G'day From Brisbane

[Rickta81]

Hi,


I recently started my dive training only to have it postponed part way through my course due to an injury at work, so I have had quite a bit of spare time browsing online and thought I should finally join after nearly three months of looking through all sorts of threads on here. It has been incredibly helpful and entertaining.

I do have a few questions though as I spent nearly four hours at my LDS today trying to decide on gear purchases etc. After speaking with a staff member it appears that most of my interests in diving are leaning more toward the tech side of things and they have suggested going in a more tech direction with my gear purchases. We settled on a Waterproof wetsuit, gloves and hood, Hollis F1 fins, Mirage zipless boots, Apeks Tek3 Reg set and a Halcyon Eclipse. All this is fine as the fit of everything was good and the merits of the Halcyon or equivalent make sense, but is it a good idea to get a twinset reg set to start with?
I am planning mostly sub-tropical diving at the moment but am really interested in deep, wreck and possibly ice diving once I have developed the appropriate skills.
Any tips for equipment purchases would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Mike.D]

Hey mate,

Personally I would hold off on buying regs till you've had a few dives under your belt. I bought regs as soon as i started and within 6 months realised that i wanted something else (ended up getting hog regs). I too am looking at diving tech in the next few years but i'm holding off on getting twin set regs till ive done my tech courses and know for sure that its the path im looking to take.
As for buying gear from your LDS, beware! They do know their stuff but will try and make easy sales from you and encourage you to buy certain things. I bought my basic dive gear (mask wetty etc) from a LDS as you really need to have them fit you perfectly and for my BP/W and regs got them online for 1/4 what i would have paid in a shop. Do your research first. It'll save you butloads in $$.
When you've completed your course feel free to pm me and perhaps we can organise a dive together! Hope this helps
Cheers
Mike


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[mtcyclist]

Welcome to SB. My wife and I spent nearly 2 weeks in Brisbane a few years ago and truly enjoyed it. It is indeed a beautiful city and a lot of great restaurants. Our favorite was the Riverside Seafood Cafe in Graceville, best fish and chips anywhere. We hope to make it back since we now have friends in Brisbane.

 

[Rickta81]

Hey Mike, thanks for the heads up on the LDS. I had suspicions that they pushed certain products but didn't realise the extent of it until visiting a few more today and you are 100% right they definitely push certain brands.
One bonus of touring the shops today though, one offered to let me dive different setups of theirs before purchase, so at least one of them is at least a little more concerned with getting me into gear that suits me.
I am going to hold off on the regs for the time being, and after much research and talking with some product pushers I'm not so sure of my ideas on BP/W now either. Maybe I don't need to go the Halcyon as there seem to be some other nice options. Any advice on options would be great.
I am happy with the fit of the wetsuit etc so will stick with them I think.
I am booked in to finish my OW at the start of March and I'm booked in to do my advanced in April, and will be trying to get in the water as often as possible so organising a dive together after that sounds good be great to get some unbiased advise.


Tate

---------- Post added February 3rd, 2014 at 05:52 PM ----------

Thanks for the welcome mtcyclist,
Glad you and your wife enjoyed Brisbane and the restaurants it's always nice to hear that people enjoy our little part of the world.

 

[Mike.D]

Trying out different equipment first is definitely a great idea. Just as a comparison for when you shop around My bp/w is a single 30lb wing with a ally backplate from adreno in wollonggabba an it cost me $350.

-Mike


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