Togalive
Contributor
Well I finally got all my new gear from scubatoys wet for the first time this week, and I have to say, today was the BEST dive I have ever had to date 
The investment in my gear was a huge one for me as an incoming college student, and I had buyers remorse from the moment I pressed the checkout button, atleast until I got to use all of it! Heres my breakdown of how the gear felt to a newbie.
Zeagle Brigade BCD: Needless to say, I was really impressed with this BCD the moment I pulled it out of the box. I had my heart set on a good industrial strength back-inflate from the moment I finished up my OW cert using rental jacket-style BCD's which made me feel like I was in a straight jacket, and this unit matched all of my expectations. Its got just the right number of D rings, all of which are stainless steel, and it fits me perfectly thanks to scubatoys' ability to mix and match different sized parts (I actually am using a medium shoulder strap assembly with a small waist assembly). I found the weight pockets to be a bit on the difficult side to get into once in the water, but eventually I worked out a system, and I would highly recommend the yellow "weight thingies" as they have proven to be extremely useful at keeping all my soft weight pouches together. Anyways, once I was in the water with the BC, it was extremely comfortable and stable, which was nice considering as this was my first back inflate I half expected to be flat on my face on the surface and very topsy-turvy while at depth. Overall I felt very free to move as I liked without worrying about sending myself spiraling around
Oceanic Veo 2.0 Swiv Console w/ SPG: I LOVE this computer! We already had an Uwatec Aladin Prime wrist computer, which while an impressive piece of equipment, isnt at high up my list as this one is. The backlight is easy to use, the menu's are intuitive, and it seemed to show me exactly the information I wanted when I wanted it. Not to mention, it is a good 50% smaller than the analog depth/spg console my father was using, so thats a plus for compactness.
Aeris ION/AT400: This regulator is great! I got to use some very nice ScubaPro equipment during my certification, and I actually found my Ion to breathe just as easily, if not easier than the second stages we used during cert dives (mind you they were rentals, so that does account for some wear and tear, we used R395, S555). Overall I really liked having the main adjustment knob being able to turn to the point where the reg free flowed if I wanted. It allowed me to keep very easy breathing throughout the dive, and when I surfaced I just switched the predive/dive switch and no more freeflows While I am very babying towards all my gear (for any activity) I found the DVT to provide an extra layer of peace of mind.
Oceanic Alpha 8 Octo: Two words. Breathes Easy. I'm confident in saying that this octo will be at my side ready to perform when I need it to, quality seems good as well.
So, anyways, todays dive was my best dive yet We headed out early (in the water by 7:00) and visibility was great since the boats had not yet had time to stir up all the sediment, the water was colder overall, but the thermocline was much less "dramatic" than usual. The fish were out in force, and I got to put all my gear to the test, and it all performed better than I had ever imagined it would. Buoyancy was a snap once the bc was weighted correctly, eventually getting to the point where on a single breathe I could ascend/descend all I wanted to just by breath control. I even got comfortable enough where I started to bob around completely upside down for awhile (found it very helpful for practicing buoyancy control btw) just to confuse all the bass which were already very curious, no reg free flow occurred/still breathed great. In the end it was my first time ever that "diving" became "flying" as I got to do all the barrel rolls my heart desired, and where buoyancy control became second nature and I finally got to not just watch the environment, but almost become a part of it, all the while the fish just followed along
Happy Diving!
Toga
P.S: I'd highly recommend scubatoys, they beat out LP by a mile and I found them to be very helpful (I probably called to ask questions atleast 15 times).
The investment in my gear was a huge one for me as an incoming college student, and I had buyers remorse from the moment I pressed the checkout button, atleast until I got to use all of it! Heres my breakdown of how the gear felt to a newbie. Zeagle Brigade BCD: Needless to say, I was really impressed with this BCD the moment I pulled it out of the box. I had my heart set on a good industrial strength back-inflate from the moment I finished up my OW cert using rental jacket-style BCD's which made me feel like I was in a straight jacket, and this unit matched all of my expectations. Its got just the right number of D rings, all of which are stainless steel, and it fits me perfectly thanks to scubatoys' ability to mix and match different sized parts (I actually am using a medium shoulder strap assembly with a small waist assembly). I found the weight pockets to be a bit on the difficult side to get into once in the water, but eventually I worked out a system, and I would highly recommend the yellow "weight thingies" as they have proven to be extremely useful at keeping all my soft weight pouches together. Anyways, once I was in the water with the BC, it was extremely comfortable and stable, which was nice considering as this was my first back inflate I half expected to be flat on my face on the surface and very topsy-turvy while at depth. Overall I felt very free to move as I liked without worrying about sending myself spiraling around
Oceanic Veo 2.0 Swiv Console w/ SPG: I LOVE this computer! We already had an Uwatec Aladin Prime wrist computer, which while an impressive piece of equipment, isnt at high up my list as this one is. The backlight is easy to use, the menu's are intuitive, and it seemed to show me exactly the information I wanted when I wanted it. Not to mention, it is a good 50% smaller than the analog depth/spg console my father was using, so thats a plus for compactness.
Aeris ION/AT400: This regulator is great! I got to use some very nice ScubaPro equipment during my certification, and I actually found my Ion to breathe just as easily, if not easier than the second stages we used during cert dives (mind you they were rentals, so that does account for some wear and tear, we used R395, S555). Overall I really liked having the main adjustment knob being able to turn to the point where the reg free flowed if I wanted. It allowed me to keep very easy breathing throughout the dive, and when I surfaced I just switched the predive/dive switch and no more freeflows
While I am very babying towards all my gear (for any activity) I found the DVT to provide an extra layer of peace of mind. Oceanic Alpha 8 Octo: Two words. Breathes Easy. I'm confident in saying that this octo will be at my side ready to perform when I need it to, quality seems good as well.
So, anyways, todays dive was my best dive yet
We headed out early (in the water by 7:00) and visibility was great since the boats had not yet had time to stir up all the sediment, the water was colder overall, but the thermocline was much less "dramatic" than usual. The fish were out in force, and I got to put all my gear to the test, and it all performed better than I had ever imagined it would. Buoyancy was a snap once the bc was weighted correctly, eventually getting to the point where on a single breathe I could ascend/descend all I wanted to just by breath control. I even got comfortable enough where I started to bob around completely upside down for awhile (found it very helpful for practicing buoyancy control btw) just to confuse all the bass which were already very curious, no reg free flow occurred/still breathed great. In the end it was my first time ever that "diving" became "flying" as I got to do all the barrel rolls my heart desired, and where buoyancy control became second nature and I finally got to not just watch the environment, but almost become a part of it, all the while the fish just followed along Happy Diving!
Toga
P.S: I'd highly recommend scubatoys, they beat out LP by a mile and I found them to be very helpful (I probably called to ask questions atleast 15 times).
