New divers and buying equipment

[VR78]

Thank you. So no sertification needed for using tech gear, just a proper setup?

No, you don't need to be certified in "tech gear" to use it within your other certification limits. It helps to have someone mentor you though in the beginning.

 

[erjohnsen]

Johnsen,

Congratulations on AOW and Nitrox.
BP/W is well suited to recreational with 22" bungeed secondary, and 40" or 5' primary. Picking that over a regular BC and octo setup is an easy choice. A reg with a port on the bottom, a '5th port', makes routing your primary much easier, typically this comes with a rotating turret, which is also useful.

Sidemount is more an it depends step. Some learn that way from the start, but instruction on it may be less available. I'm hoping to move toward it myself, in open water, for its redundancy.

Thank you!
The sidemount thing is not that important. I just figured it would be nice to buy one BP/W that can serve as a base for both, if there is such a thing.
The "donate primary" setup seems more important as so many advocate this as opposed to what I learned in OW back in 2013.

 

[erjohnsen]

No, you don't need to be certified in "tech gear" to use it within your other certification limits. It helps to have someone mentor you though in the beginning.

Thanks for the clarification, much appriciated!

 

[MichaelMc]

Thank you. So no sertification needed for using tech gear, just a proper setup?

Nothing voodoo on BP/W. But weight belt, a good idea, under your crotch strap is not very easily ditchable, so take care in gearing up and with any in water drills. Long hose looped over your head and donating it to OOA diver with a snorkel in the way is not the best setup. So ditching the snorkel is a usual consequence of a 5' or 7' primary. Sidemount might be best served with some instruction.

Edit: You can do primary donate without a backplate and wing BC, though PB/W would be more optimal for routing the longer hose primary.

 

[MichaelMc]

Thank you!
The sidemount thing is not that important. I just figured it would be nice to buy one BP/W that can serve as a base for both, if there is such a thing..

There are but they are not really recommended. Ok at many things, master at none would be the phrase. (DiveRite Transpac)

 

[Lorenzoid]

Keep in mind that more and more purely recreational divers are using a backplate-and-wing (BP/W) and arranging their hoses so that they donate a longer-hosed primary regulator to an out-of-air diver. Likewise, more and more purely recreational divers are using sidemount. Although these configurations are standards for tech divers and less common among recreational divers, few people refer to it as "tech gear" anymore. Nowadays, on a dive trip in the Caribbean, you would see quite a few divers with BP/Ws and even sidemount.

 

[Neilwood]

No, you don't need to be certified in "tech gear" to use it within your other certification limits. It helps to have someone mentor you though in the beginning.

I think that is an important note.

For example:
BP&W- while very good for stability etc in the water, it is very different to what most divers are used to and takes a bit more initial set up (once done it is very, very easy). Removal (for rescue situations) is a different process though and needs explained.
Long hose - it does involve more by way of drills etc to make sure that you can deploy and stow the hose correctly. Also making sure the secondary is in the right place & easy to reach (esp if a can light is used to make sure there are no tangles).

 

[aldertyler]

My LDS allows new divers to build their own package and then essentially put it on layaway. While you are making payments on your package you can rent anything in the shop for free. If you decide that a piece of gear you rented will work better than the equivalent piece from your original package, you simply swap it out and they adjust your payment schedule accordingly. At the end of your payment schedule you have hopefully assembled a set of gear that you will be very happy with and you get to take it home.

 

[Bogtrotter]

There's a lot of good second hand gear out with so many people dropping the sport. That's the initial route I took, I purchased relatively cheap but high quality gear from a trusted DM and then had it serviced. For my first 100 or so dives I never owned a dive computer. I also overestimated what I truly need as I anticipated more cold-water diving and frankly just the amount I'd do in general. I only do 20-30 dives a year and most of it southern now, so ultimately I wish I had purchased a lighter set-up and then just rented for the more infrequent cold water dives.

 

[rek_diver]

There's a lot of good second hand gear out with so many people dropping the sport.

Why are so many people dropping the sport?