Hey me again.First off,I see 3 or 4 that always seem to wait til someone says something,opinion or otherwise and jump on them.Thats one reason I started this,just to see how long it would take,and dang yall are quick.I could do it again on another subject to give yall something to do.Secondly,I see the same question posed by many wanting to buy a BC.Your right,I don't have 20 million dives,but I do know that I am grateful to my friend,who has very few more dives than I do,that he gave me some good advice.He didnt say,and neither did I,buy this because I said so.I am sorry to be misunderstood,my writing is probably not as good as the more educated,but I did not intend to say,,,buy this because I said so,,it was meant as a starting point,Hence the name of the thread,to help maybe one that wanted to but right the first time.Yes,I have little experience,but,and i know I will get made fun of for this,but I spend alot if time in the pool and have tried all sorts of BCs,and people from 1000 dives down to 10 dives gave me the same advice,try all of them and see whats best for you.Everyone of them said get a jacket if you want one,all the pockets and all,,then you will see you should have gone with BI.because they know I will be strictly recreational for a long time,,..Dang,,they were right.Wish I had had one when I did my cert dives.Now.how many would advise a new diver to go with a jacket.Like I said,I read SB alot and can"t say I have ever seen that advice.It's all ,comfort,fit,what are going to do,doubles,tech,ect.kind of advise.I said the same thing and look what I started.I admit I may have said it in the wrong way.I wish i had know about SB before I purchased and gotten the many different,sincere ideas and information,but as i said,luckly I have a couple of friends,from all levels of experience, that showed me,advised me,actually helped me.In another thread,,"what you wished you hadn't bought",,,I saw some of you that said you wished you had bought something else.Well,,this thread was to get everyones experience,ideas,advise out to those asking,in a single thread,I thought,and my mistake,in a nice,freindly way.Now,I used to be a drag bike racer,and yes,after I asked around,got opinions,ask questions of older,more experienced and the new to the sport,all had some good advice,I learned from all levels,and ,I decided what Bike i wanted to run,,so if I was going to run Nascar,I would buy a Nascar car,,my old volkswagen wouldnt do me much good for that and I don't think I could have rented a Nascar car.The Pool stick,I bet if someone wanted to know about pool sticks,you would with out doubt tell them to try as many as they could,for feel,comfort balance,but in the end ,you would suggest the brand you use to them,you wouldnt suggest a Harvard from sears or tell them to rent a crooked one from the pool hall,I shoot with a Meuchi,and no,you cant have a beer.Economics does have an impact on this subject.But,most who ask are going to buy,thats why they ask,to get an honest opinion from many different sides,not to be bashed,slammed,made fun of.Every level of experiance has a place.i;m down low on that level and maybe can relate more to someone asking.To another comment,no.at this time I will not give an opinion on gauges or anything else,I admit I know nothing about those things,,yet,,I have only used what I have,,,BCs,I have tried alot,and have a bit of knowledge that could have been expanded on by others in a helpful way..I work with kids and people and try to be nice,helpful as I tried here,another mistake I see.I want to end this by saying,my apologies to any and everyone that thought or took it as I am expert in BCs,I didnt mean that way and sorry it came out that way.But I do see how these "discussions"go.Someone basically said they agreed with me ,but I was wrong?..LOL>>>Please forgive me for saying anything,my lesson learned..I know this will probably make it worse,but I just wanted to explain myself..I was warned about SB..grain of salt you know..Reading,studying,asking,do go along way.And to this end,I didnt mean to Capitalize that sentence as it were,,I didn't know the cap button was on,another mistake.So,yall go ahead and jump on this,I know someone out there will take it,expand on it and be happy with what they get..,thanks for the entertainment and happy,safe diving,pool shooting,nascar driving,ect...Geez,,do I know how to make friends or what?Anyone for a beer?
It doesn't always work out the way I plan though! I remember reading about a guy on a local forum who had spent about $10k on scuba gear, and did about 20 dives. He lost interest and was trying to sell all the gear not that much cheaper than what he paid and was getting very angry at people's offers of less. It was pointed out to him that others shouldn't have to finance his poor financial planning! That is an extreme example I give you but there are plenty of newbies who are overenthusiastic and buy a whole bunch of gear they will rarely use!
