Tec Diving Equipment Advice Needed

[impulse]

Borrow, dive, borrow, dive, borrow dive. Don't be in a rush (unless renting it costing you an arm and a leg or you're more of a pain than anything by always having to borrow things) and dive dive dive. It'll save you money in the long run.

Okay man. Borrow-Dive cycle sounds good

[impulse]

Tech diving is expensive enough....even when you buy everything correctly the first time around (like that could ever happen to anyone).

I would wait and talk to your prospective instructor (if you don't have one yet), before making any purchases. Hopefully they will be a great asset, and guide you down a good path. Learn from their "purchase mistakes".

Or, if you want to go ahead and get your mistake purchases out of the way early, I'll sell you all of the garbage I've bought over the years.

I have an instructor. I alway ask him stuff about equipment choice. But I still seek advice. Maybe there would be something useful for me among the garbage crowd your have. I would like to have a look

[TSandM]

Don't buy a wing with bungies. If you buy a wing that's the right size, you don't need them. And if you buy a wing that's the wrong size, you have several problems related to them. They make the contour of the wing "bumpy", so it doesn't present a smooth surface to the water -- thus increased resistance, something a tech diver, festooned with tanks, really doesn't need.

Worse, if you get a hole in the wing, you will be unlike the diver with a simple wing. You won't be able to park gas in the undamaged portion of the bladder, because the bungies will squeeze it out. And with an undamaged wing, when you go to vent it, the bungies will create little "diverticulae" that trap gas.

Bungies are a strategy for dealing with too much wing -- buying the right size of wing is a far better solution.

Edited to add: Please take a second look at your choice of class and instructor. If your instructor is too busy to bother with helping you select appropriate equipment, he's too busy to focus on you and teach you well. Good equipment choices are a critical part of correct preparation for technical diving. He should not be "too busy" to help you with this.

[Slamfire]

www.northeastscubasupply.com has decent prices, quality equipment and great service. John is very helpful and if you have any problem he'll make it right in no time.

For example, I ordered a Blue Steel convertible DIN/yoke valve for an Al80 I was converting into a stage bottle. The one I got had a defective thread that would not allow regulators to seat in properly to create a seal. I called John about it and he literally told me that life is too short to be worrying about it and that he was going to send me a higher quality, higher priced Thermo valve at no extra cost to me.

[Slamfire]

For backplates, try Hammerhead Scuba - Hammerhead II Backplate . They are the manufacturers. They make really nice backplates at very good prices.

[japan-diver]

I second TS & M suggestion - find a new instructor. If your instructor does not have the time to sit down and talk about equipment with you its time to find someone who will. I would find an instructor who has the time to discuss equipment in detail. A tech instructor should have well thought out reasons for requiring each piece of gear and a list of acceptable choices. They should have a wealth of experience with different gear so that can give solid advice and they should be diving at the level they are teaching and higher.

[craracer]

Maybe there would be something useful for me among the garbage crowd your have. I would like to have a look

Although you will get a good deal buying my equipment, realize that there is a reason I am selling it. Prior to tech, these items served my purposes. However, as I made the transition, it/they have proven to no longer be beneficial.

Now, that's not to say that someone wouldn't find a benefit for the type of diving they are doing. Given your chosen path, I doubt it would be you.

What I was attempting to convey is that you should be learning from others experiences. In this case, what works, and what doesn't.

One word of caution, and is definitely not always the case; Instructors are often, if not always, "attached" to a dive shop. It would be in their interest to promote the products of that shop. Keeping that in mind, when a product is suggested by the instructor, make sure that you spend time thinking about the item before making a purchase. Does it make sense? Is it beneficial to you? Is there a product out there that might better suit your needs? Think "Big Picture" and "Down the Road".

[TSandM]

It's true that something someone is selling is something they don't want. But in tech diving, there are a lot of people who either quit it, or move on to rebreathers, so there is always tech diving equipment for sale that is actually quite good and often in very good condition. I've bought quite a number of things off the Deco Stop

[Michael Kazma]

Your instructor is your best source for equipment information when starting technical diving. He will be the one who tells you what new equipment you will need for the course and some he advises you to get. When it comes to which to buy you should be asking advise on suggestions to which product technical divers use and why they would suggest that item. Technical dive gear is very much a personal preference (as all technical diver should be only buying the best so the only factor left is personal preference).

Find out what you need for the course, then ask for suggestions on that piece of equipment.

[craracer]

Good point TSand M. I forgot about the rebreather people.