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Please note: The last reply in this thread was more than 3 month(s) ago.
Hey Oxy, have'nt seen you here on the board for a while. I was going to ask how the ear thing was going, but I just read your post and see that diving is out and surfing will be your new hobby..surfing is fun and a good workout,too.How's that BIG sharktooth of yours doing? Take care.
Ear thing, huh? take a look at the Proear 2000. It's a little silly looking, but I've spoken to people who claim it put them back in the water after ear problems. I've never actually see one, but theoretically a good idea.
Nothing wrong with surfing at all. If you're ever around Maui, you HAVE to check out Lahaina, some great surfing! The fact that you're around California, if I remember reading that previously who knows..., you have some great surfing opportunities there also.
I'll have to agree with Beachlover, surfing is a great work out, especially for you upper body! Whatever you do, enjoy it!!
For $125 about 8 months ago. It's one of the brands that someone listed as "not worth it" and it's "grey market" so it has no warranty and blah blah blah. It's got 15 dives on it right now, and so far I haven't had a single problem with it. If you assume a BC rental cost of $5/dive, it's 2/3 of the way to paying for itself. If you assume $10/dive, I've already saved myself money. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the BC I intend to use for the rest of my diving career, but for the cost of rentals for a small number of dives I have a BC that I know fits me well, that I can pre-clip all my add ons to (whistle, finger spool, safety sausage, etc), and that I am responsible for rinsing and maintaining, so I know it's been done right every time. Also, now, I'm in no rush to upgrade as I'm not seeing money slip through my fingers in rental fees with every dive.
I really can't see a downside to this approach. The only issue I've had at this point is the plastic D-rings that I can't use to clip a stage bottle to (this is a required skill for one of the dives for PADI's Deep Diver specialty) but if I really wanted to I could replace those for around $5 with stainless steel rings.
There's absolutely no reason to rush out and buy super expensive gear. You can buy inexpensive, reliable brands to start with, and upgrage as your budget allows.
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If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything.
Being a re-newed diver, I can see there is so much offered equipment out there from so MANY places. It is very confusing. I am in the period of purchasing equipment and it tough. I'm on a budget and so far have the smaller items. I do not dive allot but still want reliable and safe equipment.
So I thank you for all the info within this thread. It has helped but, its still tough to decide.
I stopped at a local dive shop that I used to deal with way back when and I came out with the feeling that I was just dealing with a sales person. I know that's true but, the feeling wasn't right. Oh well. I am sure I will have this figured out by time the Northeast season is over.
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