Basic Dive Equiptment - Aqualung

[ljpm]

There is a lot of good used gear on the market through Craig's List. If you can find excellent equipment that someone used only a few times before being distracted by the next shiny object. This is a good strategy as long as you meet a couple caveats. First, calculate service into the cost of the gear. How much is it going to service equipment to make it fully usable? Are you willing to be patient? It might take a little bit of a wait for the right deal to show up.

+1 There are some really good deals out there if you are patient and know your stuff. I tend to top out at 25% of the price of new gear and still picked up deals on eBay. Like Rich said, factor in service for the gear.

Deep6 is also a very good option if you want new as mentioned by a few people.

 

[CT-Rich]

+1 There are some really good deals out there if you are patient and know your stuff. I tend to top out at 25% of the price of new gear and still picked up deals on eBay. Like Rich said, factor in service for the gear.

Deep6 is also a very good option if you want new as mentioned by a few people.

To be honest, I am very wary of eBay used gear. A lot of shops, good and bad dump used rental gear on eBay. They sell it as they are cycling out old gear with out undermining their own local market. The may have been used 5 times or been sitting a damp rinse bucket for last eight years.

Rather than going on eBay, just ask a shop you trust if they have used gear they are interested in selling in your price range. They save themselves a lot of trouble and time with eBay and you can get a straight up answer about service history. I bought a reg set for my daughter this way and was able to get something that was recently serviced. I could have gotten the same thing online or Craig’s List for the same price, but would have needed to spend another $150 just to know it was properly serviced.

 

[StefinSB]

Tbone’s suggestion is good and I really like the deep6 stuff. However this deal is pretty darn good:

Search results for: 'mikron' - Dive Right in Scuba

Then add the DSSplate/Wing for $500 and you still have money left for maybe a computer.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Some dive shops are willing to give you a package price on product you want to buy by building your own package and will not insist on having a pre-determined package. Ask! My local dive shop did this for me and I am still using the gear happily.

 

[CT-Rich]

Always give the LDS first crack at your business. They likely going to be needed for air fills and other services. So, see what they can put together based on your want and budget.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

An instructor once told me that the best thing I can do is not skim on the regulator and to be ready to spend at least $1000 on a good full reg set.

Im glad I took his advice as your reg set is something which will last you one of the longest in your gear as long as you keep it serviced well and your dives will be so much better.

Rest of the equipment can be entry-level and your dives can still be fun and you can upgrade them as you go along but a good reg from the get go would be my advice.

 

[uncfnp]

Tbone’s suggestion is good and I really like the deep6 stuff. However this deal is pretty darn good:

Search results for: 'mikron' - Dive Right in Scuba

Then add the DSSplate/Wing for $500 and you still have money left for maybe a computer.

That is a good price on a great regulator. It was my first regulator and still my first choice for my recreational dives. It seems that Aqualung has updated the Mikron to an ACD for 2018 and dive shops are discounting the previous model.

I am not a fan of package deals because rarely if ever are all the items the best choice for a diver, especially BCD when fit and feel are so important.

Don’t be in a hurry. Shop your local dive shops. Search the net. Do be cautious of used since as a relatively newish diver it might be difficult to tell bargain from dud unless it is a known reliablr source.

And come back with questions. This part can be confusioning since we divers can have strong opinions about our gear but it can be worthwhile to spend some time weeding through all the info.

 

[hammet]

crap.. i paid over $700 for my micron set.

 

[StefinSB]

An instructor once told me that the best thing I can do is not skim on the regulator and to be ready to spend at least $1000 on a good full reg set.

Im glad I took his advice as your reg set is something which will last you one of the longest in your gear as long as you keep it serviced well and your dives will be so much better.

Rest of the equipment can be entry-level and your dives can still be fun and you can upgrade them as you go along but a good reg from the get go would be my advice.

I would look for a different instructor. This is Just plain nonsense. You don’t have to spend 1k on a well made, excellent breathing regulator. Buy a well fitting BCD or better backplate. This will last literally forever and have a great impact on your diving.

 

[Scuba-Blue-13]

Having just completed the 'Hunt For First Gear' expedition myself I can relate to a lot of this.

The package deals are certainly convenient, and make it very easy to get everything at once, and ensure they're all the same brand/color, but they're not usually the best deal you can get.

I picked up a new Zeagle BCD for myself at a decently discounted price because I asked if there was a better price available from an online retailer.

Got my wife a brand new Luna BCD at a significant discount because I was willing to buy last year's model.

I bought myself a Mares Puck Pro computer for $149 and my wife a used Mares Smart for $200.

I got hung up on regs and couldn't swallow what some of the local shops wanted to sell me ($750+). I just stopped by my LDS again last weekend and discussed my diving history, plans, frequency, etc. Much to my surprise he immediately chose to show me the reg sets he uses for training and offered to sell me a used set (Aqualing Titan 1st & 2nd, Aqualung Octo, and a set of gauges) for $250 but he wanted to service everything first so I'd be getting new innards.

(Yes, I realize I need ot eat my words from my previous post about The Biggest Thing killing Dive Shops)

So while the package is convenient, I saved about $500 by piecing it together myself and not needing brand new and shiny everything. The fact that I buy 2 of everything means I saved about $1K in total.