So you have $3500 to spend on BC, Reg and Dive Comp

[spectrum]

I'd get good quality items as you mentioned and sink the rest into some new HP steel cylinders or the downpayment on your drysuit.

Asside from exotic materials there is only so much price range in regulators, same for BC and computers. Budget $500 each and a little extra for an alternate second stage and instruments.

Pete

 

[scubapolly]

First of all- congrats on the sesnible decision to buy it right the first time. I get so frustrated with divers that try to go the cheap route only to need to buy new better gear (that they should have bought in the first place) soon after.

Lots of good advice so far. My recs follow the same line.

Regs:Apeks AXT or XTX 200. I own 6 regs including the AXT and it is the best breathing reg I've ever put in my mouth. I haven't used the XTX yet, but it is supposed to be even better. (I used to love my SCUBA Pros, but the Apeks kicks their butt) (XTX will cost you a little under $700, the AXT used to retail for that but they have been dropping the prices since the XTX came out, so you are looking more at $600 for that one)

BC- if you are diving cold water, I'd go with a BP/W set up. I really like the Deep Sea Supply back plates (I'm currently diving a Dive Rite Rig, but the next one I buy will be DSS). Also the BP/W is much more versitle than a BC set up. (As mentioned before a Single rig set up will be around $500)

Computer- Most of this is personal preference. I really like the Suuntos- any of their nitrox comps. Vyper (not air integrated), Cobra (air integrated) Vytek (hoseless), or the D9 (watch style, hoseless, with a digital compass.... Sweet!) price is going to vary from about $350-1700.

Drysuit- will really open up your diving to a lot more areas. Living in Canada, this is what you are going to want to have to be able to do local diving. I'd recomend a DUI (what I have) also Bare has been making some real nice suits lately. A bit cheaper than the DUI suits, but doesn't seem to compromise quality.

 

[Codyjp]

as said before and will be said a lot more you can't go wrong with the Deep sea supply rig. absolutly the best bp/w rig (in my opinion).

otherwise, let it be comfy for everything else.

and dito on the BBQ.

 

[RobbieTheHun]

Sometimes it takes buying gear, using it, hating it, selling it, cursing the day you ever bought it and moving on, to eventually find a good fit. But this is a good, you dive, you learn, and you keep your LDS owners kids in braces and private schools, and thats not a bad thing, and, guess what, it's what most divers go through. WE COVET. An $800. reg is the A bomb to one diver and the fallout to another. Be advised my friend, $3,500 is just the beginning. Welcome to a whole new world.

 

[idratherbedivin]

Sorry about that double post I made a price correction.

 

[idratherbedivin]

I am going through basically the same thing as you right now, but I have quite a smaller budget. Actually my budget is almost exactly half of yours so I have really been shopping around for good quality products that aren't priced too high. I have found prices so that I will be able to put together a rig with the DSS singles rig, Apeks XTX 50 primary reg and XTX 40 octo, Suunto Mosquito, and a SPG all for about 1300 dollars. That would leave you a bunch of money to get a good quality dry suit, maybe a doubles wing or canister light. I would say that is a pretty good option.

 

[Fire_medic_RescueDiver]

Congrats of your cert!!
I just upgraded some of my equipment and this is what I have bought.

Regs Apex ATX200
BCD Zeagle Ranger LTD

There are other things that you need to remember when buying this stuff like How will yu pack it around and other things like that. You will need a lot of the other little things that add up big in the long run. What I did was got onto www.scubatoys.com and LP and started adding things that I wanted to upgrade or add to my equipment list and when it was done and I went thru it and deleted that stuff that was not really needed know it came to this. I have spent over $2000 bucks in the last 24 hours. I bought my regulators with new hoses that I wanted, a new 3mm wet suit, BDC, big gear bag on wheels, bug two set reg bag ( because I never put my regulators in the hole of the airplane I use it as my carry on), new slick skin, New fins, and a few other odds and ends. Now for the scary part I did a wish list of of ever thing that I could want and when I was done it was over $16000. You may want to budget some cash for things like a good dive light, dive knifes, dive cam( around $800 and up), and all the odds and ends. But as always this is just what I did so take it as such. DGood luck and post to let us know what you came up with. By the way I have 6 guys doing there cert dives this weekend and they are just starting to get into the same problems that you have, the only different is that they are doing it for work and SAR diver in the long run.
Matt

 

[halocline]

Lots of good info on this thread, especially regarding the fact that your taste in BC design might change...ideally take some of your big bucks and rent a few different types of set ups to get an idea of what you want. As far as the reg goes, get anything you want, they're all good. The top of the line SP (MK25/S600) is not known for stellar cold water performance, but we're talking about really cold water. If you can find a SP MK17 with a G250 2nd stage you'll love it and save some money.

Dry suit probably should be your first purchase unless you want to dive about 1 month a year, although not having one might have the distinct advantage of inspiring you to visit tropical climes more often. After you buy the drysuit you might be cured of wanting to spend alot of money on gear!

Computers... I really agonized over which computer algorithm to use, ended up learning enough about deco theory and it's applications in rec diving to know that the computer choice doesn't make that much of a difference in terms of safety, (actually NO evidence whatsoever that there is any safety difference) but the research taught me to control my dive profiles more carefully, and now I spend most of my time looking at depth and elapsed dive time rather than NDL..i.e. the actual dive data rather than the computer's calculation. I like my aeris atmos 2 for rec diving, and it's cheap! If you're dying to spend more I can sell you a perfectly broken-in and tested one for $600. (hehe)

Man, if I had $3500 to blow on dive gear, I'd be thinking "how can I spend $500 on gear and save the rest for a killer 2 week liveaboard in the south pacific!"

 

[TSandM]

Oh, forgot to mention that you need to set aside some money for a can light . . . you WILL want a can light. If you don't want one now, you will want one after you dive with somebody who has one. And if you buy one, you will want a better one when you dive with somebody who has one.

$1000 for a can light. You will succumb.

 

[cardinal]

Just logged back on, and I must say I am stunned by the amount and the quality of the posts so far - a BIG thank you to you all. I have bookmarked so many manufacturers websites it's unreal, and this is giving me lots of homework to do.

One thing I get the point on - I need a dry suit and the other thing is that just because the budget is high, does not mean I want to spend it all - I can get excellent gear in the mid range.

Again - Thanks all for the time you have taken to write your thoughts and opinions. I am keeping up with them, and I will let you know what I decide on when I decide on it.
C