I have been looking at a Whites suit I tried on the other day that is a used suit but being sold by a dive shop. It is a camo suit but does not have the valves installed, he wants 350.00 for it. I am skeptical though because I think I should buy new to start, and from a dealer so that I have that resource to return to with my questions and concerns.
What model of Whites suit were you looking at?
One thing to consider is that drysuits without valves target a different market than scuba diving community. I'd want to make sure that the drysuit material was suitable for diving.
Since the used suit lacks valves, it implies that the previous owner was using it for some purpose other than scuba diving (kayaking, hunting, sailing, etc.). Some activities don't have attached booties and instead use ankle seals. Although this may be OK for warm water diving (check out the DUI 30/30 suit), it is unacceptable for cold water diving. Yet another thing to consider is that, depending on the activity, the suit might have been subjected to use that increases the likelihood of a puncture...and that's not good if you hope to use it for diving.
You need to consider the
total cost of making the suit dive-able. How much will it cost to add the exhaust and inflater valves?
$350 for a used drysuit without any valves is
not a good deal, if you ask me.
Keep looking around. You'll certainly be able to find a better deal somewhere else.
Also just wanted to check with you all, I just bought a used but professionally serviced MK18 w/D400 and D250 octo. Are there any issues with this setup in cold water? I assume not as the shop I bought it from is a great lakes dive shop. I also went ahead and bought a new SP frameless mask and a new set of Jets. Right now my next step is the suit. I think I will do more investigating and drive to some shops to try on suits. I am too skeptical to invest this much money without having eyes on my purchase.
I'm not a Scubapro expert, but I believe that the MK18 is a balanced diaphragm design that is
not environmentally-sealed. If you are diving in
really cold water (near freezing temps), it would make more sense to get an environmentally-sealed first stage. A very similar, environmentally-sealed reg in the Scubapro line would be the MK19 (with swivel turret) or the MK17 (without swivel turret).
The second stages (D400 and D250) are OK, provided that they were tuned/serviced properly. They wouldn't be my first choices for cold water diving, though.
I keep mentioning cold water diving because you are located in the Great Lakes area, where, depending on the body of water and time of year, a diver might be diving in water temperatures reaching the low 30s (°F). I would say that qualifies as "cold water diving."