I believe a regulator should be in your near future!
It is a very personal piece of gear.
It is a very personal piece of gear.
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The way I look at it, the most critical things to own are things that have to fit to work. Exposure protection is a big one in this category -- if you are renting a wetsuit, it is unlikely to fit as well as something you bought for yourself, and poor fit means a colder dive. If you aren't comfortable, you won't go diving, so wetsuit, hood, gloves and boots are high on my list of early purchases.
After that, your BC is another thing that has to fit. If it's sloppy or not proportioned for you, it will be uncomfortable and the tank won't be stable in the middle of your back.
In contrast, a regulator is a regulator. So long as the rental regs to which you have access are well-maintained, they are fairly universal, so I think that purchase can wait.
A computer is an odd one. Although many rigs have console computers, so there is no "fit" involved, it IS nice to learn the displays and menus of your computer well, and a lot of people keep their dive logs by downloading their computers. So that's an item that might take a higher priority, despite being rather generic.
Wetsuit
BC and Regulator
Computer
I'm wondering... in what order would you buy your gear?
I bought the mask, fins, snorkel, boots when I was OW certified. My first equipment purchase after that was a computer. For Christmas, i received some gift cards and I will probably get more when my birthday comes.
I'm not sure what I am going to buy next. I'm leaning towards a BC (probably a BP/W setup). For those of you who have been diving for a while, I'm curious what order you would buy your equipment in if you had to start over.