Buying gear before dive class or after

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nemo06489

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I just had my first class and next week will be are first pool dive.
A couple of people in the class aready have gear. Im thinking of buying a reg set up a bcd and computer before my fist dive. Id like to know if most of you had your gear during your ow class.
My thoughts are that it would be better to learn on your on equipment. Our instructor hasnt push it one way or the other.
Good idea ?
 
There are generally two schools of thought.

If you buy before your class, you'll have your gear while you are being taught, and you'll therefore use your own gear, learning on it and getting comfortable with it before being on your own after certification.

My opinion is that you'll want to wait, and I therefore fall into the second school.

Waiting to purchase will allow you to be exposed to many more things that you'll understand before you spend a few thousand $$ buying gear you may not like later, once you know other things are available.

Rent the gear for class, and for the first ten or twenty dive days....Ask questions of others, what they use and why, etc.

And, waiting will allow you to shop around a bit....thus making it more likely you can get a better price, either by informed negotiation with your chosen LDS, or by going elsewhere.
 
Wait. You don't know enough about gear to intelligently buy. If you do, it will likely end up in the closet or on ebay next year.
 
Mask, Fins and Snorkle a must...wet suit possibly...Other stuff, shop around and tanks should be the lowest of the priority list
 
Buy a mask, snorkle (cheapest one you can), and maybe fins. As others have said, test the rest by renting. You will shortly decide on your first big purchase but after you have gained experience. If this sport really grabs you, dive gear will never be complete, you'll always want something more or different or higher performance, so why the rush? Wait, learn, and then buy. If you dive 10 dives a year owning gear probably isn't worth it. If you dive 40 times a year or more owning your gear becomes economical.
 
metaldector once bubbled...
If you dive 10 dives a year owning gear probably isn't worth it. If you dive 40 times a year or more owning your gear becomes economical.
scubasean once bubbled...
Rent the gear for class, and for the first ten or twenty dive days....
I don't know about the rental rates in your neck of the woods, but where I dive it is cheaper to buy the stuff than to rent it even 10 times.

I recommend you purchase a mask (the best fitting one), snorkel and a decent pair of fins ASAP. The key question you should ask yourself then is how certain you are that you are going to continue diving. If you are certain the thing you should buy first is the BC: this is a critical piece of gear that you must be intimately familiair with. The thing I would buy next is the wetsuit: a good fit is important, especially in cold water. Strange as it may sound, the reg is much less critical. They all function pretty much the same and as a novice you won't be diving under circumstances that really require a specific type of regulator. A computer is not a required piece of gear and using tables for a while will actually make you a better diver. I would buy that last.
:snorkel:ScubaRon
 
I have a mask snorkel and fins Also have a couple of wet suits. Ive been snorkeling since i was a little kid and love it. Ive been reading on all the different kind of gear and i know it dosent make my an expert my any means. By reading the replies so far most of you think i should wait, which seem to make sence. My brother and 2 guys i hang out with all dive. They told me to buy my gear first so that id be use to it. My brother has a seaquest pro bc with intergrated wieghts an aqualung regular and octo
and a suunto corbra dive computer. I was going to buy the same gear. I only know three guys that dive and my brother is one of those guys that knows every thing so it nice to get some other advise from new people. I still dont know which why to go. confused:
 
In my situation as a single mom, I can rent and dive or not dive for the next year and buy my own gear.

I am a rent-aholic.

And you know what, I am glad for it to a point.

I have worn one piece suits, farmer johns with step-in and beaver tails. I have had bcd's with integrated weights, non-integrated, integrated alternate air and not etc. I have had different regs and hoods. I have gotten familiar with a lot of the gear that is available out there and what I like and don't like. I of course have my own fins, mask, gloves, boots, weights and accessories (light, knife, slate).

Now I would not recommend being as extreme as I am as it is hard to trust your life to equipment that is not yours. Some dives are not as successful because you are cold due to an ill fitting hood etc. But, I believe a bit of testing during pool session and your OW is good. Luckily during my OW cert course I used the same gear the entire time so learning new gear each time out wasn't an issue and I could focus on my skills. I waited until after I was done and a little more confident to start playing around.

Dive safe, dive often.
 
I would agree with buying your basics. Mask, Fins, Snorkel. With time you will know better which gear is right for your personal needs.
 
my buddy and I got certified together.

He bought all his gear before we started. I bought the required "personal gear" before we started. I rented wetsuit, regs, weight belt and computer for a year before I took the gear plunge. I spent about $90 per dive-day on rental gear (I opted for computer rather than just a gauge).

That gave me time to decide if I was really going to get into diving seriously or not. That affected my decision about how much to spend. I decided that I really liked it, so I spent a little more on gear than I would have initially. I also got a chance to try a few things, and I looked around a lot and talked to people about what they liked and what they didn't like. I love the gear that I ended up buying.

If I had ended up only diving a few times a year, it would have been cheaper to keep renting. Once I decided that I would dive 20+ dives a year, it was a no-brainer for me. (good thing!)

My buddy bought before we started. He has since replaced his BC because he decided he didn't liek certain features on it once he learned more about diving. He has also replaced the original regulator and the octopus that were in the "package" that he bought. Some of that is because he has more money than he knows what to do with, some is because he is a gadget freak, and some is because he didn't have enough experience to know what to buy before we got some dives under our belts.

Just my dos centavos, and only because you asked.


Wristshot
 

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