Need gear for wife and I

[jonhall]

Agree with @Nasser

I’m a vacation diver who knows the majority of my diving is Caribbean/Hawaii. I have the Aqua Lung Zuma/Mikron for travel - purchased new in 2010. The more recent models have a few more features than mine, rats! Averaging about 20 dives a year the last 5 years and it still works fine (keep it clean and serviced.) I’m a little biased, but think it’s quality gear.

 

[oly5050user]

consider purchasing at your LDS. Facility it each out of, when student purchases a BCD, regulator, dive computer from us within a month, we credit cost of open water course, $300 , back to student . Maybe your facility can offer something similar.

 

[SandyRobinson]

Another nod towards your local dive shop. You might pay a little more but that extra money will be for their expertise and maybe some favors regarding how quickly your equipment gets serviced. If you do not have a dive shop that you can call home or local and you are in the SE part of Al, check out
Cave Adventurers in Marianna, Fl.

Good luck during your certification process. Maybe your instructor can provide some different brands or models to use. Also, FWIW (and YMMV) but keep it all simple.

 

[teonchagi]

I got certified last summer and bought all of my gear within a month after getting home from my trip. So far, I have only upgraded two things: my computer and my fins. The fins I bought at first are awesome, absolutely nothing wrong with them. I, however, changed. As I learned more, I changed my preferred kicking style and just didn't feel like I was very efficient in my first fins. I also learned more about my body's natural buoyancy and decided heavier fins would help with my trim. I won a computer upgrade in a raffle, but misplacing my original and the new one prompted me to just jump in and get what I really wanted in the first place.

I say all that because I used to scoff at being told "try gear first" and now, I get it. I swore I'd never have any interest in a backplate and wing (it looks SO uncomfy)....but now what am I looking at and considering? I love my BC, and have zero regrets in the one I purchased, but I keep wondering if I should have looked more seriously into the bp/w option a year ago before I spent money.

My regs? Love them. Zero regrets. I did a TON of research and found a brand I liked that has quality gear at decent prices...and they are sold and serviced near me.

Sorry this is so long, but you are about to embark on an expensive journey. Your gear purchases are never done, haha. I strongly recommend renting everything but mask, snorkel, fins, and possibly an entry level computer. Try different brands and styles and do a lot of homework before you buy expensive gear. This stuff keeps you alive under water so while you don't need the most expensive things, you want to make sure you get what will work for you.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

 

[Belzelbub]

I'm trying to decide on what BC and REG setup to purchase without breaking the bank. Found a deal on Aqua Lung but don't know if their Regs are any good. Anyone use Aqua Lung or know if its crap or any recommendations on equipment

Lots of different types of Aqualung regs out there. They've been around for a long time and are well supported in most areas. If you can provide actual model, the users here can help out a bit more.

There are a couple of things that should be considered before purchasing a regulator set. One is the type of diving you will be doing. If diving primarily in cold water, or water with a lot of particulars, getting a model with environmental seals is a good idea. Env sealing also helps when it comes time to clean post dive, as the moving parts are not in contact with the water.

Another important consideration is your favorite dive shop. I'm lucky where I live as there are almost as many dive shops as gas stations. However, a lot of them suck. I drive past several dive shops to get to the one that I like to use. So, if you have good dive shops in the area that service Aqualung, then that would be a good choice. If not, you may want to see what they service. There are lots of really good regulator brands, so I'm sure that even if there are no Aqualung dealers around, there will be another good brand that you can get serviced. Aqualung, however, probably has one of the largest (if not the largest) dealer networks. That's an important consideration if you plan on doing a lot of dive travel. There's a pretty good chance there's an Aqualung dealer nearby. Same may not be true for Mares or Sherwood for example.

 

[Morgan_5]

For your wife: My sister dives with the Aqua Lung rogue and she loves it. I personally didn't love it and I ended up buying the ScubaPro Lady Hawk for myself. It's really just personal preference and how it feels.
For you: My boyfriend dives with a Hog back plate and wing and swears by it. He loves how simple and interchangeable it is. If you plan on traveling with your gear the back plate and wing pack very easily too.
Regs: It personally took me about 2 hours of holding regs and asking questions to choose what I wanted. I ended up going with the ScubaPro S560/MK21 and I love it! My sister dives with a Sherwood and my boyfriend dives with Hog. It's all about preference. If you want to travel and dive you want to look for a brand that can be serviced around the world, or is simple enough you can work on your self (Hog). You can't really go wrong with the well known brands in my opinion.

 

[Esprise Me]

Thirding the suggestion to hit up your local dive shop. (And also rent for a while before you buy.) When I finally decided on a BC, I went for a custom job that took a month instead of being able to walk out of the shop with it that day. So the shop let me keep the rental I'd been using, free, until mine came in. They helped me find a wetsuit that fit in a good brand with weird sizing, and which was actually cheaper than the one I'd had my eye on. I also sent my friends there recently to rent gear. One of them got certified at a resort where everything down to the personal gear is provided, while gear packages around here assume you already own a mask, snorkel, fins, and booties; the shop threw in her personal gear for free. I've spent a lot of money there, but they've thrown in a lot of freebies, not the least of which has been their expertise. Lastly, it's nice knowing they service everything I own.

 

[Anish]

No comment on Aqualung but I do agree with the notion that you should do more diving before buying gear. You may find you don't even like diving that much or find that you do it once a year on vacation. The trouble and cost of lugging your gear for 4 dives is probably not worth it, and that's not even considering the up front cost. A few items you should buy, mask, fins and computer. Regs and BCD are the last two because they are bulky and expensive. IF you find yourself diving local spots on weekends or taking a lot of liveaboards etc then maybe its time to gear up. A good regulator does make a difference. I was down on a dive recently and was running out of air because of heavy facing current. The DM offered me her Octo so I could extend bottom time for a while. Switching from my nice Oceanic Delta 5 to some cheap Octo I could easily tell the difference. So a good easy breathing reg set is a good purchase once you know what your diving is gonna look like. BCD is take it or leave it . Advantage of your own is familiarity, dialed in weights, integrated weight pockets etc which you would not get with a rental. Nice to haves but not essential for a few short dives.

 

[purbeast]

I say all that because I used to scoff at being told "try gear first" and now, I get it. I swore I'd never have any interest in a backplate and wing (it looks SO uncomfy)....but now what am I looking at and considering? I love my BC, and have zero regrets in the one I purchased, but I keep wondering if I should have looked more seriously into the bp/w option a year ago before I spent money!

I was fortunate enough to have an awesome LDS that let me test out some BCD's. They are strictly a ScubaPro shop so I tried out a Hydros Pro and a SP BP/W setup. Prior to this, when shopping locally, I was on the verge of purchasing a travel style BCD. I only have 15 dives total thus far. My diving is mainly going to be on tropical vacations and getting something small that can fit into my carry on luggage is very important to me, along with the rest of my gear (minus fins).

After trying on the Hydros Pro, it felt good but was a lot more money than I wanted. With my inexperience, it felt like nothing special to me.

Then I tried on the BP/W and within 10 seconds I knew I was purchasing one. The freedom you feel with it is unreal and it's something you can't explain you just need to experience it. And the BP doesn't feel uncomfortable in the least. It's a lot more comfortable than a jacket style BCD just due to less bulk.

Since then, I did a TON of research on BP/W and regs. I ended up not getting the SP BP/W setup from there because it was about $300 more than I ended up spending on mine and the one I ended up getting I made myself and customized it to my likings.

Regs I also ended up not getting SP pretty much strictly due to the price being like $600 more than what I did end up getting.

I haven't gone back to the LDS that let me try out gear but I plan on going back to have them do VIP and Hydros on a tank I ended up purchasing, and also letting them know that I purchased my gear already and will give them money for the time they let me in the pool with their gear. I really like the LDS and I'm pretty sure they will be cool with me still because they genuinely just seem like people that love SCUBA. And they organize a lot of local trips over seas too and I want to go on some of those with them, and I am sure they get a cut of those too.