Gear Buying

[WillAbbott]

Ok so I'm slowly acumulating some money and soon might have enough to by my first/next item/s I currently have my Fins, mask, Snorkel, snorkel bag, and boots, oh and a 3mm Shorty wet suit (pretty much worthless here except for wakeboarding/waterskiing)

Anyways,

What I'm wondering is what would you recommend for the order to purchase items? (its looking like I will have about $200 to play with soon, and of course the longer I wait the more I get, probably will wait till at least after I'm certified, which is about 4-5weeks, and maybe even a little after that to make sure I'm gonna stick with it, I have a tendency to jump into a new hobby/sport then give it up 6months later and be stuck with tons of items)

Anyways...

Back on topic yet again, what do you reccomend getting first? ($200 price range, but maybe even up to about $600 depending on how much money I can scrounge up and how long I can save for)

I was thinking BC or Regulator might be a good first step? Or maybe 7Mill 2peice wet suit, or semi-dry/dry suit

Dunno, I plan on renting all my gear until I buy, so I dunno what might be best to buy first, probably what ever typically is the most expensive rental item? Which I assume is BC, Regs, Suit? I know tanks are only like $10 to rent or so...

Ok enough from me, I appreciate all the suggestions I'm sure there will be many different opinions, please if you dont mind, say what you think should be my next item, and why.


Thx,

 

[detroit diver]

Will,

First of all, wait until you're certified. Then wait a little longer-just long enough for you to try out different pieces of equipment. Having said that, my first purchase was a reg set. I was tired of lousy rental regs that didn't work the way I wanted them to. Not to mention the fact that it was my mouth only (any my buddies while practicing) that will go on that mouthpiece!.

$200.00 is not going to buy you much in a reg. Save until you get the one you want. Try out the Apeks regs-even the old TX styles. They're fantastic and are very easily serviced.

 

[art.chick]

If you have a wetsuit that will work in the water you wil be diving in (Pacific NW) you can stop worrying about ill-fitting rentals. After that, I'd go for the BC (another thing that should fit & you should get intimate with as a piece of personal equipment.) You don't have to blow a lot to get a good piece of equipment, but remember: When you go to purchase the reg., it won't be useable until you get a computer & Octo to go with it, so plan on putting all that stuff on lay-away! I have a low-end reg & am not really too happy with it. I also would prefer a better computer. I got a really nice octo (and I am glad; I have had to use it!)

 

[WillAbbott]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I had pretty much planned on saving for a little while, but being an un-employed student Sucks and you end up trying to be as much of a penny pincher as possible while still buying good stuff.

So most likely I will end up buying as inexpensive as I can, but quality will come first, if its a reg thats gonna breath like crap I will wait till I can afford one that works good, etc.

For the wet suit, I'm not sure a 7mm 2 peice is gonna work for me too well, I'll find out in about 4weeks at the OW dives, the rental I tried on fit very snuggly though so I dont think ill fitting will be a problem. The one I have isn't thick enough to do me any good except maybe in really shallow water thats really warm. I use it while wakeboarding/waterskiing and it works fine for that but I wouldnt want to go down 30feet in it. I wore it in the pool the other night and about 3/4 the way thru I was actually shivering about 25% of the time we had left

Skin and bones

Anyways, thx for the info so far, looks like reg/bcd would be first choice primarily which is kinda what I was thinking.

 

[Paco]

When I started, I was anxious to get set up to dive, so I bought low end, cheaper items. Since then, I bought a better regulator (went from Aqualung Calypso to Titan LX) I also bought a cheaper, not weight-integrated BC and now wish I had spent a little more an integrated one. I did get some good deals on wetsuits on ebay and saved a lot there. I did make sure that I bought my bc and regs, computers from my LSD for convenience of service and warranty, etc. I guess I wish I would have taken things slower and bought the better stuff right away because now I'm spending more money and have cheaper stuff lying around. Just my 2cents

 

[JDostal]

detroit diver once bubbled...
Will,

First of all, wait until you're certified. Then wait a little longer-just long enough for you to try out different pieces of equipment. Having said that, my first purchase was a reg set. I was tired of lousy rental regs that didn't work the way I wanted them to. Not to mention the fact that it was my mouth only (any my buddies while practicing) that will go on that mouthpiece!.

$200.00 is not going to buy you much in a reg. Save until you get the one you want. Try out the Apeks regs-even the old TX styles. They're fantastic and are very easily serviced.

I bought a regulator first - I was sick of using the crappy rental ones as well. The way I look at it...if your BC fails...you won't die...if your wetsuit fails...you won't die...if your fins fail...you won't die...but if your reg fails...then things get a little worrisome. I went all out on my regulator. I personally prefer, and trust, a Poseidon Odin reg. Of course, once you buy a reg, you kind of have to buy an SPG/Computer so it turns out to be a pretty significant purchase but WELL worth the money.

 

[Goeduck]

WillAbbott once bubbled...

For the wet suit, I'm not sure a 7mm 2 peice is gonna work for me too well, I'll find out in about 4weeks at the OW dives, the rental I tried on fit very snuggly though so I dont think ill fitting will be a problem. The one I have isn't thick enough to do me any good except maybe in really shallow water thats really warm. I use it while wakeboarding/waterskiing and it works fine for that but I wouldnt want to go down 30feet in it. I wore it in the pool the other night and about 3/4 the way thru I was actually shivering about 25% of the time we had left

A 7mm, 2 piece wetsuit should work just find for dives to 60 feet or so. I just did my first OW dives up here in Puget Sound, and to tell you the truth, I never even thought about getting/being cold. Remember, the 2 piece wetsuit will give you 14mm over the upper legs and trunk area of your body, where you need it the most.

I have already purchased my first and second stage, octo, computer and BC. Except for the octo and computer, everything else was bought used and then checked out through my LDS. I was even able to pick up a couple of second hand tanks that have already been checked out and are dive ready. So my next big purchase will be a 7mm, 2 piece wetsuit, but that is going to have to wait for a bit, while I pay off what I have already bought. (Does the word overtime mean anything?)

 

[WillAbbott]

Thanks all for the great replies. I happend to stop in my LDS today, and well I meant to only buy some anti-fog and some of that anti smell stuff for wet suits (enzyme that eats the smell) anyways... I ended up buying $184 worth of stuff, thank goodness I get a 20% discount $140 is much better... anyways, I decided to buy a light, knife, and gloves... light because the water tends to be murky and dark here, knife (smalles they had 3" blad) because most the places to dive have lots of fisherman, and I want to be able to whack a line if I get hung up in it or my buddy does, and gloves cause well they were nice, not too spendy, and the warmest they had

Anyways, the LDS guys thought I would benifit most from buying a suit first as its the most expensive item to rent from them. I dunno how thier other gear ranks in the scheme of things, but the BC/Reg/gauges are the ones we use in confined dives and its pretty decent stuff.

Like I said previously I'll find out how the 7mil suit works, but its almost sounding like dry will be a better way to go. It means I can dive longer in the year, and it colder waters (I want to goto a place in the mountains, really clear water but water temp is like 47 in the summer)

Anways, funny thing is though, they have a similar set up to that we use in the pool except its an integrated BC, same reg, same console (or very similar) for about the same cost as a dry suit... so actually that would save me $22 in rentals as opposed to the wet suits $18 rate. So who knows... more than likely I will get the wet/dry suit (depending, still sounds like the dry is the better first purchase even if a wet will work) then get a similar set up to what they have except maybe upgrade the reg (though I so far like it) and thats about it.

Ok I think I've rambled on enough.

Thanks again for all the great info guys, I think I have it figured out or at least narrowed down...

 

[DiverBuoy]

I knew scuba was for me before I ever donned my first piece of equipment. It might sound crazy but before I started my first open water session ... I spent 3500.00. I never looked back.

I suggest for your first hard gear dollars a regulator (Atomic), because it will serve you for a very long time. As for BCs try many in a real world environment BEFORE purchasing a BC. But a BC is definitely a must own.

Most people after one thought about what people do in a rental wetsuits are scared to rent. But this is the perfect piece of gear to rent because it gets so abused, and if your renting from a top notch successful store, they replace gear every 1-2 years, so you're always diving in the latest thing. But when you settle, the most variety of diving environments are possible in a Hendersen or XCEL semi-dry front zip.

Sometimes it's about having it all and right now (that sounds good) ...

 

[DiveTub]

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