Vacation divers - when did you decide to buy your own gear?

[tarponchik]

After we realized we'll dive more than 25 dives/year on average.

 

[NelleG]

I was hooked before I even finished my certification. My brother was my instructor and I used all of his family’s gear. I was able to adjust and adapt to whatever gear I was using that day, so I thought it would be nice to have my own and not need to keep changing gear. Once home I found a LDS that I like, and bought gear that they stock and service. I’ve always been a fan of having my own gear...skiing, snowboarding, whatever. Not a fan of renting. Bowling shoes comes to mind, yuk!

 

[RTC'83]

I jumped right in and bought my gear after OW cert. I purchased new from my LDS, maybe spent a few dollars more, but they have been great servicing my stuff. No regrets.

 

[Bubbles McGee]

I had snorkel, mask, fins, wetsuit and computer for my OW checkout dives. I was hooked after my first OW dive, but I knew I would be. I bought my regs and BCD for my second dive trip which turned out to be my AOW cert. I'm pretty happy with my gear overall although if I had to do it again, I may have gone the BP/W route right out of the gate had I discovered this site early on. I'll most likely get into one and drysuit if I decide to dive more up here in Ontario which is highly likely.

 

[purbeast]

Wow thanks for all of these replies. It was fun to read through all of this and everyone's experiences. So I seem to not be alone in just wanting to buy my own gear immediately lol!

I'm in the DC Metro area and we don't really have too many places around here to buy dive stuff. I have found 2 shops that I've been to when shopping for my wetsuit. And it seemed that most stores carry specific brands and if you want to try out certain brands, then you have to find a shop that sells that brand.

At the point I am at now, I really don't even know the difference between much of this equipment. For BCD's I know that some have weight integrated systems, some don't. Some are lighter than others, have more pockets, etc. Other than that stuff, and fit obviously, what else is there to look for in BCD's? As for "travel" BCD's, is the primary difference just the overall bulk/weight of the BCD? I liked the one I used when I did my first 3 OW dives but I don't remember what it was or anything.

As for regulators, if I get into purchasing one of those, I have no clue what to look for lol. And how do you go about testing them out if you are in a place like I am where you can't just go into water and test them out?

 

[MrBigfins]

Wow thanks for all of these replies. It was fun to read through all of this and everyone's experiences. So I seem to not be alone in just wanting to buy my own gear immediately lol!

I'm in the DC Metro area and we don't really have too many places around here to buy dive stuff. I have found 2 shops that I've been to when shopping for my wetsuit. And it seemed that most stores carry specific brands and if you want to try out certain brands, then you have to find a shop that sells that brand.

At the point I am at now, I really don't even know the difference between much of this equipment. For BCD's I know that some have weight integrated systems, some don't. Some are lighter than others, have more pockets, etc. Other than that stuff, and fit obviously, what else is there to look for in BCD's? As for "travel" BCD's, is the primary difference just the overall bulk/weight of the BCD? I liked the one I used when I did my first 3 OW dives but I don't remember what it was or anything.

As for regulators, if I get into purchasing one of those, I have no clue what to look for lol. And how do you go about testing them out if you are in a place like I am where you can't just go into water and test them out?

For BCD, you will inevitably get inundated with instructions to go back plate and wing style. That works for some, not so much for others. I prefer back inflate to jacket style. I preferred the simplicity of the scubapro hydros pro to back plate and wing for single tank diving. Do a little research and you will start to narrow it down to your budget, desired type, travel ease.

For regulators it is a bit more complex. You will have piston and diaphragm regs. Then you will have non sealed, environmentally sealed, Christo sealed. If you only dive warm clean water then environmentally sealed may be of less importance. Depth you will dive can also affect the ease of breathing you experience on different regs. I went with an AL legend supreme as I dive cold and warm water. It is a sealed, balanced reg that has an auto closure device to help keep water out of the first stage. That being said I also have a scubapro piston set, an atomic set, and an older oceanic set. Do research and then spend towards the upper limit of your budget. Keep in mind service costs as they aren't insignificant. My AL requires service more regularly than my atomic.

 

[Pat.D]

As for regulators, if I get into purchasing one of those

My personal opinion is that after a dive computer, having my own regulator set was the priority. As luck would have it I also bought a travel BCD at the same time because I got a decent deal on one. If my budget was limited to BCD or Regulators, I would have bought the regs + inflator hose and waited for the BCD.

If I needed to travel ultra light, I would not hesitate to leave my fins, bcd and wetsuit behind and rent them at the destination, but there is no way I'd leave without my regulators.

 

[BoatingDave]

There is no right answer, and there is no wrong answer, but for each person there is an answer that is better than the others.

That is probably the right answer to the OP.

 

[divinh]

Go check out Alec Peirce's "Scuba Tech Tips" on YouTube. He answers a lot of questions about gear.

 

[BoatingDave]

Go check out Alec Peirce's "Scuba Tech Tips" on YouTube. He answers a lot of questions about gear.

Yeah that is a good suggestion. I like his videos, though I could do without his couple of minutes of preamble before every video. And when will we ever see the cameraman "kevin" that he is always talking to?