New divers and buying equipment

[Damselfish]

Anyways, I have been checking Craigslist every few days for gear, and everything seems very high end or very low end- nothing in between.

There is a shop that offers free OW class and certification with purchase of a scuba gear package. Now, I know that I would end up paying for the class one way or the other, but at least this way I can pick each element to fit me and also have the peace of mind that everything is from the same store, with warranties, and I would be learning on gear that I will dive with. The store also offers free pool time for life, discounts on dive trips they do, and they have a great reputation for 50+ years.

There are many places to buy gear besides Craigslist and your local shop. Such as other shops, obviously. There's many online stores, many of which are local shops that simply do a lot of business online too. There's some independents that pretty much sell their own products that are good but sometimes not sold elsewhere. eBay (of course pretty much like buying on Craigslist just less likely to be local, but sometimes it can work out.) Scubaboard is probably a more reliable place to find used gear than eBay or Craigslist, because if someone is selling overpriced or junk or is known to be an unreliable seller, someone will probably see it and say something. Same with other scuba message boards.

As far as Craig's list (or any source of used gear), sometimes you can find fair to great deals on good stuff. And sometimes you will find junk, or ok gear that is way overpriced - often people have an inflated opinion of what the used gear sitting in their garage for 10 years is worth. It all comes down to learning about gear and doing your homework, and will take more time than buying new . Note that high-priced does not always correlate to high end or good - and vice versa.

Buying everything from one shop does not allow you to pick each element, it limits you to what they sell, which will be a subset of all the many brands available and may not be what you discover you really want. As far as peace of mind that everything is from one store, that's not one I've heard before, and I don't really see why it would offer peace of mind. Learning on gear you will dive with is not necessarily a good thing, learning is the perfect time to try some things and see what you like or don't like about them. It sounds like you are talking about buying before even starting class. Nearly all people will tell you that's not a good idea, and you should only buy the things you really need to and can't rent. (Buying just mask/snorkel, maybe fins and booties, is much more typical.) You don't know if you will like diving, or if you might turn out to have some problem with it. Even if you love it, which you probably will, you really will have no idea what kind of gear you want until you at least learn to dive and try a few things. After diving awhile there's still a chance you'll change your mind on some stuff, but buying before you start gives you even less chance of buying gear you won't want to replace in a year, or a month.

So maybe the shop is great, but I'd be quite leery of tying together class and gear like that. I don't think they are doing you any favors and I doubt it will save you money over paying for a class and buying what you really want where you want - especially if you have buyers remorse and wind up replacing things. Maybe you will buy some things from them, but you don't want to be locked in or limit yourself. I'm not fond of packages, or of buying everything from one shop, or of buying everything one brand.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I rented regs and BC for years after getting certified (I owned mask, fins, wetsuit, and eventually a computer), and it was fine. I didn't dive often, so it seemed to make sense. I rented ski gear for many years for the same reason. It's not like I didn't plan to dive often--it just didn't happen because life had a habit of getting in the way. If you know for sure you will be diving often, it makes sense to buy sooner rather than later. You have to weigh the cost of renting against the cost of having a dive shop service your regs (whether annually, every couple of years, or whatever, it can cost $100 or so each time). There is also the hassle of transporting, cleaning and storing your gear versus not having to deal with any of that. I would advise to take the course and get situated, see whether you actually enjoy it enough and have enough opportunity that you find yourself diving often, then buy gear. Every dive shop on earth rents gear.

For what it's worth, I found that the supposed benefit of being able to try different regs was a bit flawed because rental regs may not be serviced and tuned as often as you would your own regs. A superb reg that needed service didn't feel any better to me than any other reg. I was never able to tell the difference between any regs, except when it was blatantly obvious a reg needed service/tuning. Eventually I just rolled the dice and bought a reg set that happened to be offered at a good price at a local dive shop, and it served me well for years. If I recall, I bought a BC not long after the regs. Again, there was no hurry. After all, I had to rent tanks from a dive shop anyway--it's not like I was shore diving in my backyard and owned my own tanks. I suppose if one has the opportunity to dive often, entirely on their own, then buying ALL one's own equipment, including tanks, as soon as possible, makes sense. Otherwise, why the rush?

 

[Damselfish]

I agree about regs, rentals are mostly workhorse models that may or may not be maintained in the best shape. (Or may have been in great shape before the last person drug it through the sand.) So you won't learn much about a reg by breathing on a rental, and it's not like usage really varies between regs. That's one where you'll learn more by reading some reviews/opinions (once you've learned enough for those things to have meaning.) And it may be one where you want to pay more attention to brands you can get serviced easily. Servicing regs is a whole discussion by itself. (Most other gear doesn't need much for service - some things almost any shop (or you) can take care of, or often the local angle isn't that important.)

BCs are another matter. They're not necessarily going to have a big variety available for rent, but they differ quite a bit and using anything will help you start to understand what you like and don't. It would be best if you can try a few before you buy anything, ideally at least some kind of some kind of jacket and some type of back inflate, but within those categories are a lot of things to consider. Fit is really important, and in a given model none of the sizes may work well for you. I think a BC is the hardest gear for a new diver to get right.

Fins are another thing, it is nice to try before you buy, or at the very least try something of a similar style. Definitely try split fins and paddle fins (and read about the pros and cons) before you buy splits, should you be considering that. Splits are often more expensive than a simple paddle so might be pushed by a shop, but you might discover they're not for you. Simple but good used paddle fins are a great way to save money, and it's not that hard to figure out what's good.

Then there's exposure protection, another big topic. Tanks if you're diving local, lots of things to consider in what you buy or if you buy them at all. Computers. No end of toys. Don't rush when you don't know what you want, and don't believe any shop is more concerned with your best interest than their bottom line. It happens, but that's another thing you probably can't judge yet.

 

[VR78]

Here's the list of gear I bought during my first six months of diving:

BC: xDeep Ghost. Sold at a loss, replaced with Halcyon.
Regs: Beuchat VR200. Sold at a loss, replaced with Scubapro.
Computer: Suunto D9tx. Sold at a loss, replaced with Scubapro 330M.
Suit: Waterproof 5 mm. Collecting dust. No wet dives in the last two years. Mares fins are in the same corner. Great fins but they don't work with a dry suit.
Mask: Atomic Venom. Using it, loving it.
Light: Halcyon Focus. This will be buried with me.
Camera: Sony ActionSomething. Never been in the water. For sale.

So yeah. Give it some time.

 

[OkByMe]

There are two other very good reasons to hold off buying into an expensive gear set. One is that you may not like the sport for any number of reasons. The other is that you may find some medical condition which could prevent you from diving. Buy only the gear that has to be fitted to your body, NOT fins... fins can be a preference issue too, rent everything else. It does not matter if the regulator breaths poorly, or the BC style and type does not fit well enough to be comfortable. You will be, in all likelihood in a pool and at most shallow water dive off the coast, if not in a quarry, inland lake, or spring for the checkout dives. This will be - or should be- rigidly controlled and they should have spare gear available in case of malfunction. That way you have no responsibility for the failure, repair or maintenance, just learn how to dive. Look at it this way... if you are diving with crappy gear, uncomfortable fit, flailing about trying to bring some order to the task while training, you are in for a pleasant surprise, if and when you get your stuff.

 

[Redfoot]

Glad I spoke up on here. My logic was definitely skewed..... I was thinking about this stuff from the wrong angle.

In my head it made sense to learn how to dive on fitted-to-me equipment. I did not think about the stuff mentioned above.

Thank you all for the input.

 

[erjohnsen]

Hi all.
I´m a new guy on Scubaboard, and just finished my AOW and nitrox last weekend.

I´m also considering getting personal gear. Getting a fairly cheap second hand kit with a dry suit in Norway is not very difficult, but as I am very curious about sidemount and like the idea of donating primary, I worry that a regular BCD and regulator/octo will end up collecting dust within a year. Is there any reason why I should not try to get more tech-oriented gear and use rental in the mean time?

Will tech-gear work for a person straight out of AOW is what I am asking I guess?

Thanks!

 

[VR78]

Hi all.
I´m a new guy on Scubaboard, and just finished my AOW and nitrox last weekend.

I´m also considering getting personal gear. Getting a fairly cheap second hand kit with a dry suit in Norway is not very difficult, but as I am very curious about sidemount and like the idea of donating primary, I worry that a regular BCD and regulator/octo will end up collecting dust within a year. Is there any reason why I should not try to get more tech-oriented gear and use rental in the mean time?

Will tech-gear work for a person straight out of AOW is what I am asking I guess?

Thanks!

Yeah, there's no voodoo in tech gear, it's just gear. Not more or less complicated, just a bit different. Sidemount I'll leave for others to comment on as I have no experience with it (see zero point in it in OW and not that advanced yet in caves). But if you want to try the tech backmount configuration and have someone watch over your shoulder as you set it up and figure it out, you should consider talking to the fine folks at fue.no. They will help you out.

 

[MichaelMc]

Johnsen,

Congratulations on AOW and Nitrox.
BP/W is well suited to recreational with 22" bungeed secondary, and 40" or 5' primary. Picking that over a regular BC and octo setup is an easy choice. A reg with a port on the bottom, a '5th port', makes routing your primary much easier, typically this comes with a rotating turret, which is also useful.

Sidemount is more an it depends step. Some learn that way from the start, but instruction on it may be less available. I'm hoping to move toward it myself, in open water, for its redundancy and flexibility on tanks.

 

[erjohnsen]

Yeah, there's no voodoo in tech gear, it's just gear. Not more or less complicated, just a bit different. Sidemount I'll leave for others to comment on as I have no experience with it (see zero point in it in OW and not that advanced yet in caves). But if you want to try the tech backmount configuration and have someone watch over your shoulder as you set it up and figure it out, you should consider talking to the fine folks at fue.no. They will help you out.

Thank you. So no sertification needed for using tech gear, just a proper setup?