New diver! Need help please!

[diversteve]

Sherwood is a reputable brand but the price is too high for the package.

What he^ said. In addition - that he registered everything means absolutely nothing to you, warranties aren't transferable on Aqualung gear - or Sherwood either afaik.

 

[amoney]

@TS: I don't want to be pessimistic, but I've seen so many divers being enthusiastic and wanting to go pro, but few eventually do. Mainly because it is hard work for not so much money and now you're diving for fun, but taking students for a dive, multiple times a day is a different cookie.
So see how it goes and don't by gear now just thinking: I need this because...
I agree a lot with what Herman says.

Second that!!

Here is my thoughts about gear...

First (especially if you think about going pro) educate yourself on the parts and variations of equipment, its not that hard, practically easier than reading some computer manuals.

Second, as far as BCD's are concerned, seriously consider weight integrated. Diving is fun, but tremendously cumbersome, you want to have the minimum "correct" gear so your not left wrestling with it under water, not to mention correct size.

Now as far as regulators go, the truth is they are practically all the same performance wise (speaking comparing same balance regulators, warm water, recreation diving... say no deeper than 130ft that I can attest to), The "how it breaths" is purely subjective, I know I am boring lots in the audience at this point, but lets all be honest, its personal preference at this point. Humorously most spec sheets show the same value across different regulators go figure...

As others mentioned it may be prudent to pick a brand that can be serviced locally.

As far as "quality" goes, all the brands are good, I believe they all offer parts for life if you service your equipment yearly... note part cost are cheap, your cost for labor depending on the shop basically starts about $60 and some shops charge a lot more.

So the question beyond the type of diving you do is do you have a pocket of cash to burn? If you want to play it conservatively, preowned dive gear can save you a butt load of cash, just be sure to wait for "clean" well cared for items, then get it serviced, and you can have some nice stuff "cheap".

You have die hard Scuba Pro fans, you have die hard Atomic fans, then you have articles (if you like simulated breathing test machines) rate gear like Hollis with perfect scores, again this is just another "article"... take it for whats its worth, I wish there would be a blind test performed to see what the fan groups would "pick" it would be a riot.

Myself, first go around was knowing I will later "upgrade" I grabbed the first basic stuff I can get. Then later I narrowed down what kind of gear I really wanted. After more time in the water you gain a sense of what/how you want your gear to be. For example me streamlined and simple. I'm not interested in knobs and switches, I want my regulator already tuned to maximum performance but if you have that adjustment knob and you have a predive free flow, you can make an on the fly adjustment, I would have to get tools... but then again I have an Omega with servo assist so im $it out of luck if my reg has a serious free flow right before a dive but.... thats why I carry a spare, true a pain to swap but not for me because it is simple. Like a boy scout motto... be prepared.. and know thy gear..

Last thought, beware of marketing and sales people, practically everyone I have encountered in life, I knew more about the product then they did... refer to my first tip above. Plus if you have an issue, you maybe able to resolve it yourself... self reliance is what this sport is predicated on.

I throw you a bone... you want the best bad ass dive equipment... simple answer... get a rebreather, in either case dont be a bone head, dive safe!

 

[kathydee]

would like to do some cave diving sometime as well.

I'm one of those "a lot of divers". I do believe that, if you have your eye on technical or cave diving, you should just go ahead and buy gear that will work for that application from the start. The key is that that gear will work for open water diving, too, and you save considerable money not having to replace what you originally bought. And the "tech" gear (which isn't, really) is not only not more expensive than more "standard" gear, in some cases it is cheaper.

I agree, and recently helped a new diver with his eyes set on wreck diving, put together his first set of equipment. If caves catch your attention, to dive them you will upgrade to double tanks - eventually.

So why not pick up a regulator now that is high performing and set up for comfortable hose routing with doubles? It's very safe for single tank recreational diving now, and if you ever decide to move to technical diving, just purchase a second reg of the same - nothing will need to be repurchased

Also, when diving doubles, most divers use a back plate & wings instead of the standard BCD. It's great to dive at a recreational level, travels well and the backplate/harness can be used for both single and double tank diving, so will never needs to be replaced if you move towards tech. The wings can be swapped out depending on the size of the tanks and need.

Same is true with much of the other equipment - it's easy to make equipment choices now that will never need to be repurchased if you do head to cave or tech.

And if you never make it to cave/tech -well, you still have an awesome recreational set-up !

 

[XJJoe01]

I am a rec diver and I dive with a bp/w setup for a single tank with a 28lb wing. I also use a long hose primary and alt under my chin on a necklace. For a computer, I have a zoop that is wrist mounted. I started out with a jacket and console setup, but quickly moved into this setup and couldn't be happier. I bought my first gear used during my ow training, but wish I would have waited until I hit my 10 or 15th dive before I bought major gear items. If I did, I would have saved about 600 dollars, which is a lot of diving. My advice is to wait and go diving to see what gear you like and don't like.

Sent from my LG-P710 using Tapatalk

 

[ashtonmthomas]

Thanks for all the replies and all the advice! Beaverdivers has contacted me with some gear and a deal they could help me and a few of my family members.

I think I am going to start out and try these:

Scubapro MK25/S600
Scubapro Seahawk
Scubapro C200 Octo
Subgear XP-10 3 Gauge w/ PSG, Depth and Compass


Once I get used to these items, what do I need to look for to see if I need to step up gear or try something else? I see several of you guys saying you run several sets.

Also, what is a MUST to carry with you, spare parts wise, on a dive?

 

[drrich2]

Sometimes people have more than one set of gear because they branched into different types of diving. Such as a BP/W with double-tanks manifolded together. Or they wanted to try a different way of doing the same thing to see if they liked it better, such as a side-mount system.

So, for what you need to look for, are you comfortable in the water and with your gear, managing pretty hood horizontal trim (you'll need to ask observers or see video of yourself most likely), and getting the results you want? Or are you wanting to do something where your gear limits you or doesn't work as well as some alternative? Such as, after using a console for several dives, do you really, really crave having the info. on your wrist? Or wish you could download your dives to your home computer and get more info. - such as start & end pressures, average depth instead of just maximum, SAC rate, etc..., and retain that log of it?

Richard.

 

[TSandM]

Not bad choices with the regulator and gauge, but if you are seriously interested in wreck or cave diving, you will have to replace that BC.

What you carry on a dive depends on the dive. You might need a light or lights, you might need a compass, you might need an SMB to signal a boat, you might want a whistle or DiveAlert if you are diving from a boat. It all depends on the dive. The only things I take with me on every dive are a light and a cutting device.