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I was recently certified in Hawaii on vacation and completely fell in love with diving. I only have 8 dives, including a wreck dive to 103 ft (sea tiger off of Oahu), a couple shore dives at shark's cove, and a few other random reef dives.
Anyway, I'll be moving to Ohio shortly where the water tends to be pretty cold (potential for some ice diving). I'm already in the process of buying gear and would like opinions. Obviously I'd go for top of the line gear if money weren't an option, but of course it is.
I would ultimately like to progress up the ladder into cave diving within the next few years. I'll be starting my medical residency in a month so I don't know how I'll get the time, but right now I'm obsessed...I'll make it happen somehow. From what I understand I'll eventually need a doubles setup, but for now I'm trying to build a solid singles setup that will last into the future. So here goes:
If you are thinking about cave and diving in cold icy conditions, I would rather invest in a drysuit upfront. I am not familiar with the Oceanic regs and would suggest looking at Scubapro MK17 and G250V setups (bulletproof, ice diving ready) they will not bust the bank and might even be cheaper than the GT3 setup.
Yeah I hear ya on the drysuit. I'm definitely considering it, but I got such a good deal (I think atleast) on the semi dry that I figured I'll use that for now and then convert to a drysuit if/when I must. Even though its already looking close to $2000 for gear/certs and I just started. Dont wanna drop 500-1000 on a drysuit just yet until I know for sure that I'm not gonna get tired of diving for some reason. As far as the Oceanic cdx5, its around 250 vs 400 for the scubapro mk17. I also got the cdx5 cheap. Here is an excerpt of the reg:
The CDX5 first stage is made of chrome plated marine brass and has a balanced diaphragm. With this design water doesn't enter the first stage, which means the CDX5 is excellent for ice diving (it won't freeze up) or diving in waters filled with contaminants or sediment (it won't corrode). Weighing 29 ounces, the CDX5 is one of Oceanic's heaviest first stages. As is the GT3, it comes ready to use with air or nitrox mixtures up to 40 percent. Two high pressure and four low pressure ports assure a place for all your necessities and accessories.
Seems pretty solid to me, especially for the price.
It looks like your pretty good only thing missing is Drysuit. Reg's are very personal each one will like what they like as they each will feel a little different. Personally go to a shop and try out a few different regs if possible or even ask a buddy to maybe let you borrow his for a dive just to try out some different ones. Personally I didn'y like the oceanic much, I have the Scubapro MK17/G250V which is an awesome reg works great in cold waters. I also have a set of Atomic M1's which to are great and work well for cold waters. Which ever you go with make sure reg's are good for cold water (Sealed). Another thing to look into are the HOG reg;'s I have not dove with them but a lot of people have been saying they are as good as all the top Man some people even switching to them and nicest thing is there 1/2 the price.
Not a bad list, but I have two suggestions: One is that if you are going to be diving cold water, and looking forward to diving caves (thus eventually doubles) you might just buy Jet fins instead of the Slipstreams. They're considerably cheaper (even more so if you find them used) and the weight is useful for thick wetsuits and for drysuits, and for doubles.
The other is to consider the HOG regs. I think you can put a full setup together for less than the prices you have listed.
Good luck with your ambitions! I fell in love with cave diving less than six months after I got certified, so I know how you feel. If I can make a suggestion, you might consider finding a GUE Fundamentals class to take some time in the next couple of years. You can do the class in a single tank, and it will give you a picture of the basic skills you will need for cave diving -- then you can use the OW diving you do as an opportunity to build those basic skills. It will give you quite a leg up on cave training, when you get to where you can do it.
The HOG regs do look nice, I'm gonna consider them. Pretty cheap too. Got my bp/wing in the mail today haha...took like 3 hours for me to thread and adjust the webbing to my liking. Ended up getting the tech package from divers supply for around $300 with everything, by far the cheapest new setup I've found. Comes with a sea elite SS BP, 32# hog single tank wing, 2 cam bands, crotch strap, and basic harness.
As for reg, gt3/cdx5 set is pretty good if you want yoke setup. If you are getting din, I think hog could be a better choice, cheaper & save the hassle if converting, perform at least as well if not better.
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