My first set of gear scuba pro Yeh or Neh LOOK

[fnfalman]

Any shop that is trying to sell you all that stuff before you're certified I wouldn't trust for much. They're just looking for a sucker to buy what they happen to sell. They certainly don't have your best interests remotely in mind.

There may be very rare situations it makes sense to buy the major gear before getting certified but yours isn't one of them. It can be challenging to figure out which is the right gear for you to buy even after you've at least learned to dive, never mind before. That's why most classes actually include use of this gear, or give you good rental deals. People that do a decent job of picking out gear before certification and don't wind up throwing away money, have generally educated themselves on the subject pretty well and it doesn't sound like you are there yet.

Listen to this person and DrDaddy as well.

Nothing wrong with buying expensive, QUALITY gears. HOWEVER, you're not even certified yet!!! What happen if you were to decide you HATE diving after taking the first plunge in the open water? Is this shop going to refund you 100% of the equipment money?

What happen if you were to pass the class, got the cert but decide that you aren't all that excited about diving and will do it once or twice a year? You've just spent $2000 for nothing.

Ridiculous advices from these people.

This sound sounds like it is staffed by a bunch of damn scam artists. See if you can find another shop.

But whatever you do, make sure that you get the cert first, decide if you're going to make this into a true hobby, after all this, then and only then you should consider investing money into buying fancy gears.

 

[--tom--]

You are going to have to make some difficult decisions whether your income/commitment makes this purchase a good idea. I do know some who have bought their gear initially and still dive most of it 5 years later (& more than 500 dives & three continents); so it isn't outside of the realm of reason, if you are "wired" that way.

FWIW, the package you have been offered was a Scuba Pro sale that was supposed to end on December 31 (I saw the same sale here in California); so that the LDS has extended the sale may be benevolence or desperation. You have to make that call.

Regarding the equipment, if you become an active diver, the regulators will be working for thousands (yes, thousands) of dives. I am not a fan of the Air2, but that is purely my opinion; YMMV. Regarding the Knighthawk, I dive a B/P&W but have been thinking about getting the Knighthawk as a travel BC, so even if you go in a different direction, there may be use even if it isn't your primarily used BC.

But aside from all of this fluff; congrats on learning to dive. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of this activity as I do.

 

[String]

I went to a local dive shop today to sign up for my cert. I really like the environment and the instructor I spoke with. I didn't even have to ask questions they were right on the ball. But they wanna sell me some very expensive equipment. Here is a list of the equipment they want to sell me, I need you guys to help me since I was set on buying used.

Beware of ANY shop that only offers you 1 brand of equipment. That means almost without fail they're offering the only goods they stock at inflated prices.
By limiting to 1 brand you also arent getting the chance to see which gear fits you best, which is most comfortable and which suits you.

For that reason alone i wouldnt touch their offer.

Also, don't buy ANY of the gear other than mask, fins and boots until you're certified and have had some experiencing diving AND have tried different bits of kit from several manufacturers.

 

[Daveo957]

1300 is a good price for the gear, its really good stuff

 

[ski1formee]

Drdaddy's advise is right on. After my wife and I got certified in 2000 we decided to rent for 2 or 3 years to try different brands of equipment, watch what the dive masters used and talk to other divers to get their opinions. We also wanted to figure out what type of diving we would enjoy the most. I our case we end up flying someplace warm for tropical diving once or twice a year. This influenced our choice of manufacturer and BC. We finally bought Subapro because there is a better chance to getting it fixed or find a part if we were diving somewhere remote. We bought the simplest and lightest BC non-weight integrated (Subapro Glide 500 - $375) to keep it light weight for travel and less things to break. For our regs we bought Subapro, second tier models (remember even the most basic reg must operate flawlessly because it is a life/safety issue...so you are really spending more $ for chrome or added features) After we mastered our bouyancy our BC is used solely to keep the tank on our back so we were very happy have bought an inexpensive BC with simple features. Research the recalled eqipment. Apply the KISS principle..KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID uuhhh... SAM. We figure that our equipment will last us at least 10-15 years and so far we had it for 5 years. So don't rush to buy. Slow down, learn the fine points of diving, learn about yourself and your preferences, what is good equipment and what is crap then buy ....it will save you a lot of $ and you'll have some left over to travel & dive somewhere that written up in the dive magazines..

 

[hudson]

There is so much BS coming from that LDS..

*They are pushing Air2.. bad.
*They are claiming "cold-water-capable" BCD.. wow.
*There is the usual "lifetime warranty" BS.
*And of course they are trying to sell him the most expensive SB reg.

Sheesh...

Good advice all-around above, but rstofer's advice regarding regs and integrated weights is especially gold.

A sticky "first time buyer's guide" with some generic advice would be really nice. Stuff like this could be taken care of in one swoop.

 

[Sas]

I went to a local dive shop today to sign up for my cert. I really like the environment and the instructor I spoke with. I didn't even have to ask questions they were right on the ball. But they wanna sell me some very expensive equipment. Here is a list of the equipment they want to sell me, I need you guys to help me since I was set on buying used.

You really really should wait until after your OW course. I can't stress that enough. When I first got certified I got the following gear:
-Beuchat 7mm semidry wetsuit - I like this

-Scubapro Ladyhawk BC (female version of the one in your package) - I just HATED this BC and I spent a fortune on it, my biggest purchasing regret. I asked the shop for a BP/W and they told me only technical divers use them and I believed that and ended up with this. It takes a tonne of lead to sink and the air does not distribute evenly so I was having floaty feet. I thought this was just me but have loaned it out and they said they have floaty feet too (when this has never been a problem for them before). The pocket is crap and there are way too many pieces hanging off the straps. A strap on it broke after only 80 or so dives (I take care of my gear) too.

Not even 12 months after certification I have replaced this with OMS BP/W - 32lb wing, SS BP and hog harness. It was MUCH cheaper than my BC, a million times more comfortable and it is very modular. One good thing about having a spare BC now is I have friends I can loan my rejected gear too as they don't dive a lot and don't want their own gear. But I really could've saved myself a fortune by just going straight to a BP/W set up. Which is what I wanted first but let myself be talked out of it.

-Scubapro MK11/S555 + R295: No complaints with the performance. Though it is a pain that it requires servicing once a year from only Scubapro authorised repairpeople. The person I will be taking my regs to is not one of these (though has been a reg technician for over 25 years) and I will violate my warranty by doing this. But seeing as this has already saved me a few hundred dollars I am not too fussed. I would say you can definitely get away with a cheaper reg - even one of the cheaper Scubapro regs.

-Scubapro Smartcom computer: I got this second hand and I like it a lot. However, I would not have purchased it knowing what I know now: the batteries are not user changeable and you need to send it back to Scubapro to change them. Also I would definitely get a wrist mount now. It's hard to look at a console sometimes, say if I am sending up an SMB and carrying a huge bag of scallops, or something like that. Or if I have the camera in one hand and a light in the other. My next computer will be a wrist mount for sure.

-Tusa Tri-Ex fins + Serene mask + snorkel: Mask is fine. The fins were crap though as they are positive and very long. They go fast but I never go fast anymore. They are hard to manouver in so I switched to Jet Fins which are shorter and stiffer, and negative. Harder on the legs to swim fast but I find them great to manouver in (I do a lot of pier diving and it helps to be able to avoid the pylons). There are a few different types of fins you should try out (splits, paddles, and different types of both). Snorkel was expensive and I never use it any more. Get a simple J style one if you have to have one.

-Northern Diver Divemaster drysuit: Love this. I got it very cheap and it made diving in 10C water over winter very enjoyable. If you are diving predominately in cold water I really recommend a drysuit asap.

-Tanks: I got a 10L steel to start off with, and now a 12L steel as well for deeper dives. Happy with them but should have bought 12L steel sooner as it would have saved some rental fees for when I had to hire a second tank for double dives. Also I bought the 10L steel from the LDS I did my training with. Well I should've gone straight to the distributer like I did for the second tank as I would have saved a lot of money there too!

Anyway, my experiences may not be relevant to you at all. I am just showing how my opinions and knowledge have changed rapidly and I haven't even been diving a year yet. Don't buy immediately. Try out things as much as possible before buying.

 

[NudeDiver]

One advantage to buying ASAP: better amortization.

In my case, I bought my equipment at the start of my OW class because I knew that I would be going on a trip right after it - and making 50 dives. Buy buying the equipment sooner than later, I got to use it for those 50 dives. Now, here it is, um, a little more than 5 years later, and I only have 87 dives. So, if I had waited even 1 month after my OW class to buy gear, it would have only 33 dives on it rather than 87. That's a big difference. I also avoided renting gear for all those dives, which is like chopping money right off the top of the costs involved. So - in short - it really depends on your specific situation as much as anything else. A 50/dive per year diver is better off buying gear a lot sooner than a 10 dive/year diver, considering the rental costs and such.

 

[Damselfish]

I agree if someone is actively diving it is way more cost effective to buy relatively soon and not rent for a couple years or even too many months thinking about it. If you change your mind on some stuff so what, most any diver no matter how well informed will periodically change their mind about gear or just want new toys. But buying before you're certified and really have any clue what will work for you is an entirely different thing.

 

[Sas]

One advantage to buying ASAP: better amortization.

In my case, I bought my equipment at the start of my OW class because I knew that I would be going on a trip right after it - and making 50 dives. Buy buying the equipment sooner than later, I got to use it for those 50 dives. Now, here it is, um, a little more than 5 years later, and I only have 87 dives. So, if I had waited even 1 month after my OW class to buy gear, it would have only 33 dives on it rather than 87. That's a big difference. I also avoided renting gear for all those dives, which is like chopping money right off the top of the costs involved. So - in short - it really depends on your specific situation as much as anything else. A 50/dive per year diver is better off buying gear a lot sooner than a 10 dive/year diver, considering the rental costs and such.

Good shops will allow you to try out a bunch of gear before buying - this is what I have been doing of late (at no charge so rental fees are not a concern). So you can buy stuff quickly if that is what you want, say for trips. Take a bunch of gear and go try it out at the local pool. Not as good as doing a bunch of dives and working it out that way, but better than buying everything from the first deal from an LDS before having done a dive at all.