"clearing" ears? Other noob questions as well

[xSandman3]

As a home brewer/diver, welcome to the board! Both hobbies are a great way to put your money to some good use, but they don't always mix well (don't drink and dive). I actually think they have similarities between them, especially in regards to maintenance. Well maintained brewing equipment is necessary to make good beer, and well maintained scuba gear is necessary to not die.
Just like any hobby, plan to spend way more money than you ever thought possible (for you non-brewers reading this, a few thousand dollars to make ten gallons of great beer is normal), but scuba is well worth every penny!

 

[lord1234]

while i don't know about a few thousand dollars...(unless you go witha brew sculpture), I know people who brew with extract in a plastic bucket and win competitions...

 

[lord1234]

Also: while browsing ebay I was able to find

Lesson - 250(not on ebay)

BC - roughly 130
Regulator - 200(does brand/model matter as long as it works? Does climate in Northeast require a different reg?)
Dry suit - 300 - 7mm
boots - 50
gloves - 50
Mask, fins, snorkel, gear bag - 25
Weight belt - 80
total - 835

What am I missing? Am I really taking that huge a risk buying used equipment?

 

[PugetDiver]

Also: while browsing ebay I was able to find

Lesson - 250(not on ebay)

BC - roughly 130
Regulator - 200(does brand/model matter as long as it works? Does climate in Northeast require a different reg?)
Dry suit - 300 - 7mm
boots - 50
gloves - 50
Mask, fins, snorkel, gear bag - 25
Weight belt - 80
total - 835

What am I missing? Am I really taking that huge a risk buying used equipment?

You can get it done for around $1100.00 from Scubatoys.com (call Lary) or Scuba.com. However, get certified first or as another poster stated, enter into a dsicovery scuba activity. Once you get all your gear it isn't all that expensive. Good Luck!!!

 

[lord1234]

i checked out scuba.com specificaly dry suits since that seems like the most expensive piece of equipment...the cheapest i found was 800 bux on their site...and it didn't seem like it was thick enough for diving in new england waters. Can you clue me in?

 

[divenut2001]

i checked out scuba.com specificaly dry suits since that seems like the most expensive piece of equipment...the cheapest i found was 800 bux on their site...and it didn't seem like it was thick enough for diving in new england waters. Can you clue me in?

You're putting the horse in front of the cart! Go get certified in a wet suit first and work on your buoyancy and other skills in it. Then when you know that you're serious about this sport, and a dry suit would be of use to you, then start shopping for one.

IMHO, all you should be shopping for now is good instruction. During the course I would look at getting a good BC and regulator set to start off with. Take your time and do your homework! Good Luck.

 

[lord1234]

what makes a bc good? I take it the ugly tubular yellow ones are not good considering they run so cheap....what features should I look for in a BC?

 

[PugetDiver]

You're putting the horse in front of the cart! Go get certified in a wet suit first and work on your buoyancy and other skills in it. Then when you know that you're serious about this sport, and a dry suit would be of use to you, then start shopping for one.

IMHO, all you should be shopping for now is good instruction. During the course I would look at getting a good BC and regulator set to start off with. Take your time and do your homework! Good Luck.

I agree this guy needs to get some pool time and OW time to make sure that he likes this sport....

Originally Posted by lord1234
Also: while browsing ebay I was able to find

$300-dry suit

No, You should never buy a dry suit off of E-Bay. The seals are trimmed for the original owner and most are sold "as is". You can start off with a 7mm farmer john until you decide this is the sport for you. Take an OW class then come back to ask questions about equipment.

 

[divenut2001]

what makes a bc good? I take it the ugly tubular yellow ones are not good considering they run so cheap....what features should I look for in a BC?

Check out the equipment section. There's seperate forums for each piece and a "wide" variety of opinions.

 

[markfm]

Spend time talking to people, your instructor or Local Dive Shop (LDS) (or Larry at Scubatoys). I didn't decide to buy things until after my 4th pool session, when I was sure this really was going to be enjoyable to me, something I was comfortable I wanted to pursue long term (I had dreamed of doing scuba for years, just didn't have things pull together properly until recently).
Some people will say to hold off on the purchases, do rentals for a while after you get certified. It really is an individual matter. In my case I was glad to have my own reg/bcd for the final OW pool work and my certs, it gave me time to work with it with an instructor who taught me various "real world" things, practical tips. Similar with drysuits, though possibly (hopefully you won't need a drysuit course immediately where you live, can do wetsuit diving for a season. I wanted to complete my certs quickly, so needed to do a drysuit course; I tried a shop trilam, marvelous thing, then a crushed neoprene, which I really liked.
I ended up with buying what I suspect most folks would call "midrange" on everything, not intro low-price things, but also definitely not top of the line (and $) on anything.
Some gear beats me how anyone can buy over the 'Net, stuff like drysuits, though I know that people do, successfully.
Concerning drysuits specifically, you actually wear insulating clothes under the exterior suit. You can buy custom dive-specific things, or use normal polartec (and other material) outdoor clothing. The layer of air, drysuit to your body, helps mitigate heat loss, and there are variances due to different suit material and individual heat production (I run hot, "sweat like a pig"
For discussions on individual items (BCDs, regs, tanks,...) a really good starting point is the equipment forums here.
Good luck -- it's a ball