First Set of Gear

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I'm wondering if one of the Hog dealers on here could give me a great deal if I were buying the complete setup (backplate/wing/reg package/hoses)... perhaps Piranha or another...
If I went that route... is the 23# HOG enough lift...
 
Depending on how much lift you need, the 23# is probably enough. If you’re primarily diving warm water and/or you don’t need a lot of lift (ex. I don’t need a lot of added weight) you could get by just fine with a 23# wing.

If you’re primarily flying to get to dive sites...the 23# wing is more compact, so that’s something else to think about.

I went with the 32# thinking that it would be more versatile. It has been for me (ex. Ascending with more weight than you went down with), but it is likely more lift than the average person needs.

If you require a lot of added weight and/or want flexibility for the future (ex. Sling a pony bottle, fossil dives, etc.), the 32# wing might be a good idea.
 
If I went that route... is the 23# HOG enough lift...
When diving wet, if you are properly weighted (i.e., neutral with an empty wing and a near empty tank at 15'), the wing just has to provide enough lift to compensate for the weight of the gas in a full tank plus the difference in buoyancy of your wetsuit at the surface versus your max depth.

Practically, this means with an 80cu ft tank and a bathing suit, you'd be fine with a 6 pound wing. Or skip the wing and swim a little :) Add a 3mm suit and you need another 4 or 5 pounds of lift, so a 10 pound wing if there were such a thing. 5mm takes you around 14# and 7mm around 18#. Change to an HP120 and you need to add 3# to all these numbers. I'd add another 2-4 pounds of lift as a buffer in case your weight is not spot on or so you can safely add a hooded vest or go to the next thicker suit.

So up to a 5mm, it's absolutely enough. I've only had 2 wings, a 20# and an 18#. No problems with either wearing up to a 3mm full layered with a 3mm shorty.

Will even work with a 7mm if you are careful about your weighting and using a 100 cu ft or smaller cylinder.
 
@lowwall is spot on, do not worry about having enough lift. Anything around 20 lbs is fine for warm water rec dives, regardless of gear configuration or conditions. For cold water, 30 lb or so is recommended. I dive primarily in cold water (48F - 58F or so), in an 8mm wetsuit for awhile, now in a drysuit. My first backplate and wing is still my only one, it's a 32 lb OMS Mono. I'll happily dive it until it falls apart. Dove it in warm water and it was just fine, but a smaller wing would have been ideal. If I ever start doing lots of warm water diving, I'll pick up a smaller wing.

I'd recommend a stainless plate, it's only a few extra pounds in the checked back when traveling. They typically provide about 5 or 6 pounds of ballast, spread evenly across your back. Which is just about the best place for it to be, both for carrying on land and trimming out in the water. There are some special cases where an aluminum or specialty plastic plates are preferable, but they are not so common.

Don't stress too much about which brand of backplate, wing, or harness to go for. They're all very similar, practically to the point of being interchangeable. Whichever one you go with, you'll probably be happy for a long time. Can't go wrong with a stainless plate, +/- 20 lb wing, and any harness with a crotch strap.

I do agree that the rubber belts from MAKO are fantastic, much better than plastic. If you haven't tried one, I highly recommend it. Some people just don't like belts very much, so trim pockets are another good way to go. With a steel plate, you're only gonna need like 4-6 lbs of lead or so, which would fit in a pair of pockets. Belts, pockets, and lead are all cheap though (like $30), so you can just pick one for now, and later play around with it to see which config works better for you.

Lastly, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned this so far. For 2nd stage regulators, a lot of people like to go for one fancy reg as a primary and one El Cheapo reg as a secondary, figuring that the secondary doesn't see much use anyway. Don't do that. Whether you prefer a primary donate or octo donate, get 2 decent regs. In a reg failure or out-of-gas scenario, you don't want yourself or your buddy to be dealing with a s****y reg. Also, you'll always want to bring a reg parts kits in your travel kit, so it's real nice having them be identical. You're already looking at Deep6 regs, which is what I went with, and I'm very happy with them. Also happy with their support.

Edit: oh, and you mentioned on page 1 that you were looking at either a Perdix AI or a Peregrine or a cheaper computer. I would not recommend a Perdix or Teric right away. $200 computers are fine for what they are, a lot of people start with them, and they are mostly pretty happy. If you can swing it, the Peregrine looks SWEET. If I were in the market for a rec computer right now, I'd definitely buy it. It will be a long (L O N G) time before you're ready for the extra features that tech computers like the Perdix offer -- put that extra $600 toward other gear, or toward just getting out there diving.
 
270# and 46" Waist, 49" chest, I don't think I could squeeze into their 2XL. Though the 46" waist measurement suprised me as most of the pants/shorts I'm wearing are size 40.

The measurement is actual size. A lot of clothing manufacturers fudge a bit on the waist size. My current jeans I wear are 34.. yet several of my dress clothes (more true to size) are 38. I am 6'0", and wear the XXL.

Oh and there's no way you'll fit a Deep6 wetsuit. I've seen them and they are cut pretty trim.

I wouldn't be so sure, the XXL is a large suit :)
 
I'm wondering if one of the Hog dealers on here could give me a great deal if I were buying the complete setup (backplate/wing/reg package/hoses)... perhaps Piranha or another...
If I went that route... is the 23# HOG enough lift...

There is not a lot of margin on these brandsso you aren't going to see too crazy of a deal for a full set of gear because the margins really aren't there. There is a reason these are much cheaper than other brands, and it's not the cost to manufacture the product...

From a manufacturer that is going to take care of you though, you won't get any better than @Deep Six and with them you are dealing directly with the manufacturer instead of through dealers
 
I got something like 5-10% off my HOG stuff when I bought all of my initial setup through my OW instructor/HOG dealer. If HOG is what you want, that’s a nice chunk of change. However, if you’re on the fence...I don’t think the price is going to drive the decision for you (as @tbone1004 was alluding to).
 
Lastly, I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned this so far. For 2nd stage regulators, a lot of people like to go for one fancy reg as a primary and one El Cheapo reg as a secondary, figuring that the secondary doesn't see much use anyway. Don't do that. Whether you prefer a primary donate or octo donate, get 2 decent regs. In a reg failure or out-of-gas scenario, you don't want yourself or your buddy to be dealing with a s****y reg. Also, you'll always want to bring a reg parts kits in your travel kit, so it's real nice having them be identical. You're already looking at Deep6 regs, which is what I went with, and I'm very happy with them. Also happy with their support.

Edit: oh, and you mentioned on page 1 that you were looking at either a Perdix AI or a Peregrine or a cheaper computer. I would not recommend a Perdix or Teric right away. $200 computers are fine for what they are, a lot of people start with them, and they are mostly pretty happy. If you can swing it, the Peregrine looks SWEET. If I were in the market for a rec computer right now, I'd definitely buy it. It will be a long (L O N G) time before you're ready for the extra features that tech computers like the Perdix offer -- put that extra $600 toward other gear, or toward just getting out there diving.
Agree with both of these points.

Don't skimp on the alternate second stage. Regs in general are not where you want to cut corners since you never grow out of a good regset. I'd suggest the Deep 6 Signature here as well. You can save a few bucks by getting the SPG elsewhere.

OTOH, unless you are made of money there is no point in buying more of a computer than you need. The Deep 6 Excursion is is perfectly serviceable for all rec diving unless you have vision issues that require a larger display. And if you do get a Shearwater down the line, it will still work as a backup as they use a similar algorithm.

So my advice is Deep 6 for the regs and computer. Piranha (or DGX) for the rest. It's still a chunk of change up front, but you'll save money by not having to buy everything twice like most of us did when we started out.

Oh, for a wetsuit. If you are going to be in warm water, cheap Chinese is fine. I was happy with Lemorcan from Amazon on my last trip to Cozumel. Some of those brands have really large sizes available.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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