Why junky, why not top of the line?

[captain]

The cheapest, crappiest gear on the market today is still considerably better than the gear I learned on in the early 80s.

Probably not.

 

[theduckguru]

Since less expensive equipment is so inherently unsafe, one has to wonder why the rental equipment used in dive training isn't premium products. I guess LDSs and instructors view new inexperienced student divers as expendable.

Its pathetic when an inland resident tells me how he is OW with $3000 in gear, recommended by his LDS, in his closet and tells me he has never done a salt water trip because he can't afford to go.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Getting experience is 1000x more important than having the latest and greatest gear that supposedly does this or that. On dives, it is always interesting to see the gear with the best Zeagel bc, latest and greatest flip flop flipper, super reg, wireless air integrated computer and nowdays HUD mask. You'll easily recognize the diver in the water because of all the silt created, arms flopping, etc, then in the middle of a dive, you just don't see that person anymore, that is until one gets on the boat and see the guy hanging out as if he has been out of the water for 30 minutes.

Once you have enough experience, you can go down with a rock tied to your waist and a garden hose for air.

 

[divermike1011]

Stupid TOS. It's like watching a beautiful buck walk in front of you three days before hunting season opens.

Michael

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Probably not.

I agree. I still regret selling my first kit purchased in 1978. Steel tanks (twins and a 72), SP balanced reg, AT-pack and wings, lead, gauges, compass, dive knife, spear gun, etc.. I did not have much of a choice (married and working through college, money was tight), but I could still be diving this stuff safely 33 years later and thew new stuff only incrementally better, not more reliable. True, the wetsuit would no longer fit my wider body and the halogen light is not a joke, but the basic tools are still viable.

 

[iztok]

Yes I skimp on the gear a lot. I buy cheap HOG regulator, double enders and SS clips instead of those fancy retractors. Mask that fits me well regardless of how cheap it is. etc.

 

[DennisS]

delete

 

[Rhone Man]

Probably not.

I agree. I still regret selling my first kit purchased in 1978. Steel tanks (twins and a 72), SP balanced reg, AT-pack and wings, lead, gauges, compass, dive knife, spear gun, etc.. I did not have much of a choice (married and working through college, money was tight), but I could still be diving this stuff safely 33 years later and thew new stuff only incrementally better, not more reliable. True, the wetsuit would no longer fit my wider body and the halogen light is not a joke, but the basic tools are still viable.

Everyone has their own memories, but I recall a backpack which chaffed mercilessly (no BCD of course), a wetsuit as flexible as cardboard (and about as warm), those old black rubber oval masks that left a dark ring around your face because the rubber was breaking down from the UV (non-tempered glass of course - God help you if something caused the mask to break against your face). I remember highly inefficient full foot fins that rubbed you raw and were helpless against any kind of current. And lastly I remember the tank with the J-valve and reg set without the SPG, which fortunately I didn't usually get as I was the youngest and least experienced member of our group.

Things might have been better for you guys, but I don't miss those days at all. My hyper-stretch O'Neal wetsuit cost less than half my old carboard suit. I now carry two low profile safety glass silicone masks in place of the old zombie mask. True enough, tanks and regulators are not much improved at the budget end, but I can buy a low end dive computer for the same cost as a depth gauge of old, but with considerably more accuracy and a timer built in.

 

[elmer fudd]

I've got some cheap gear and some high end gear and the only thing I will say categorically is that gear that does not fit sucks. A drysuit that's too tight and restricts your movement, a wetsuit that's too loose or fins that either flop around or pinch your feet will leave you hating life.

All that really counts is that the gear work properly every time. An experienced diver usually has some idea of what works and can piece together a good set of gear, sometimes buying used and closeout merchandise. An inexperienced diver on the other hand is likely to end up buying gear 2 or 3 times if they do the same. They don't know what works yet and they soon find out they hate some of the gear they bought. Then they go out and do it again.

For certain things too, I think the cheaper option is the best. Snorkels for instance. A simple snorkel like an old ScubaPro Jet breathes better than any "dry" snorkel out there. A DIR style harness is as cheap as you can get. It's also rugged, comfortable and more streamlined and less buoyant than just about anything else. Sometimes the latest, greatest, most expensive things out there turn out to be gimmicks too. Purge valves used to be common features in masks for example. People actually paid more for masks that had them. I've got a mask with one myself, I hardly ever use it though 'cause it leaks.

 

[CPH]

Its pathetic when an inland resident tells me how he is OW with $3000 in gear, recommended by his LDS, in his closet and tells me he has never done a salt water trip because he can't afford to go.

Look at it this way. He buys all his expensive equipment and in two years he sells it all on Ebay and we get the "cheaper" gear. I think it's great.