next piece of kit

[Dave_1985]

hi guys and girls!

Due to being a poor student i have to save up for quite a while before buying kit. Ive got my own "personal items" fins mask knife watch computer torch slate. Its now the time for me to think about what to buy next i have £500 possibly a bit more as a budget, and was thinking about either a wet suit and a bcd or something like that, i dont think i dive often enough to justify buying a reg (yet).

Im currently qualified as a padi rescue diver. (such a pompus title i think but thats another post). I mainly do warm water diving, i want to do my dm within the next few years, i have all the prerequisites but im still gaining the experience till i think im ready.

I would be much obliged if you could suggest which peices of kit i should be looking at.

Dave

 

[Wreckie]

hi guys and girls!

Due to being a poor student i have to save up for quite a while before buying kit. Ive got my own "personal items" fins mask knife watch computer torch slate. Its now the time for me to think about what to buy next i have £500 possibly a bit more as a budget, and was thinking about either a wet suit and a bcd or something like that, i dont think i dive often enough to justify buying a reg (yet).

Im currently qualified as a padi rescue diver. (such a pompus title i think but thats another post). I mainly do warm water diving, i want to do my dm within the next few years, i have all the prerequisites but im still gaining the experience till i think im ready.

I would be much obliged if you could suggest which peices of kit i should be looking at.

Dave

Dave if you are just going to stay warm water then probably a wet suit and bc are a good idea, get a *good* bc otherwise you will find that the money you saved is wasted getting another!

Did you know that you are missing some of the best diving in the world right on your doorstep? uk diving is knocked by many (and most have never tried it) but we have thousands of wrecks and some really cracking things to see. If your in uni go to your su club and try it, when you find you like it your 500 may be better spent on a dry suit.

Mike

 

[Dave_1985]

Dave if you are just going to stay warm water then probably a wet suit and bc are a good idea, get a *good* bc otherwise you will find that the money you saved is wasted getting another!

Did you know that you are missing some of the best diving in the world right on your doorstep? uk diving is knocked by many (and most have never tried it) but we have thousands of wrecks and some really cracking things to see. If your in uni go to your su club and try it, when you find you like it your 500 may be better spent on a dry suit.

Mike

Thx mike, i have infact tried diving in england, and i really enjoyed it, but id rather get a wet suit, that i can use more widely as far as i know, it can get pretty hot in places with dry suits on.

There aren't many turn up and dive schools in the uk, they tend to be mainly, you have to be a member of our club to dive. at least the ones ive talked to have told me this. Im sure there are many other british divers out there, who will tell me that this is not the case, maybe i just havent found the right lds yet, the trouble is most of them are at least 100 miles away, thats hardly local. The uni im going to doesn't have a scuba diving club, and i was invited to start one, but i dont have the experience or the qualifications im sure.

Thx for youre comments.

edit, error fixing

 

[String]

The problem is the only wet suit suitable for britain is a 7mm suit with 7mm jacket (with semi dry seals). This is too heavy to lug around abroad and far to thick to be of any use. A 5mm single piece suit is pretty much the thickest you'll ever need abroad so a suit you could dive in the UK with is likely to be useless anywhere else.

You dont say where in the UK you live but there are clubs round most of the country that accept divers from any agency if you do want to go diving.

Given the above problem with a wet suit i think the 3 most useful items to get immediately are (i) Regulator (ii) BC (iii) Computer.

(i assume you already own mask and fins/booties. Dont bother with snorkel!)

 

[mossym]

i vote for the BC, bouyancy is much easier when you are using the same BC all the time.

 

[DBailey]

Given the above problem with a wet suit i think the 3 most useful items to get immediately are (i) Regulator (ii) BC (iii) Computer.

I would second this list as well. Knowing these items work and being familiar with them is well worth the money instead of fearing what you may get with rental gear.

 

[junior diver]

just a thought, my first package for diving was a club diver package for £500 includes everything, regs, BCD, 12ltr dumpy tank or wetsuit, i think where are also some other stuff but in no offence to you i can't be bothered to find out it's to late, but their website is www.divemasterscuba.com it hasn't got the details up on the gear yet but it does have the contact details if you're interested

 

[s7595]

dave1985
if you only dive warm water (above 24c) then a 5mil is fine ,how ever as you dive and your air goes down and bottom time goes up ,you can get very cold . buy a 7mil 2 piece (one piece full lenght, the other shorty jacket with hood) had that wet suit in 13-14c water for 40mins and was not cold with just the one full piece.

 

[Dave_1985]

dave1985
if you only dive warm water (above 24c) then a 5mil is fine ,how ever as you dive and your air goes down and bottom time goes up ,you can get very cold . buy a 7mil 2 piece (one piece full lenght, the other shorty jacket with hood) had that wet suit in 13-14c water for 40mins and was not cold with just the one full piece.

Thx for youre advice guys, i think im gonno go with what s7595 says, ive never dived above 24c and for warm i meant 17c. i suppose its subjective statement.

anyway, thank you all for youre advice

Regards David

 

[voop]

i vote for the BC, bouyancy is much easier when you are using the same BC all the time.

I'd second that. Using the same BC does make bouyancy easier. However I'd put a reg quite high on the list too since, after all, it's your life-support system UW. Having a well-maintained reg is everything -- and unfortunately, most rental-regs I've seen aren't.

If the budget is 500 USD, I guess it should be possible to get both a decent BC and reg for recreational diving, no? That would give the adantage of always diving the same bc for ... well ... consistent bouyancy control, and a reg which you know the service-record for?

As for suits...I'd say save up and get a drysuit. It's more versatile wrt. local diving for you, and can still, with less underwear, be used in warm waters.