I see a lot of threads regarding people purchasing new gear (usually someone new to the sport as myself), and the responses are mixed at best, as far as whether to rent until you know for certain what you want or buy using your best judgement from reviews and suggestions.
My experience with gear comes from playing outdoors in the mountains and none of the activities I participate in, with the exception of possibly frisbee golf
, is cheap. The equipment you need for Climbing/Mountaineering, Skiing/Snowboarding, Kayaking/Rafting, Mtn. Biking/Cycling or anything else along those lines is quite costly. Once you begin to do it frequently you get into replacing gear and if you are already predisposed to having fancy new trinkets it only gets worse (yearly replacements). Renting until you are certain what you want is not an option in most cases as the rental items you find for these activities are usually some price point packages thrown together by corporate that don't cost them much and are fairly mediocre products or they are pieces of heavily used equipment from the staff that currently work at the store, politely donated when they upgraded to their new gear. Every once in awhile if you decide to buy from these shops they will discount your purchase with whatever rental costs you incurred which adds to the benefit of renting, but not always.
I almost always buy my equipment new and based on reviews and recommendations, making sure to do my homework as thoroughly as possible. Has this bitten me before? Yes. Would it keep me from doing it with a new sport like Scuba diving? No. I guess having the background I do, I'm used to the cost associated with playing outdoors and Scuba does not seem any different from the others as far as over-flooded markets with name-brands, sub-brands and the chances you take buying costly equipment. Combine that with the fact that I live in an area where there are only 3 dive shops immediately available with limited gear selections between the 3 and I had no other choice but to shop online.
I also see a lot of people giving advice to buy from your LDS as they will be more willing to help you later down the road. This implies that if you bring in gear purchased from somewhere else they'll be less inclined to offer assistance. Of the 3 shops near me, only 1 has been friendly and outgoing, the other 2 were either preoccupied with themselves or I had novice stamped on my forehead and they weren't interested in helping me (I've seen others post about this same sort of thing). Shouldn't shops be going out of their way to help any diver or any prospective divers that happen to walk through the door with whatever it is they need, regardless of where they bought their gear or did their training? It seems to me shops make the majority of their income from retail sales and not from certifications, so shouldn't they be trying to engage each customer and help them find what it is they need, even if this means pointing them to the shop down the road or if it only means helping them maintain that level of "stoke" they got from their first time diving? What's with the attitude?
All that being said, I have one last question for those that dive 75 times a year or more. What piece of gear do you find yourself replacing the most and is it because of wear and tear or because you, not unlike me, have to have the newest toys and don't mind the hassle of selling the old.
My experience with gear comes from playing outdoors in the mountains and none of the activities I participate in, with the exception of possibly frisbee golf
, is cheap. The equipment you need for Climbing/Mountaineering, Skiing/Snowboarding, Kayaking/Rafting, Mtn. Biking/Cycling or anything else along those lines is quite costly. Once you begin to do it frequently you get into replacing gear and if you are already predisposed to having fancy new trinkets it only gets worse (yearly replacements). Renting until you are certain what you want is not an option in most cases as the rental items you find for these activities are usually some price point packages thrown together by corporate that don't cost them much and are fairly mediocre products or they are pieces of heavily used equipment from the staff that currently work at the store, politely donated when they upgraded to their new gear. Every once in awhile if you decide to buy from these shops they will discount your purchase with whatever rental costs you incurred which adds to the benefit of renting, but not always.I almost always buy my equipment new and based on reviews and recommendations, making sure to do my homework as thoroughly as possible. Has this bitten me before? Yes. Would it keep me from doing it with a new sport like Scuba diving? No. I guess having the background I do, I'm used to the cost associated with playing outdoors and Scuba does not seem any different from the others as far as over-flooded markets with name-brands, sub-brands and the chances you take buying costly equipment. Combine that with the fact that I live in an area where there are only 3 dive shops immediately available with limited gear selections between the 3 and I had no other choice but to shop online.
I also see a lot of people giving advice to buy from your LDS as they will be more willing to help you later down the road. This implies that if you bring in gear purchased from somewhere else they'll be less inclined to offer assistance. Of the 3 shops near me, only 1 has been friendly and outgoing, the other 2 were either preoccupied with themselves or I had novice stamped on my forehead and they weren't interested in helping me (I've seen others post about this same sort of thing). Shouldn't shops be going out of their way to help any diver or any prospective divers that happen to walk through the door with whatever it is they need, regardless of where they bought their gear or did their training? It seems to me shops make the majority of their income from retail sales and not from certifications, so shouldn't they be trying to engage each customer and help them find what it is they need, even if this means pointing them to the shop down the road or if it only means helping them maintain that level of "stoke" they got from their first time diving? What's with the attitude?
All that being said, I have one last question for those that dive 75 times a year or more. What piece of gear do you find yourself replacing the most and is it because of wear and tear or because you, not unlike me, have to have the newest toys and don't mind the hassle of selling the old.
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