Vacation divers - when did you decide to buy your own gear?

[purbeast]

I'm just wondering when those of you who primarily dive on vacations in warm water, who have bought your own gear, decided it was time to do so. I'm not talking about fins/snorkel/mask/booties but more so BCD and regulator.

I'm still not even OW certified yet (thread on here already about how I got sick on my trip to do so) and I kind of have the itch to buy my own BCD and regulator. Let me first say that I'm just that kind of person that once I get into a hobby, I go all in and I just love buying stuff for that hobby. And I realize that it might not even be worthwhile sometimes but that's just how I am lol, to a flaw.

I already have a nice 3mm wetsuit and a dive computer with a whopping 3 OW cert dives under my belt (and 2 discover SCUBA dives). I'm planning on going back to Grand Cayman to finish my certification and get my AOW while there in March, which will be 6 more dives, possibly 7.

But I find myself looking at Leisure Pro constantly and I have looked for those travel BCD's, but then I catch myself knowing that it's still so early in my hobby that I stop looking. Then like 3-4 days later I find myself browsing again. Like I keep looking at the travel Cressi BCD and want one! I just like new gear!

But I also don't know much about BCD's and I know even less about regulators, so buying them right now would be kind of early for sure and I probably would get the wrong stuff.

When in GC the rate was like $30/day for BCD/reg rentals, so after 3 days of diving that is $90. I'm not sure how that compares to rentals elsewhere around the world when diving but that's my only experience thus far with diving and renting gear.

So I'm just wondering, those who pretty much just travel dive, which is my plan for now, when did you take the plunge and has it been worth it? I know with regs you need to get them serviced at some interval and that costs money too, so that kind of comes into play too.

Obviously if I did the whole $30/day thing, and let's say BCD/reg was like $600 or more, that is 20 days of diving before breaking even. But then you also have to consider traveling with the extra stuff as well, and if it's worth that, but on the positive side, you are very familiar with the gear and it's yours so you know how it has been handled as well. Always the same gear.

I typically travel to places I can and will dive like 3-5 times a year, with my wife and son, but I will be the only one diving so trips aren't geared completely around it. I may end up joining a local club though and doing some weekend trips but as of now I don't really know how that will pan out.

So those of you who are kind of just vacation divers and have your own gear, I'm curious to hear when you purchased and if it was worth it or if you may wish you didn't spend the money on it.

 

[Scubagolf]

After two years and 50 dives I knew I was hooked. I bought my gear at that point. 300 dives and 15 years later I am still diving the same BC. It was very much worth the expense, but I bought a package from Scubatoys online so the cost was reasonable.

 

[CathyE]

Started with our own wetsuits after the pool dives. There was a depth gauge with a daddy long legs in it when we did our referral dives in Cozumel, one of us always seemed to be given it first (refused every time). Went back the next year only to be given it again. We never travelled again without our own kit.
I was blown away by the comfort of a BCD that actually fit.

 

[Damselfish]

What exactly do you mean by diving 3-5 times a year - many ways to interpret that. Dives? Dive days? Boat trips? Vacation trips? ??

I purchased my original gear not long after getting certified but I was local diving at the time. If I was traveling to dive then, I suspect I would have done the same. But this was a long time ago and that was pretty much what you did then, because you didn't have the internet to tell you differently. (I hated my new BC very soon, though I don't know how much better I could have done at the time.)

I only dive when traveling now, and if I need a new BC or whatever I'm definitely going to buy what I like and travel with it. FWIW, I usually get in at least 3-4 solid weeks of tropical diving per year. By solid I mean diving every day, 20+ dives a week. If I was only doing a few dives on a trip I might reconsider taking everything. But that would be hard, because diving with my own gear I like and trust is so much more enjoyable.

I say enjoy window shopping for gear, but try to hold off on the purchase until you feel you do know enough about about the gear and what you want to have a decent chance at buying something you won't hate after using it a few times. I do think regs are something you can research and do a pretty good job of picking early. I think it's harder to find the right BC, and using whatever they have for rent in Cayman might help you decide. So yeah, you probably don't want to wait so long whatever you buy would have paid for itself, but if you don't have strong reasons for picking something yet, take a little more time.

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

The biggest mistake you can do is buying your gear early on when you haven't got any experience with different types.
A lot of new divers end up spending a lot of money on brand new gear only later to realize its not good for what they need/does not fit, this happens too often.

In my opinion if you dive 2-3 times a year i don't see a reason you should buy your own gear. its expensive, requires regular maintenance and at the end of the day a pain in the ass to haul around.
You could easily get some more personal and inexpensive gear like a Mask and Fins, maybe even a Suit, but there's no reason to go and spend hundreds of dollars on a new BCD and Reg.

 

[Esprise Me]

I haven't bought any gear yet apart from the mask, snorkel, fins, and booties I had to buy for my class, and the computer I decided would be the next sensible item given how little space it takes up and how much variation there is among models that I didn't want to deal with. After my OW course, I did 2 local dives on Catalina before going to Playa del Carmen, where I ended up doing AOW and Nitrox plus a couple fun dives, bringing my total so far to 15. The rented gear has all been fine. It's always been the same type of jacket BCDs with the familiar pockets, slightly longer yellow hose on the octo, AL80s, mostly yoke but occasionally they surprise you with DIN. For now, I prefer the convenience of leaving it all at the shop when I'm done.

I also don't feel ready to buy because I'm still figuring out what kind of diver I want to be. On my last checkout dive for my OW course, I felt like I was finally getting the hang of this whole bouyancy thing, and I've had a couple instructors since tell me I'm pretty solid there. But I look at them and their perfect trim and stillness in the water, and I want to get there. On the advice of many on this board, I'm thinking of taking a GUE fundamentals course so I can really nail the basics, and then maybe someday following that path to tech. But I know they have a specific equipment setup they teach that's quite different from what I've been using. Maybe I'll become a believer; maybe I'll decide it's not for me. But I think I'll hold off on buying until I've had a little more opportunity to explore what's out there.

I would urge you to wait until you've had at least one dive vacation post-certification before buying a whole kit. Remember that even if you have everything, you'll probably want to at least rent cylinders at your destination, so you're not saving yourself any trips to the dive shop by owning everything else. You'll also have to worry about keeping your luggage within weight limits, finding a place to hang/lay everything to dry in your hotel room, and maybe packing still-damp stuff on the trip home. Oh, and there are some dive shops and resorts where the cost of renting equipment is included, so you might not always save money by bringing your own.

I booked my Mexico trip through a travel agent who was also a diver. I asked her if it was worthwhile to bring my fins, which didn't fit in the suitcase I was planning to bring. She said after many years, she never brought her gear on vacation anymore; it's just not worth the hassle. FWIW.

 

[Jonn]

Ten years ago, when I had about 50 dives, I spent Christmas in Victoria, BC. I took the Ogden Point charter to Race Rocks, and had a really awesome first dive. It was my first encounter with sea lions and I was very impressed! The site is a bit "advanced" by rec standards, and of course very cold for a wetsuit, but the fun was well worth it. Then the wind came up suddenly and the boat ran over a rope and fouled its prop. It was rapidly drifting into the rocks under heavy swell and I was thinking about spending the night there in a crappy rental wetsuit. Eventually they cut the prop free, picked us all up, canceled the second dive, and brought me back to a long hot shower, but it really opened my eyes.

The west coast can be rewarding, but also demanding. Things can go wrong, and the standard rental kit is kinda minimal when it does. I decided that I needed to be a bit more into this hobby if I was going to do it at all, so I bought a drysuit that spring, and a reg, BC, etc the next year. Drysuits and computers are both hard to rent, need to fit well and be familiar with, and I didn't want to go without them. Now I have everything but the boat and compressor, and I'm much more comfortable in the water for it.

The Mexican cattle boat dives are different; for them I just pack my faithful old mask.

 

[divinh]

The initial intention was to save money since some places charge for gear rental (reg, bc, wetsuit, mask, fins, dive computer):

Maui $~40 USD/day
Komodo Liveaboard ~$40 USD/day
Ishigaki/Okinawa ~$55 USD/day
Koh Tao included (minus dive computer)
French Polynesia included (minus dive computer)

Of course, at this point, I have way more gear than first intended, but I feel I'm pretty well equipped for many types of warm water trips... and I have way more safety type equipment than necessary for most of the diving I do, i.e. Nautilus Lifeline, DiveAlert, 6' DSMB, WindStorm whistle, stainless steel mirror, SOS light, etc...

Last year, rental fees would have added up to $555 USD (7 days Komodo Liveaboard, 5 days Ishigaki).

I got to 121 dives before I decided I'm probably hooked and should buy some equipment...

As far as traveling with gear, it's definitely a hassle. It's a separate bag to lug and most airlines allow sports gear as an exception, but not all, so expect some weight fees from time to time. I have my packing system down, so it's much easier now.

For destinations that include gear, I would probably bring the minimal to complement what they supply, depending on if there are other trip stops I might do. If it's the sole destination, I might bring the gear anyway, since it's nice using your own.

 

[Dogbowl]

I bought my first wetsuit before OW. By 50 dives I had a full set of gear, but was already on my 2nd wetsuit and 2nd pair of fins, not out of necessity but out of preference. I’m about to buy my 3rd BCD, again out of preference not necessity. My preferences changed as I progressed in dives.

 

[Compressor]

In my opinion, if the number of dives you will make is less than 10/year, then there is no reason to buy gear at full retail price. HOWEVER, with the availability of low cost gear of good quality on the internet (eBay, craigslist and so on...) hunt for them and enjoy the search. You will be surprised at some of the great stuff you can find. The latter applies to BCs, wetsuits and so on. Regulators is a different issue as I believe in servicing them per manufactures recommendations and as such is not worth doing so if you dive very infrequently.