Gear list?

[TMHeimer]

Over the years, one thing I've learned to bring along with me on a dive is an old 4x4 piece of canvas, which I use to stand on when taking off my gear. Way better than the dirt from the road, gravel or grass from the parking lot, sand from the shore, etc getting all over you and your suit and gear before they go into the vehicle. Pre-dive, I use it to cover gear from the sun. The canvas shakes off and dries easy. My 2¢

Good idea. Only thing I wouldn't do is use it as a place to gear up/down on the sand (tried plastic, blankets, etc. years ago). If I can't walk from the car to the shore I won't dive there.

 

[MichaelMc]

Rubbermaid 10 gallon tubs. Big enough to stand in, if support is handy, to don dof suit and boots. Holds gear in trunk. Holds small sidemount tanks off ground. Slides under car to be there to ditch wet stuff into in early stages of shedding gear. Sand and dirt washes or brushes off. Soaks or stages gear at home. Just get a few or you’ll have none left to stand in to change.

Rubbermaid 10 Gal. Roughneck Storage Bin-RMRT100000 - The Home Depot

Smaller with high sides and tight lid are best for soaking small gear on the way home, but the 10 gal are best for shedding the gear into.
HDX 5 Gal. Heavy Duty Storage Bin-HD5G-1PK - The Home Depot

 

[halocline]

What type of diving do you usually do?

The axiom had a mp inflator hose. Why is that worse then a lp inflator hose?

I have done quite a bit of recreational, warm water diving, including a year as a DM, and cave diving for the last several years. Now 90% of my diving is in caves. But I am very familiar with recreational dive gear for both warm and cold water. And I am telling you that in my experience, that BC design will not work very well in the water. It's far too bulky and the inflate/deflate mechanism is nothing like a typical scuba BC.

It's a little unfortunate that the scuba industry has a model in which the majority OW instruction takes place at a dive shop where the primary goal is to sell gear, mostly to new dive students. In fact, that is the only reason most dive shops offer instruction, to create a market for their gear. As such, much of the advice that OW students get about gear is not necessarily in their best interests as much as it is in the shop's.

I would advise you, as have others on this thread, to get some dive experience, on your own, before buying expensive gear. This is especially true with the BC, as there are many different styles and they really do provide different types of dive experiences. With regulators, they basically all do the same thing and there is very little real-world difference between them on a dive, as long as they're in decent shape and well adjusted. This is not true with BCs. They can feel totally different in the water, and the only way you will be in a position to evaluate this is with some experience, and some development in buoyancy control.

 

[TMHeimer]

I have to say that in my 4 years as a DM I didn't see any instructor or employee from the shop even mentioning let alone recommending to OW students to buy this or that. If they asked, products were shown. Stuff like masks, fins, but not like regs & BCs. Either I missed something or the shop is really an exception.

 

[Vitesse2l]

I think most things have been pretty well covered for you OP.

Only other thing that comes to mind is a plastic liner for the boot of your car (I understand some parts of the world refer to it a Trunk, like elephants have).

OP, you seem quite sold on the Axiom. Fair enough, it'll work. Most divers have a piece of gear or two or three they bought new and sold soon after when they had more experience and understanding. Personally I'm on my third bcd (actually a bp/w setup) but the first two were cheap used ebay items.

Enjoy your training.

 

[Still Kicking]

And I am telling you that in my experience, that BC design will not work very well in the water. It's far too bulky and the inflate/deflate mechanism is nothing like a typical scuba BC

Well just to make a point about how BC selection is very personal I'll throw in my 2 cents.

I have been using a backplate and wing almost exclusively for about 20 years. However, on the relatively rare occasions when I teach, I feel it's important for me to wear same/similar gear as the students (both for demonstration purposes and to validate the gear they are using).

The shop I used to work at had Axioms and so I used them quite a bit teaching - I found them to be very comfortable and relatively streamlined in the water - not like a backplate of course but way better than the enourmous drag-inducing wing on the Balance that I also used.

I am not a fan of the i3 system - mainly because, as a repair tech, I see a lot of repair issues with them and the traditional inflator has proven reliable. I recommend owners of i3 BCs add a standard corrugated inflator hose so even if they want to keep using the i3 inflator at least they can bypass it if it gives them trouble in the field.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

What type of diving do you usually do?

The axiom had a mp inflator hose. Why is that worse then a lp inflator hose?

In this context mp and lp are the same thing. The regulator 1st stage only provides 2 pressure settings; high pressure to the SPG (and often AI transmitter) and intermediate pressure to everything else (2nd stages, BC, drysuit).

 

[MichaelMc]

The hip mounted buoyancy control lever adds complexity. Unneeded complexity underwater is bad. I’d look at a BP/W. Divegearexpress has some simple packages that are great.

 

[halocline]

I have to say that in my 4 years as a DM I didn't see any instructor or employee from the shop even mentioning let alone recommending to OW students to buy this or that. If they asked, products were shown. Stuff like masks, fins, but not like regs & BCs. Either I missed something or the shop is really an exception.

That sounds like a good dive shop, and I am sure there are many others like it. But I suspect it is somewhat of an exception. And we can't blame shops for trying to sell their gear; it's their business to do so, and creating a market for your products is a standard accepted business practice. Nothing wrong with it at all. It just means that in most dive shops, if the instructor has a financial interest in the shop selling gear (overt or implied) then his gear advice is likely to be slanted towards the shop's interest. That doesn't mean he's lying or trying to rip off students, it just means he's in that world of gear selection.

 

[icechip]

Good idea. Only thing I wouldn't do is use it as a place to gear up/down on the sand (tried plastic, blankets, etc. years ago). If I can't walk from the car to the shore I won't dive there.

Luckily(?) here in Maine it is mostly stone and gravel beaches, not much in the way of sand...