Need A Little Advice

[Caseyd1971]

I am just getting started almost through with owd. I got a Sherwood Magnum II reg and octo setup a seaquest excel BC. And a aladin prime uwatec. Is this gear good enough for a begginer. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Neilwood]

Is the gear working properly and are you comfortable with it and in it? Then it is good gear. All scuba gear tends to be fairly similar in function IMHO.

Regs - some might breath fractionally easier but will you notice when underwater? Probably not unless you are at depth or working too hard.
BCD - tend to either be jacket or BP&W. Both work and have advantages and disadvantages. The differences are fairly minor between variations of each type (a Scubapro BCD will not be too different to a Seaquest apart from minor tweaks)
Computer - most including yours will do Nitrox and air and give reasonably similar NDL times (which you will probably not get close to for a good while due to air consumption).

What you might use in a years time or even a few years time might change depending what you want to do so worry about that then.

In the meantime, get out there and dive!

 

[BDSC]

Nothing wrong at all with your gear. As long as it all works and you feel comfortable with it then you should be good to go. Quite frankly, the gear I first bought in 91 would be just fine to dive if I still had it today. But I like new things from time to time so every now and then I just can't help myself and I replace something although what I have now I really like so it may be awhile before that happens again.

 

[Caseyd1971]

Thanks so much for the advice.

 

[Bob DBF]

Another nothing wrong with your choices. Keep in mind that the quality of your skills is way more important than your choices in gear.

Although I have newer regs, I still occasionally dive the Snark III reg I learned on in '62 and use my Sherwood Magnum from '80 for my pony bottle because it never failed me in over 25 years of use with minimal service. Take care of any reg and it will last.


Bob

 

[Reku]

I have some sherwood blizzards that work great - pretty sure they are from sometime in the 80's. I got them used. They probably have thousands of dives on them.

If the bcd holds air and is functional use it.

You only need to replace scuba gear when you either A. get bored and want something new OR B. just take it and get it fixed it'll be good as new. It's actually very very hard to completely K.O. a set of scuba gear.

Exhibit A: New sms100 - works fine. On the right - Ed's sms100 looks like hell reincarnated - still works fine.

 

[MichigandiverJon]

Ditto what everyone else has already said. Get out and dive, as you get used to your gear and learn more you may start to form ideas of what you'd like to be different. Until then have fun and dive safe!

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Yup....what everyone else said. If you are comfortable with your gear, know how to use it, and it can still be serviced...use it. Right now, skills are more important and frankly, you don't know enough to know what you want. Get your OW, then rent, borrow, steal, read about, talk to other divers, hang out at the dive shop, ride on as many dive boats as possible, .....find out what fits your needs....then make an informed choice about your purchases. your choices now will likely change within the first 6 months of regular diving..... We have been certified for about 2 years and I'm on my 3rd BCD and wanting my 4th.

Also, Used equipment can be bought for a song in the winter from people that bought it and it's not their thing.

Good luck, welcome to the addiction. All That money won't spend itself and scuba gear is more legal than crack!
Jay

 

[JamesBon92007]

I've been diving with my Sherwood Magnum since about 1984 and it still works great (with proper maintenance, of course). The inside of the first stage still looks brand new.

If you got your regulator used I'd check the inside of the second stage for corrosion. Green is not good

 

[eelnoraa]

good gears, as long as they work, I'd have no problem using them myself