insulation due to wear and tear.

Second purchase should be a regulator & octopus. As others have mentioned, again, hygiene considerations.

Third should be a dive computer. I wouldn't trust any rental computer.

From there you can fill in the blanks with the other stuff such as BCD, etc. I would buy tanks and weights last myself, although I ended up buying weight early on simply because I bought all my gear at once, but rental weight and your own weight is the exact same so that's one of the few pieces of gear that really doesn't matter whether its rental or not. Tank is more for convenience. I primarily bought mine because the dive shop closest to me refuses to rent out steel 80s and I refuse to use aluminum 80s....which led me to buy a steel tank not from them to voice my displeasure. :P

[RaixenViper]

WoW!

Didn't even expect these kind of responses to my question. Very interesting indeed. I am glad I came here and asked away even though I felt kind of stupid for asking. Glad I did!

Suppose I could start off with a semi-dry wetsuit since I get cold easily due to my low percentage of body fat and the ability to maintain my body heat underwater.

Good point about testing out BCs before buying. Saves me money. Didn't think of that.
Again, good point about Regulators... some are difficult to breath with.

So, after reading this thread and stopping by at my LDS, my list changed:

-Wetsuit
-Regulator/Octopus
-Computer
-BC
-Tank
-Weights

I don't really need the weights since my LDS said that I can get 24lbs of soft weights for free with my BC purchase. =D

Good idea? HeheH!

Speaking of BCs, what is the difference between winged and jacket BCs? I tried both and I noticed that winged BC did not work for me well- it messes up my neutral buoyancy. Why's that? Is it because winged BC are meant to make you neutral buoyancy horizionally?