The Dive Market

[Essroc123]

Hello again...

When purchasing your kit for the first time, is it better to get as much gear as you can from one manufacturer?(eg. Halcyon, DUI, etc.) Or is it better to mix and match?

Safe Dives,

Will Johnson

 

[Scott M]

There is really no rule to follow in this regard. What ever you like and works well for you is fine. Most gear these days is fairly high quality. Once you see what you like comne on back and ask specific questions if you have any and you will get a ton of help.

For myself I have APEKS regs, DiveRite TranspacII with a Halcyon Eclipse wing and Vytec Comp.

Take Care
Scott

 

[LUBOLD8431]

It doesnt really matter. SOme people look like poster children for Scubapro, or OMS, or whatever. I try to avoid that as much as possible. I have gear from a ton of different manufacturers. I mostly dive with a DUI drysuit, Oxycheq wing, FredT backplate&Harness, Apeks regs, Suunto Vyper computer, (Soon to be)Abyss Pressure Gauge, OMS cylinders, Turtle fins, Oceanic mask. See that, every single thing is a different manufacturer...

 

[cobaltbabe]

My kit is kinda mix and match too. Whatever feels good is what I go with. The only thing I avoid is anything Pink. It's a rule you know.

 

[IndigoBlue]

Hello again...

When purchasing your kit for the first time, is it better to get as much gear as you can from one manufacturer?(eg. Halcyon, DUI, etc.) Or is it better to mix and match?

Safe Dives,

Will Johnson

Welcome to Scubaboard, Will.

What to buy, and when to buy it, is a hard question.

After divers rent for awhile, usually they are then ready to buy some of the basics, like a reg etc.

WHAT you buy usually depends on what you have tried out while renting or borrowing. In addition, sometimes a store will offer sales of certain products, and the bargain element determines for some people what to buy.

I have not found that a name brand makes much difference.

What does make a difference is the instructors that you choose. They sometimes get hung up on one brand or another, even though in a perfect world they would not be steering you either way. Although I would not dive to technical depths with Oceanic gear, I do not see any difference between ScubaPro, Zeagle, Apeks, OMS, or DiveRite, as far as brands go.

If you dive with a group of people who all dive Halcyon gear, you may need to have similar gear in order to participate in some of their activities.

If you want to D/M or A/I for a particular dive store, you will probably need to have the gear they sell in order to participate.

Other than that, no one will probably ever give you any reasons to go a certain way with a particular brand of gear.

Would you want to be a poster child for ScubaPro or Zeagle or any other brand name? I kind of doubt it. It would look rather funny.

 

[mikelegurra]

don't buy anything you haven't tried.

rent equipment, talk to other people, read the threads on equipment, ask your instructor. after that try things on. only then, when you're confident with the gear, it's time to buy something.

this way you save lot of money and the trouble to ditch gear that you don't really like.

 

[Welsh_Dive_Pro]

All my kit is mixed brands, Apeks regs, Custom Divers Wing, Northern Diver Dry-bag, Mares Fins, Oceanic Mask, etc etc...

One of the reasons for this is that I haven't found one brand that makes evry bit of kit in a top quality manner. Apeks make superb regs, but superb fins?? Mares make top fins, but i'm not fussed on their regs, and so on

My advice would be to try kit, and buy the bits you like. As long as it is good quality kit then it will save you money in the long run.

 

[Essroc123]

Thanks for all the responses.

Let me tell you where my question originated from....

I work in the information technology field, and it is also a very hardcore hobby for me. (yes guys I am techno geek).

When I build a computer from scratch and I start with say vendor A'a motherboard. It is almost a guaranteed lock that I am going to buy vendor A's CPU, video card and any other hardware that is made by vendor A as well. Why? Well computer hardware is very homogenous. It likes it's own type. Yes it will work with other hardware from vendor B, C and D, but just not the same.

I am gathering from the above responses that dive equipment is not the same way?

Just a little peek into the mind of Will Johnson.

Safe Dives,

Will Johnson

 

[Scubaguy62]

Will, I have three words for you, comfort, fit, and logistics. If it fits well and it's comfortable, then you have half the battle won. The other half is how much you spend on it.

I have a Mares V16 Epos reg, a mares octo, an Aeris Atmos 2 computer console, an Oceanic Pro tour BC, and Mares wetsuit and booties and Quattro fins (although I just picked up a pair of Scubapro Jet fins on Ebay that I need to test dive), a Seavision mask, and aqualung snorkel . I may look like a Mares poster, but I only bought what I was comfortable with regarding price, comfort and what fit the best; a nice discount for purchasing a package from my LDS was also a great motivator.

Do your research before you buy anything. Many people believe ScubaLab to be biased and they may very well be to an extent, but think of it from the flip side, it is a big liability to post facts and findings on a product manufactured by someone else, so assuming that was a concern to them, I gave it its due and used their reports as a starting point. The remainder of my information I got from the opinions of other divers and recomendations of instructors and dive masters.

Just my .02

Semper Safe,

Rick

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I'm an SSI instructor and my shop demands I use the gear they sell. It is good equipment but I'm no poster boy. I have selected gear that I personally like but it's a long way from matching.