Beginner with some (lots) of questions about equipment

[TSandM]

I don't know where in Canada you are, but if you are diving in the Pacific, you will definitely want the overlapping, Farmer John type of 7 mil suit. And yes, it is possible to breathe in such an outfit -- we routinely certify students in wetsuits! It does require quite a bit of weight, but honestly, our students don't need as much weight to sink as I do, in my dry suit and heavy undergarments. I do agree that, if you are going to dive wet in cold water, you really need your own suit, because a well-fitted wetsuit has much less water circulation through it, and is therefore quite a bit warmer.

I also agree that, if you are going to dive in cold water, having an environmentally sealed diaphragm regulator is probably a good choice. Freeflows happen! And although they are definitely surviveable, it's stressful and puts a rapid end to your dive, so avoiding them is the best course, especially if you are able to make your original regulator choice with this in mind.

As far as BCs go, you CAN buy a simple single tank BP/W setup and dive it quite well in cold and warm water. I used my original stainless plate and 30 lb wing for local and tropical diving for quite a while (and have gone back to it, since I am now diving dry everywhere). Although a five pound plate sounds like a lot of weight, if you put most traditional BCs on the scale, they will come close to that, and they don't come apart into pieces for packing

 

[eelnoraa]

I suggest to hold off buying anything for at least the first 25 dives. First get certified, dive with your local community. Pay attention to what they use. Talk to them about their gear choice. Rental is relatively cheap. The last thing you want is to buying something then regret later. Diving equipment in general don't hold much resale value. Most gears, BCD, regs.. are more of personal choices. The only thing in colder I strong suggest is a drysuit. A decent used drysuit isn't much more expansive then a good, new, 7+7 websuit. Drysuit will provide much more comfort in cold water. Again, this totally depend on you location. So go out and see what others are using first.

 

[Cixelsyd]

I suggest to hold off buying anything for at least the first 25 dives. First get certified, dive with your local community. Pay attention to what they use. Talk to them about their gear choice. Rental is relatively cheap. The last thing you want is to buying something then regret later. Diving equipment in general don't hold much resale value. Most gears, BCD, regs.. are more of personal choices. The only thing in colder I strong suggest is a drysuit. A decent used drysuit isn't much more expansive then a good, new, 7+7 websuit. Drysuit will provide much more comfort in cold water. Again, this totally depend on you location. So go out and see what others are using first.

Agreed. Also, you'll know a lot more about your personal preferences by then. For example, many people always wear some type of wetsuit in the water, even in the tropics. However, I tend to be quite comfortable in cooler temps and wetsuits drive me nuts in warm water. I dove in the Keys in April with a wetsuit on and ended up pulling it open to let more water in halfway through the dive becasue I was too hot. I usually go with board shorts and a rash guard in the tropics, no exposure protection at all. Its all personal preference though. Right now you don't know what you need. Better to rent for a while, see what the locals use and what makes you most comfortable in the water, then you can buy exactly what works for you, which is the only thing that matters.

 

[benstudly]

I dive off nor cal in a full 7mm into 50ish degree water and have over 35 dives in the last few months into that type of environement. I hate wearing a 7 full with hood, gloves, and booties... it is very restricting and the weight I wear on my 190lbs frame is brutal to haul on entries and exits. I cannot even begin to imagine wearing a 14. I will buy a drysuit as soon as I have saved enough. Not sure how much colder the water you will dive in is, but I would rent a 14 at least once and wear it before you buy anything, and then start to make your choices. Your air consumption as a new diver in a dry suit will be higher, but it may be a good trade off.

 

[Ac_ita]

Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions
To reply to the diving locations, im in Ontario, but visit BC too because of friends, Italy because of family and the travels to various places for vacations which because of my job end being in Jen/Feb.
Basically ill have to be lugging my stuff around quite a bit and renting other in place, so the most versatile the better.

 

[divingmoose]

hi
As a fellow Canadian I know where your at. I dive West Hawk lake Manitoba from may long 4 c til November 3c. I'm a big guy the cold doesn't bother me that much
I dive Akona 7 m hooded and gloved early and late season during the summer no gloves or hood I also dive Newfoundland summer 10 c gloved and hooded.
When I dive Cozumel it in a 1-2 m Henderson dive skin\rash guard this works for me
Let me add My dive buddy's dive 14m or dry they tell me I'm nuts.
I'm comfortable all of us dive the way we are most comfortable
Experience will help you make the right chose.
I did buy a full 7m and a 7m front zipper shorty I've never wore the 7m shorty
So my thought is rent your gear and try alternate types until you are comfortable
to me brand is not an issue find what suits you cost wise and comfort.
Buy the best Regs you can afford! I made the mistake of being conservative with my first and had 4 free flows in 2 years in the cold water.
I'm diving Sherwood blizzard now I have not had that problem since I switch from the Genisis Yukon.
So check out a few Regs before You buy.
Dive with a buddy and dive safe but mostly dive for fun
DM:

 

[gcarter]

I dive off nor cal in a full 7mm into 50ish degree water and have over 35 dives in the last few months into that type of environement. I hate wearing a 7 full with hood, gloves, and booties... it is very restricting and the weight I wear on my 190lbs frame is brutal to haul on entries and exits. I cannot even begin to imagine wearing a 14. I will buy a drysuit as soon as I have saved enough. Not sure how much colder the water you will dive in is, but I would rent a 14 at least once and wear it before you buy anything, and then start to make your choices. Your air consumption as a new diver in a dry suit will be higher, but it may be a good trade off.

From what I hear / read, if you hate the weight you have to carry now, it is not going to get better with a drysuit.

 

[Mndiv]

I am doing my OW training dives in about a week, so I'm certainly not speaking with experience, but as it seems many to-be divers like myself love to browse SCUBA equipment online and compare prices. From personal research and reviews, etc. I think my final choice are the EDGE Epic regs set (comes environmentally sealed, adjustable breathing performance, nylon braided hoses) for$420.00 for octo, primary, and 1st stage sold by James Lapenta who is actually present on SB. I know that this is life support equipment and not a place to cut corners but I believe the drastic price difference is not a matter of cutting corners in this case vs. buying from a smaller non name brand company, which offers a much higher degree of personal assistance. Now I'm from Minnesota so I can't say I know shipping rates to Canada and so on, and the availability to get the regs serviced is also something I would definitely look into as that can be a make or break when buying regs.

I guess what I'm getting down to is the least I would do is check out the EDGE Epics and I think you will be pleasantly surprised

This is the EDGE Epic on the company website: Epic Reg Set Cold Complete
And this is James Lapenta's website who sells the regs: Welcome to UDM Aquatic Services

Take a look around - Cheers, hope that helps!

 

[FinnMom]

If you will spend most of your diving year around cold water, you will need something like 7mm + 5mm of neophrene over your torso area. A suit setup like that with boots, gloves & hood is going to run at least $300. For that same money you could be vastly more comfortable and have a hugely longer diving season (Jan 1-Dec 31) if you bought a drysuit. Excellent but less expensive suits don't cost much more, look at DiveRite & Ursuit for example.
Wish I had done so from day one & did not repeat the mistake with my kids.
Have an excellent wetsuit, but it cost me more than my daughter's Waterproof-brand drysuit and the kid's drysuit, being neophrene, works great even @at 2C and 45 mins with just high-tech long underwear underneath, no expensive undersuit.

 

[The_Ghost]

From my experience rent for the first 25 dives which someone already said. Also try all different kinds of gear before you buy. I was lucky to finda LDS which let me take a handfull of regulators to the pool to test out. Then just rented a a couple different styles of BCDS for a weekend dive to make my decisions. Also to help the pain on the wallet don't purchase it all in one go.... mask and fins one year, BCD the next, REGs the year after. aim around your B-day so maybe someone else fits the bill!!