Dive Equipment

[Girl Diver]

Hello Divers!


Im planing on buy my own dive equipment, form wet suit to tank, so, everything

Does anybody have any sugestions??

 

[300bar]

Depends on what you can get serviced localy.
Buying something online thats only available in the far east won't do you any good.

 

[fnfalman]

Talk with your local dive shop (LDS) about your needs and ask them to price it out for you so that you can make some comparison with other shops and maybe on-line shops. Your LDS may match the on-line prices, or come close to it.

Just remember that on-line places are not going to be able to help expedite warranty works or repairs like an LDS can. Or the on-line shops may not even be authorized dealers in which the manufacturers are not obligated to honor the warranty.

 

[muddiver]

Take a close look at a custom wet suit as opposed to an "off the rack" suit that is supposed to fit anyone. Because they don't.

Sherwood makes the Brut and the Blizzard regulators that will last you for years. I have been diving mine for almost twenty years. Make sure your local dive shop services Sherwood, otherwise go with another brand of regulator with an unballanced pistion design.

I purchased a DiveRight harness with the recreation size wings, acouple of pockets and weight pockets and I still love the way it works. Its fully adjustable to your shape and you can swap parts if you get into any specialized diving later.

 

[VA Nick]

Asking a group of people if they have suggestions on dive gear, especially when you're not narrowing it down to a single piece of gear, is probably going to get you about 10,000 different responses with everyone telling you to run out and buy what they have.

Does Sherwood make a good reg? Sure. But I have some other brand regulators that have been operating just fine for 40 years or more.

When it comes to regulators, I've never really had any problems with any brands. I've run into some Tinker Toys from one brand, but then I've seen some pretty decent regs from that same brand.

The wetsuit, I will agree with muddiver that you're probably going to have better luck with a custom suit. You may find an off the rack suit that fits you perfectly, but with a custom suit your guaranteed to get one that fits perfect.

Fins, go with what works for you. My only recommendation is open heeled fins. That way you can vary your footwear depending upon water temp.

Mask, same thing. Do what works for you. Try on every mask in the shop. Find the one that's comfortable. There are very few things worse than an uncomfortable or poorly fitted mask. My one recommendation would be low volume. It will make life easier.

Snorkel, don't tell anyone I said this, but I can't stand snorkels. I hate them. Get the cheapest tube with a mouthpiece on it and store it somewhere on you just in case you need it.

BC, I prefer a BP/W setup, but that's just me. As for the brand, I have my preferences, but for the most part I haven't seen any that were so horrible to cause me to warn you off them.

As for tanks. Are you planning on diving a lot? I see you're from Costa Rica, so I can make assumptions, but I like to avoid that. If you're planning on diving on a very regular basis and want to be able to drop everything and go diving at a moments notice, then get some tanks. Otherwise, just rent them.

I prefer steel, in warm water aluminum wouldn't be bad.

Is that a good start, or did none of that make any sense at all?

 

[geogirl]

As a woman with a small face/head I have never had a great fitting mask, expensive though. I recently did my advanced certification (11 years later) and my instructor noticed how much I was clearing my mask, gave me the "big eyes" Cressi mask made for women. I LOVE IT! I don't have to clear my mask at all, I repeat not at all. I am having an easier time equalizing my ears too and to top it off its silicone and not latex.

 

[geogirl]

PS. Cheap baby shampoo works great, if not better, as a defogger for masks.

 

[mksmith713]

Talk with your local dive shop (LDS) about your needs and ask them to price it out for you so that you can make some comparison with other shops and maybe on-line shops. Your LDS may match the on-line prices, or come close to it. QUOTE]


Then again, they might cuss you out and physically throw you out of the shop....

I'm fortunate to have a dive shop locally that will do their best to meet or beat online prices.

Unfortunately, from what I've been reading on here, the mere mention of shopping online to your LDS can be bad for your physical health.