Hi, I am new here. First a little background on my dive experience, then what I am trying to accomplish. I did OW in college in 1989(PADI). This is the only class I got an A in in my first two years 
I had one year to do the OW dives but never did. Money is tight for a college student paying their own way. Fast forward to 2009, I was in vacation on Jamaica with my wife and decided to do the resort course so got my PADI OW. a year later we were back and I talked her into doing it but she just wanted to do PADI Scuba for the 40 limit. I went diving a few more times that trip then a few in the Philippines but nothing since for 8 years. Kids, job etc, you know the drill. Now my kids are getting a little older, and we will be doing a trip to Roatan. My older daughter is going to get her Junior OW and I will tag along as a refresher. We will probably do about 20 dives while there. With all that said my job now allows me more flexibility to travel and hit spots that open up diving again for me. I am researching getting some of my own gear, but to be honest the amount of choices are overwhelming. I have been reading on here for a few weeks now trying to hone in on what I want/need based on the experiences of others. I know alot of people end up buying gear then discovering it doesn't work for what they want, or outgrow it quickly and go through cycle of upgrade -sell-rebuy. I want to minimize that and get things that suite my diving preferences and future plans now with out having to reoutfit in a few years. I will do AOW at some point in the near future. I also plan on Resuce as it teaches good skills to posses. I may, in the next couple years do fundies. I am not sure I will ever go the tech/cave route. so that is not a big concern for me. I see alot of gear talk here that is centered around that line of diving. For me I will mostly be doing tropical OW reef diving. I may get wreck training. I am in proximity to do spring diving in FL as well. I may also do lake diving. As for temps I am not really interested in really cold diving. If I do lakes and springs it will be fair weather diving, but I guess I could see sub surface temps of 50-60. Most of my dive trips will be with air travel so packability and weight are top concerns. I have only dove jacket BCD's to date with rental regs, but think i want to go BP/W for weight, portability and configurability. I got directed to DGX and they seem to have some good setups. However when it comes to regs I just dont know what I really need and don't need. The DGX deep six reg looks like something i am looking for, but have no points of comparison.
DGX Custom - Deep Six DGX Single Tank Reg Package
I am hoping those of you that have gone through this and have acquired years of practical knowledge across different reg sets in different conditions can give me some direction. Max depths I will probably go in training will be 100-125 ft. In normal diving I am completely happy staying in the 40-70 foot range. Until my daughter gets old enough to do more and deeper training we will be staying shallow. I am looking for an easy breather and low maint cost reg. Eventually I'd like to do a reg servicing class for what I get. I am very mechanically inclined and can fix, or build most anything. I am also open to buying used gear but need to settle on a couple of setups I would be happy with and keep an eye out for a deal on them.
I had one year to do the OW dives but never did. Money is tight for a college student paying their own way. Fast forward to 2009, I was in vacation on Jamaica with my wife and decided to do the resort course so got my PADI OW. a year later we were back and I talked her into doing it but she just wanted to do PADI Scuba for the 40 limit. I went diving a few more times that trip then a few in the Philippines but nothing since for 8 years. Kids, job etc, you know the drill. Now my kids are getting a little older, and we will be doing a trip to Roatan. My older daughter is going to get her Junior OW and I will tag along as a refresher. We will probably do about 20 dives while there. With all that said my job now allows me more flexibility to travel and hit spots that open up diving again for me. I am researching getting some of my own gear, but to be honest the amount of choices are overwhelming. I have been reading on here for a few weeks now trying to hone in on what I want/need based on the experiences of others. I know alot of people end up buying gear then discovering it doesn't work for what they want, or outgrow it quickly and go through cycle of upgrade -sell-rebuy. I want to minimize that and get things that suite my diving preferences and future plans now with out having to reoutfit in a few years. I will do AOW at some point in the near future. I also plan on Resuce as it teaches good skills to posses. I may, in the next couple years do fundies. I am not sure I will ever go the tech/cave route. so that is not a big concern for me. I see alot of gear talk here that is centered around that line of diving. For me I will mostly be doing tropical OW reef diving. I may get wreck training. I am in proximity to do spring diving in FL as well. I may also do lake diving. As for temps I am not really interested in really cold diving. If I do lakes and springs it will be fair weather diving, but I guess I could see sub surface temps of 50-60. Most of my dive trips will be with air travel so packability and weight are top concerns. I have only dove jacket BCD's to date with rental regs, but think i want to go BP/W for weight, portability and configurability. I got directed to DGX and they seem to have some good setups. However when it comes to regs I just dont know what I really need and don't need. The DGX deep six reg looks like something i am looking for, but have no points of comparison.DGX Custom - Deep Six DGX Single Tank Reg Package
I am hoping those of you that have gone through this and have acquired years of practical knowledge across different reg sets in different conditions can give me some direction. Max depths I will probably go in training will be 100-125 ft. In normal diving I am completely happy staying in the 40-70 foot range. Until my daughter gets old enough to do more and deeper training we will be staying shallow. I am looking for an easy breather and low maint cost reg. Eventually I'd like to do a reg servicing class for what I get. I am very mechanically inclined and can fix, or build most anything. I am also open to buying used gear but need to settle on a couple of setups I would be happy with and keep an eye out for a deal on them.
