Diving gear for a newbie

[pthoma79]

Hey all! New to diving (wife and I getting PADI certified in early November) and the site. This looks like the place to come with some questions for some honest and unbiased answers. My wife was certified about 8 years ago, and I only have snorkeling experience, but have always wanted to go diving.

Anyways, we would like to begin building our equipment collection, and we don't really know where to start. What are some good brands vs ones to stay away from? How much should we expect to spend on a full kit? Is there anything we should buy first? (Our lessons came with a mask/snorkel/fins set)

We live in SW Washington State, but would like to do some warm water diving too.

Sorry for the long post....thanks for your help!

-Phil

 

[Sas]

Hey all! New to diving (wife and I getting PADI certified in early November) and the site. This looks like the place to come with some questions for some honest and unbiased answers. My wife was certified about 8 years ago, and I only have snorkeling experience, but have always wanted to go diving.

Anyways, we would like to begin building our equipment collection, and we don't really know where to start. What are some good brands vs ones to stay away from? How much should we expect to spend on a full kit? Is there anything we should buy first? (Our lessons came with a mask/snorkel/fins set)

We live in SW Washington State, but would like to do some warm water diving too.

Sorry for the long post....thanks for your help!

-Phil

Pretty much all of the major brands are fine to use so it will more be about your personal preference. With gear I would give the advice:

-try out different types to see what you like (ie with a BC, try a jacket style, a backinflate style, a BP/W, etc). Many people will swear black and blue that their gear is the best and anything else is bad, but you might not have the same tastes so take what they say with a grain of salt and try out things for yourself

-think about what your long term diving goals will be and try to buy gear that will suit that (so if you think you might want to move to doubles at any stage, perhaps with a BC a BP/W or transpac is more appropriate as they will be more easily modified to accommodate twin tanks, and with regs if you think you might do cold water diving, buy a reg for that as it will work well in warm water for sure - but warm water regs might not work so well in cold water)

-try out a few different shops for advice. And keep in mind that many shops have agreements to only sell certain brands, so they will always recommend that brand even if it is not appropriate for you

-I personally, if I had to buy gear again would get them in this order - 1. exposure protection 2. regs + computer 3. BC 4. weight 5. tank 6. extras (I hope I haven't forgotten anything ) But yea say if you are an odd shape for fit, you might want to get the BC before the regs as it can be harder to hire if you are not a normal size.

-as far as how much, that really depends on whether you want top of the line, mid range, or budget? Also I am not from the US so cannot comment accurately on price but it might help people local to you know what kind of range you are looking at.

 

[offthewall1]

Hey all! New to diving (wife and I getting PADI certified in early November) and the site. This looks like the place to come with some questions for some honest and unbiased answers. My wife was certified about 8 years ago, and I only have snorkeling experience, but have always wanted to go diving.

Anyways, we would like to begin building our equipment collection, and we don't really know where to start. What are some good brands vs ones to stay away from? How much should we expect to spend on a full kit? Is there anything we should buy first? (Our lessons came with a mask/snorkel/fins set)

We live in SW Washington State, but would like to do some warm water diving too.

Sorry for the long post....thanks for your help!

-Phil

Brand is of no real importance. Most all modern Scuba Equipment is capable of doing what you need it to do... with very few exceptions.

Since you live in the NW and I assume wish to dive there, you should focus on regulators proven to do well in colder water. These regs will also do fine in warmer water. After that, the BCD you choose should fit comfortably and correctly and have the characteristics you are looking for personally.

At minimum you'll want a 7mm wetsuit and more likely for NW diving a drysuit

There are many brands and a very wide range of prices. Don't think that most expensive means the best in scuba gear - because it does not. There are $200 regulators that outperform $800 regulators.

Do your homework and ask lots of questions prior to buying. Don't buy in the first shop you walk into. There is much to see and many deals to be had.

Welcome to the wonderful world of diving... Enjoy!

 

[rstofer]

Spend a couple of days wandering through the site to get a sense of what is going on. There is an equipment section with subsections for each piece of equipment. There is information from various manufacturers and there is opinion on just about every subject under the sun.

Look in the regulators forum for advice on cold water regulators. ScubaPro MK17/G250V comes highly recommended but there are others. Given the nature of cold water diving, I would put the regulator at the top of the list.

There's a lot of information here but you have to look around.

Richard

 

[NudeDiver]

What are some good brands vs ones to stay away from?

You're going to get answers all over the board. If a brand sucked, it would be discontinued. Rather than focus on brand, focus on fit and features.

How much should we expect to spend on a full kit?

Varies wildly on your taste, wallet and willingness to spend money. I bought some pretty expensive stuff....but I tend to buy expensive things. I probably spent around the $2000 mark on my initial kit.

Is there anything we should buy first? (Our lessons came with a mask/snorkel/fins set)

I would buy things in this order:

a). Dive computer (air integrated)
b). wetsuit or drysuit (if you don't already have one)
c). BC
d). Regulator set (1st, 2nd, octo)

I put the dive computer at the top of the list because it's one thing you absolutely want to be familiar with and know how to use. I suggest air integrated because, if nothing else, it's nice having the full record of what you were doing under water. If you get something you can download from, you end up with a nice little history of your diving. I also like the on-the-fly air consumption calculation features.

Next, I would focus on things where fit is an issue. You want well fitting gear. Gear that doesn't fit is not much fun. So, I'd get wetsuit, BC and drysuit in that order. Alternatively, get the drysuit now if you're diving locally - and just get a wetsuit before you make a trip to a warmer location.

I'd get the regulator set last. It's not something where fit is an issue, and if you're renting in a cold water area, they're most likely going to rent you something that performs fine in cold water.

FWIW, I'm in an environment similar to Washington. I got a Seaquest Black Diamond, Scuba Pro Black Diamond BCD, Scuba Pro S600/MK25, Suunto Cobra dive computer and Bare XCD Tech drysuit. No complaints.

Good luck!
nd

 

[pthoma79]

OK, thanks alot for the info. I'll check out the site a bit and talk to some folks up this way and see what they reccomend.

Thanks again!

-P

 

[FlyinV]

Phil - Your going to love diving in the Northwest, Hood Canal/Puget Sound is awesome.

Your dive shop should give you some advice on equipment.
Hopefully its a decent shop that cares equally between diving and dollars

My dive shop is pretty competitive with online price but you should always check online and keep them honest I don't mind them making a couple bucks over the online price but I don't want to pay double for it.

The first thing I bought after the required gear for the classes was a wetsuit.
Next up computer/regulator and then a BC

 

[ligersandtions]

There are a lot of very good and very active divers living fairly close to you (check out the PNW Orca Bait subforum). That gives you an advantage right there....people always recommend trying things like BC's out before you buy them. For many people, that's a problem as most dive shops don't rent all varieties of BC's (jacket-style, back inflate, back plate and wing)....your best bet would be to try to meet up with some other divers, check out their gear, dive with them, and maybe even see if they'd be willing to let you try it out (in a pool or open water).

I have done some Washington diving, and while my socal gear was perfectly fine to do a few dives, it would not be adequate to dive there on a regular basis. Particularly, a drysuit is important....while you can get away with a 7mm wetsuit, it will not be comfortable, especially on long and/or deep dives. The first thing I would look into buying is a good drysuit....a little secret I recently discovered is that there are really good deals to be found in the used market for drysuits!

From here, it's a toss up....a good regulator (that will work well in the cold waters off WA....and will also work well in any warm water environments you go to in the future) is an essential piece of life support. But having your own BC, taking the time to get used to it and comfortable in it, will make a world of difference in your diving because you will be able to get your buoyancy down quicker if you're not changing this piece of equipment each time you dive.

The last thing I'd consider buying is a tank. The price difference between renting a tank and getting your own tank filled is not horribly significant. So unless you're diving a lot, a tank may not be the best investment.

BTW, you asked about specific brands....most, if not all, brands will be fine. One thing to consider, however, is ease and convenience of maintenance. If your LDS only sells Mares stuff but you decided to go with ScubaPro stuff, and your nearest ScubaPro authorized dealer is 100+ miles away, you may want to reconsider your decision. If you truly feel that strongly about something your LDS does not sell, you'll just have to keep in mind that it will probably take a little more effort....and that may be worth it.

 

[barada83]

I also might recommend looking into used gear. I've gotten myself completely outfitted with used gear except for my reg and octo, which I couldn't seem to find used. I got an old functional BC free from a friend and the rest cost me about 800 total. I still have to get a few more things like a tank, and weights but I'm almost there. There's a great marketplace here on this site and some of the stores that post here have great deals on their used or returned gear. Almost everything in scuba can be repaired at your local dive shop by the techs and regs seem to be able to last a long time with proper maintenance as a previous poster suggested. Have fun!

 

[dive pro]

Hola from Cancun
I recommend you get mask snorkel fins first and if your budget allows a simple use new bcd and a good regulator, check out Buy scuba gear, scuba diving and snorkeling equipment, and everything underwater from LeisurePro.com they are good, about the computer get a simple good computer but not with air integrated, I have seen a lot of problems due to the conservative chips of this computers that show about 250 to 300 lbs. less than you really have left in the tank cutting your dive. I say get simple nice brand new gear, learn to use it good, dive a lot with it then upgrade. All brands are great, most important is comfort. Everywhere you go dive you will need different exposure suits, here in cancun i have a long 3mm and a shorty 3.2mm but diving somewhere colder like caverns or California (north) I have had to use 7mm. But most important is get it after your classes. Some dive shops will push the gear they have there to sell, buy after your dives when you are certified. Check out different options not only your LDS.
Hope this helps