future diver with some gear questions

[Kharon]

Regrets: 1. Paying for "advanced courses". (Exception - you need the Nitrox card to get fills & dive nitrox). 2. Sticking with my LDS long after it was obvious he lied to me on something important. 3. Feeling guilty for buying on-line (though I check to see if they can price match first.)

Happy, happy, happy: (I've been watching too much Duck Dynasty): I took the time to find a pair of boots that were easy to get on and, more importantly, off (a pair of cheap diving socks helped after the fact). Ditto for the fit of the fins. I lucked out and ended up with Aeris Velocity 3X fins. (Great for local diving, though not so much for travel. I ended up with Aeris Accel fins for that.) Find a mask that you love and that fits and you will keep it forever. Add a semi-dry snorkel and you are done, done, done - stick a fork in it.

BCD & Regs: Before my OW classes I bought the cheapest BCD and reg set (from LeisurePro) - Tusa BCD and Cressi AC2 & XS2 and not only am I still using them, but I recently tried (desperately) to find a BCD for travel that I would like better and failed (at even a grossly unreasonable price). I still love my Cressi regs. Dove them very deep and very cold and they were rock solid. Cressi has downloads for the manuals if you decide to do the service yourself (I do). If you want specifics about what I like about the regs and BCD - PM me.

Computer: I bought an Oceanic Veo and used it for several years. I couldn't see (I'm old) the ascent rate display (other than that the Veo was fine) so I sold the Veo and got a Mares Icon HD. The Icon has the hands down, absolute best ascent rate display available. Moreover, I find the information available from this computer and the integration with the Mares DiveOrganizer software to be superb. Not an intro computer, but certainly a computer that you will never outgrow.

Exposure stuff: My preferance is to layer - I have a 3mm full suit, two non buoyant 2mm equiv full suits (Henderson Polyolefin or LavaCore), a 2.5mm shorty, and a 3mm vest. I was careful to buy sizes that would fit over/under each other so I could mix and match. Using the Polyolefin/Lavacore I have about 7mm equiv insulation with 3mm buoyancy, I get away with a lot less lead. That only matters into and out of the water. Since I mainly shore dive and am going on 67 it's important to me. I can always add the vest and shorty for really cold dives. Others mileage will vary.

Photography: For capturing the dives that are worth it, I have a Tachyon (right now $89). You can attach it to your mask (or wherever you want, depending on creativity). Push a button and it records either a HD picture every 2 sec. or HD video continuously. No task loading, it records everything you see. A lot of editing, sure. But what are you doing this winter? I like re-living the two weeks I had on Bonaire or the two I've got coming up.

Note: re. layering - I took time to do weighting with every combination of exposure suits. It was well worth it. I now have a table that tells me exact weight for each combination.

 

[tracydr]

Kharon, most people take AOW because there are lots of boats that require it. It may not be the best class out there but its almost indispensable if you're going on trips and using dive boats.
On the other hand, Rescue is a class that I feel every diver should take for their own safety and the safety of their buddies. A good Rescue course can really make a difference for many divers with confidence,too.
Exposure suits that aren't meant to be layered really don't work as well together as a good fitting thicker wetsuit. Although, a hooded best can help, adding tons of wetsuit layers is really not that great of an option.
I agree with you on the computers, display backlight and size is important. Many new divers don't realize how important it is to have a dive computer that's easily seen at depth or in low-vis. I got rid of one for this reason, went to the Liquivision with a bright,OLED screen. Although, I have some difficulty reading in dim light so even more important for me.
I struggled with a cheap,used BC for years. Never realized how much it was effecting my trim and stability in the water until I went to a BP/wing. Not sure the cheapest BC is always a great plan.
For inexpensive regs, I love my HOG? It breathes well at 130 feet and is a well made regulator. Plus, less expensive than any others and my husband services it for me.

 

[Nwcid]

ANY class is ONLY as good as the instructor................... This is not just true for scuba......

 

[fjpatrum]

As usual, it's the same suspects vying over buying new or used. I fall squarely into the used camp, personally. I've bought all my gear used, service most of it myself, and have saved literally $5k at least. Good grief, I saved over $2k just on my dry suit. Of the 6 or 7 sets of regs I've bought, the most expensive was ~$250. That included a computer, full set of regs and a console with compass and SPG as well.

Anyone who says buying used is foolish simply doesn't know how to shop. Granted, us newbs may not know what to look for, but I offer this post as a starter education: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...ying-used-discriminating-shoppers-primer.html

Gear can be thoroughly inspected, and often tried out before purchase- even used gear. Yes, you can still spend a lot on used gear but you don't have to and it's certainly not the norm.

"Life support" is a relative thing when you can do a CESA. Besides, once wet every reg is "used" as others have said.

Any communicable disease to be found on a reg won't be there months/years after use, the disease will have died, so anyone suggesting such is just using/believing nonsense scare tactics. Hell, in most cases you would have a hard time transmitting such diseases with a direct mouth to mouth swap of a reg.

I have nothing against buying new for folks who simply aren't comfortable with the concept of buying used. To suggest there is a legitimate safety reason for buying new is disingenuous, however, and utter nonsense.

 

[diverrex]

I have bought most of my equipment new but I have sold some used gear and bought some used gear. If I was trying to do scuba on a budget I would buy mostly used gear. For those people that don't think you should buy used gear how many are using 10 year old regs? So somehow you can buy new gear and use it for 10+ years and that's ok but buying a 5 year old reg at 1/3 the cost of new isn't. That doesn't make sense to me. I recently sold a perfectly good 5 year old Seaquest Balance BC for $130, less than 1/4 the original cost. Even if the buyer put on a new inflator he would still only be at around 40% of the price of new for a high quality perfectly functioning BC. I think he got a decent deal. You have to know the products when buying used more so than new but it's easy to search around on SB for info.

 

[tenacious]

As usual, it's the same suspects vying over buying new or used. I fall squarely into the used camp, personally. I've bought all my gear used, service most of it myself, and have saved literally $5k at least. Good grief, I saved over $2k just on my dry suit. Of the 6 or 7 sets of regs I've bought, the most expensive was ~$250. That included a computer, full set of regs and a console with compass and SPG as well.

Anyone who says buying used is foolish simply doesn't know how to shop. Granted, us newbs may not know what to look for, but I offer this post as a starter education: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...ying-used-discriminating-shoppers-primer.html

Gear can be thoroughly inspected, and often tried out before purchase- even used gear. Yes, you can still spend a lot on used gear but you don't have to and it's certainly not the norm.

"Life support" is a relative thing when you can do a CESA. Besides, once wet every reg is "used" as others have said.

Any communicable disease to be found on a reg won't be there months/years after use, the disease will have died, so anyone suggesting such is just using/believing nonsense scare tactics. Hell, in most cases you would have a hard time transmitting such diseases with a direct mouth to mouth swap of a reg.

I have nothing against buying new for folks who simply aren't comfortable with the concept of buying used. To suggest there is a legitimate safety reason for buying new is disingenuous, however, and utter nonsense.

thanks for the link, very good info there. the only thing i may buy without the assistance of a competent dive shop is a wet suit. i am only going to do that because henderson wetsuits are made in the same town i liv in now and i prefer to spend my money locally. the rest will be handled or at least cosigned by a local florida dive shop and info i get from this sight.
i did all of the work on my suv to make it into the bad ass fishing machine it is now. i've built mototcycles from piles of wrecked parts, etc, but the scuba stuff scares me because i know basically nothing about it. that is what lead me here and i'm glad to have found this site and the wealth of knowledge from you guys. thanks again to everybody for giving me the tools necessary to not be totally blind while going into this new to me venture.

 

[fjpatrum]

thanks for the link, very good info there. the only thing i may buy without the assistance of a competent dive shop is a wet suit. i am only going to do that because henderson wetsuits are made in the same town i liv in now and i prefer to spend my money locally. the rest will be handled or at least cosigned by a local florida dive shop and info i get from this sight.
i did all of the work on my suv to make it into the bad ass fishing machine it is now. i've built mototcycles from piles of wrecked parts, etc, but the scuba stuff scares me because i know basically nothing about it. that is what lead me here and i'm glad to have found this site and the wealth of knowledge from you guys. thanks again to everybody for giving me the tools necessary to not be totally blind while going into this new to me venture.

If you're interested in working on your own gear, look into these two books: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bo...sus-harlows-regulator-maintenance-repair.html

Working on scuba gear is actually quite easy and if you're mechanically inclined it doesn't take much at all to learn how to do it. You'll need a couple of specialized tools (soft picks and an IP gauge) that you might not have already but other than that regs are very simple machines with relatively few parts. If you've ever rebuilt a carburator you can rebuild a reg. That said, having a shop check out your gear is a good idea until you're comfortable (or even afterward.)

Good luck with it, whichever way you decide is the right way for you.

 

[corvettejoe]

One of the best bang for the bucks is the Zeagle Express Tech BC.
$250ish last I checked, or when they first came out. GREAT little BC.
My open water BC is a HOG backplate and wing I bought new for a couple hundred bucks. Great value.

HOG Regs are all high performance regs, you can get a full setup for $300ish from a couple different sites brand new. For those prices there's no point in buying used or the rediculously expensive brands. HOG is all user serviceable too.

Don't waste your money on expensive $1000 dive computers unless you're going to do technical diving, the $200 puck dual gas nitrox computers will serve you well, If you want to go expensive, grab a Shearwater Petrel or one of the various Liquivision computers. They do a million more things than the more expensive popular recreational computers that are pretty limited, but expensive for no particular reason. Don't bother with air integrated stuff. A pressure gauge attached right to your tank will serve you well.

If you get a wetsuit, get one of the stretchy kind with good seals. My old one was a Pinnacle Elastaprene, I've had it over 4 years now, 100's of dives later. It needs to be replace, and I will be replacing it with a Henderson.

mask/fins/snorkel/boots... just get what fits. Brand isn't important. You don't need stupid $200 fins or $150 mask. I've been diving for many years in every environment with a pair of $25 fins and a $25 mask. I've gone from OW to full cave with the same mask and fins I got when I first started my OW pool training. If you take care of them ,they will last a LONG time.

Just rent tanks, unless you plan to dive A LOT. Those you can easily pickup used though. 3/4 of my tanks are used with no issues.

 

[vincent54]

One of the best bang for the bucks is the Zeagle Express Tech BC.
$250ish last I checked, or when they first came out. GREAT little BC.
My open water BC is a HOG backplate and wing I bought new for a couple hundred bucks. Great value.

HOG Regs are all high performance regs, you can get a full setup for $300ish from a couple different sites brand new. For those prices there's no point in buying used or the rediculously expensive brands. HOG is all user serviceable too.

Don't waste your money on expensive $1000 dive computers unless you're going to do technical diving, the $200 puck dual gas nitrox computers will serve you well, If you want to go expensive, grab a Shearwater Petrel or one of the various Liquivision computers. They do a million more things than the more expensive popular recreational computers that are pretty limited, but expensive for no particular reason. Don't bother with air integrated stuff. A pressure gauge attached right to your tank will serve you well.

If you get a wetsuit, get one of the stretchy kind with good seals. My old one was a Pinnacle Elastaprene, I've had it over 4 years now, 100's of dives later. It needs to be replace, and I will be replacing it with a Henderson.

mask/fins/snorkel/boots... just get what fits. Brand isn't important. You don't need stupid $200 fins or $150 mask. I've been diving for many years in every environment with a pair of $25 fins and a $25 mask. I've gone from OW to full cave with the same mask and fins I got when I first started my OW pool training. If you take care of them ,they will last a LONG time.

Just rent tanks, unless you plan to dive A LOT. Those you can easily pickup used though. 3/4 of my tanks are used with no issues.

Thanks for the info. I was looking to get some backup gear. A quarter the price of my favorite Scuba Pro.

Once you see the inside of a reg that someone has thrown up in, you may think it' is a health issue to buy used. I have even noticed regs being rented without mouthpieces, so some in the industry feel cross contamination is an issue. Whether it represents a real or perceived problem is beyond me. I like new stuff

 

[nimoh]

Thanks for the info. I was looking to get some backup gear. A quarter the price of my favorite Scuba Pro.

Once you see the inside of a reg that someone has thrown up in, you may think it' is a health issue to buy used. I have even noticed regs being rented without mouthpieces, so some in the industry feel cross contamination is an issue. Whether it represents a real or perceived problem is beyond me. I like new stuff

Once you have seen someone properly clean a reg, you would not think it's a health issue anymore.