onepointfivethumbs
Registered
Like the title says, I'm a broke college student with an inconsistent income and expense schedule.
I did PADI OWD two years ago and bought all my skin diving stuff from my LDS. I was close to pulling the trigger on a Suunto Zoop Novo that the owner was really hot to sell me but I decided to hold off and evaluate other options.
I talked with my LDS about doing either EANx or AOW this past summer, but my budget caught up with me and I ended up not being able to commit.
From a 30,000 foot view, I think I ultimately want to get into tec diving, especially deep wrecks. I also know I have time to get there, and with time comes greater income flexibility. I probably won't be diving the Doria anytime soon but I want to start taking the steps to get there.
What should my priorities be in terms of training? AOW and EANx obviously, Night, Deep, Nav, PPB, Wreck, Drysuit, Rescue...I understand the need for a very strong foundation in fundamental skills before I start doing tec courses, but what is the cost-benefit per annum of doing 100 30ft platform dives in a quarry versus 4-5 NDL wreck dives in Lake Huron? Should I be going on those $50 pond dives or should I be saving up for a drysuit?
What should my priorities be in terms of gear? I can't go out and buy a Shearwater yet but at the same time I don't want to buy a whole bunch of redundant gear that will end up in the closet. Should I even bother with a computer at all or just dive tables? Should I get singles regs or just rent them until I get onto doubles-whenever that may be?
And how do these interact with each other-is it better to do a bunch of dives <60FFW but with a new computer, or go down to 140 and get a deep card but on tables? How much use is an AOW card if you don't dive on it the rest of the year, and so on?
I did PADI OWD two years ago and bought all my skin diving stuff from my LDS. I was close to pulling the trigger on a Suunto Zoop Novo that the owner was really hot to sell me but I decided to hold off and evaluate other options.
I talked with my LDS about doing either EANx or AOW this past summer, but my budget caught up with me and I ended up not being able to commit.
From a 30,000 foot view, I think I ultimately want to get into tec diving, especially deep wrecks. I also know I have time to get there, and with time comes greater income flexibility. I probably won't be diving the Doria anytime soon but I want to start taking the steps to get there.
What should my priorities be in terms of training? AOW and EANx obviously, Night, Deep, Nav, PPB, Wreck, Drysuit, Rescue...I understand the need for a very strong foundation in fundamental skills before I start doing tec courses, but what is the cost-benefit per annum of doing 100 30ft platform dives in a quarry versus 4-5 NDL wreck dives in Lake Huron? Should I be going on those $50 pond dives or should I be saving up for a drysuit?
What should my priorities be in terms of gear? I can't go out and buy a Shearwater yet but at the same time I don't want to buy a whole bunch of redundant gear that will end up in the closet. Should I even bother with a computer at all or just dive tables? Should I get singles regs or just rent them until I get onto doubles-whenever that may be?
And how do these interact with each other-is it better to do a bunch of dives <60FFW but with a new computer, or go down to 140 and get a deep card but on tables? How much use is an AOW card if you don't dive on it the rest of the year, and so on?