Best time to buy gear?

[Jim Lapenta]

If you want a deal pick up the phone and call a place. If they won't deal or deviate from advertised prices hang up and call someone else. Black Friday is when you can get some awesome deals from some. Others offer them all year long. We just can't advertise them in some cases. Emails, PM's, and phone calls are cheap ways to find out.

 

[victorzamora]

I know that you're asking: What month is best for scuba gear purchases? However, you SHOULD be asking: What point in my career is best for scuba gear purchases? I'm a 23yr old college student, I've been certified for 9 years and have owned SCUBA gear for a little over a year. I'm glad I waited. I wish I would've waited a little longer. I bought a BP/W instead of a jacket and long hose instead of short hoses.....great decisions. However, I didn't think I was going to get into Cave/Tech/Sidemount (started recently and when I get a job I'm going to be pretty gung-ho about progressing ! I can't wait!!).....it would've saved me a lot of hassle had I have known where I was going to end up. Just, ask yourself why you want to buy gear and where you see yourself going with diving in the next couple years.

If all you want to do is recreational diving and that is NOT going to change, that's fine. I'd still look at a backplate/wing combo and possibly a long hose reg setup before you commit to buying anything. Jim has good deals and is great to deal with.

For a non-Jim example, though, LeisurePro has an Aeris Ex Lite BCD for $180 and Cave Adventurers has a single-tank Hog package for $430. They're both high-quality items for just over $600. I know there are package deals to be had for bp/w and reg setups that aren't too high above that (DiveRightInScuba, for example).