ScubyDoo
Contributor
Diveshooter,
Im am in the same boat as you. Im not certified yet, but have the fever. I try hard to do my homework and study up on what the best equipment is that fits within my budget. I have gone to scubadiving.com and read up on Rodales equipment evaluations on just about every piece of equipment needed for beginners like ourselves. It sounds like your budget is a bit better than mine What can I say...Im trying to buy my first house and getting into scuba at the same time. Probably a poor combination financially speaking. I am trying to get tested and tried mid priced equipment, so the Apex regs are a bit pricy for me. I agree with Iguana Don in that so long as you do your homework and get good quality, tried and tested equipment, it is hard to go too wrong. I know the rental equipment out there is below the standard I want to purchase, so its a waste of time to tell myself that Im going to "try out different stuff". My LDS is great, but I doubt they will let me try out all thier good stuff at will. I dont want cheap low end stuff, but cant afford the really high stuff, so Im trying to stay in the middle. Thus far it seems like Im going with Mares almost exclusively. Here is my line up so far.
Fins - Mares Avanti Quattro
Boots - Deep See Deckmasters
Regulator - Mares MR12 Epos
Wetsuit - Mares Direct Heat 3mm Shorty
Mask - U.S. Divers (old mask Ive had for years)
Snorkel - OceanMaster Drysnorkel Flex
Knife - OceanMaster Titanium
Light - UK SL6
I havent yet decided for sure on the rest of this stuff, but Im leaning heavily on them.
Octo - Mares MR12 Axis
Buoyancy Comp. - Mares Vector 1000
Mask - Mares Opera
Guage - Mares Mission 2D
When its all said and done, this whole lineup will set me back around $1500 or so... I think its a pretty good middle of the road equipment setup for a beginner.
Im am in the same boat as you. Im not certified yet, but have the fever. I try hard to do my homework and study up on what the best equipment is that fits within my budget. I have gone to scubadiving.com and read up on Rodales equipment evaluations on just about every piece of equipment needed for beginners like ourselves. It sounds like your budget is a bit better than mine What can I say...Im trying to buy my first house and getting into scuba at the same time. Probably a poor combination financially speaking. I am trying to get tested and tried mid priced equipment, so the Apex regs are a bit pricy for me. I agree with Iguana Don in that so long as you do your homework and get good quality, tried and tested equipment, it is hard to go too wrong. I know the rental equipment out there is below the standard I want to purchase, so its a waste of time to tell myself that Im going to "try out different stuff". My LDS is great, but I doubt they will let me try out all thier good stuff at will. I dont want cheap low end stuff, but cant afford the really high stuff, so Im trying to stay in the middle. Thus far it seems like Im going with Mares almost exclusively. Here is my line up so far.
Fins - Mares Avanti Quattro
Boots - Deep See Deckmasters
Regulator - Mares MR12 Epos
Wetsuit - Mares Direct Heat 3mm Shorty
Mask - U.S. Divers (old mask Ive had for years)
Snorkel - OceanMaster Drysnorkel Flex
Knife - OceanMaster Titanium
Light - UK SL6
I havent yet decided for sure on the rest of this stuff, but Im leaning heavily on them.
Octo - Mares MR12 Axis
Buoyancy Comp. - Mares Vector 1000
Mask - Mares Opera
Guage - Mares Mission 2D
When its all said and done, this whole lineup will set me back around $1500 or so... I think its a pretty good middle of the road equipment setup for a beginner.