Hello,
I just learned to dive last month and now have about 25 dives under my belt. I have rented all sorts of equipment, and my wife told me I have to buy equipment because I am wasting money (who can argue with that!).
I live in KY and will probably be only diving moderate fresh water temperatures, but I do want the ability to be able to go deep here, and that means 46 F with a lot of neoprene and weights. I assume saltwater diving will be once every couple of years and I can always rent if my configuration won't be best (I have never been in the ocean diving, so I must admit a jacket BC doesn't sound all that bad here).
Here in KY we only use alum 80s and I plan to just keep renting them and not buy, so I need everything to work with these tanks.
Here is what I am looking for and my questions
BCD:
I want a back plate and wing. From my calculations, the wing should be about 40lbs lift. I like the Zeagle Express Tech.
I am 6' and 295 lbs, so I need a big BCD as well.
I want the bp/w to allow for tanks to be side mounted or to expand to doubles on the back. This should be a relatively cheap upgrade (< 100.00).
I want the harness to adjust from small person to my size in minutes.
Weight of the configuration is not a big deal, so I assume aluminum or steel backplates are fine? I won't make any flying trips for years, as my kids are young.
Would like integrated weight pouches and the ability to upgrade to all the extras (i.e. manufacturer has all these bells and whistles just in case).
Regs:
This might upset some people, it sure did at the dive shop, but I don't like air1/air2 where my backup air is also my power inflator.
I want a 7 foot hose 1st stage. Is it east to add the hose to a regulator? So i could find a cheap deal and then upgrade the hose later?
I want a reg to handle the temps of 40-100 F.
I want an octopus. I am not sure what it is called, but the second stage is held around a divers neck by some type of necklace. Will any octopus suffice, assuming I assume I can change the hoses as well?
I want a console that can be upgraded/expanded as I get money. So my SPG, depth, compass and computer are all on one console that hooks to a D ring.
I want to spend around $800.00 and have found many pieces of equipment out there, but I am not sure of quality, will it all work together, etc..
Can anyone make recommendations that meet my wants? I can budge on all most anything except I want a bp/w.
Thanks for your time,
Jerrod
I just learned to dive last month and now have about 25 dives under my belt. I have rented all sorts of equipment, and my wife told me I have to buy equipment because I am wasting money (who can argue with that!).
I live in KY and will probably be only diving moderate fresh water temperatures, but I do want the ability to be able to go deep here, and that means 46 F with a lot of neoprene and weights. I assume saltwater diving will be once every couple of years and I can always rent if my configuration won't be best (I have never been in the ocean diving, so I must admit a jacket BC doesn't sound all that bad here).
Here in KY we only use alum 80s and I plan to just keep renting them and not buy, so I need everything to work with these tanks.
Here is what I am looking for and my questions
BCD:
I want a back plate and wing. From my calculations, the wing should be about 40lbs lift. I like the Zeagle Express Tech.
I am 6' and 295 lbs, so I need a big BCD as well.
I want the bp/w to allow for tanks to be side mounted or to expand to doubles on the back. This should be a relatively cheap upgrade (< 100.00).
I want the harness to adjust from small person to my size in minutes.
Weight of the configuration is not a big deal, so I assume aluminum or steel backplates are fine? I won't make any flying trips for years, as my kids are young.
Would like integrated weight pouches and the ability to upgrade to all the extras (i.e. manufacturer has all these bells and whistles just in case).
Regs:
This might upset some people, it sure did at the dive shop, but I don't like air1/air2 where my backup air is also my power inflator.
I want a 7 foot hose 1st stage. Is it east to add the hose to a regulator? So i could find a cheap deal and then upgrade the hose later?
I want a reg to handle the temps of 40-100 F.
I want an octopus. I am not sure what it is called, but the second stage is held around a divers neck by some type of necklace. Will any octopus suffice, assuming I assume I can change the hoses as well?
I want a console that can be upgraded/expanded as I get money. So my SPG, depth, compass and computer are all on one console that hooks to a D ring.
I want to spend around $800.00 and have found many pieces of equipment out there, but I am not sure of quality, will it all work together, etc..
Can anyone make recommendations that meet my wants? I can budge on all most anything except I want a bp/w.
Thanks for your time,
Jerrod