Buy Once, Cry Once DIR rig for recreational diving

[TSandM]

I have traveled quite a lot with my steel plate. Buy the rig that best suits the diving you primarily do. Unless you are diving in warm water with no exposure protection and steel tanks, a steel plate will work fine in warm water.

 

[West.Coast.Diver]

I was where you were about two years ago - it's a path that I have really appreciated and benefited from. I've met great people who have a similar orientation to diving and dive safety, and I've had a ton of fun and learned lots. I'd encourage you to do some GUE training - I actually did GUE Rec 1 after PADI OW and have benefitted tremendously from the instruction. My skills are miles better than what I started with and I am getting more from my diving because of it. Gear is great - looks cool and researching it is fun, but what really counts is what you can do in the water. Personally, I'm looking forward to doubles and Rec 2 in the next year or so. An alternative path is to do GUE Primer followed by GUE Fundamentals, but Rec 1 worked well for me. My buddies did GUE-F after doing PADI AOW and have been pleased with the way they went, too.

Totally endorse the approach to talking to the instructors in your local GUE community. They can give you all sorts of useful advice that is specific to your needs and experience level. I have been so impressed by my GUE instructor - his advice has been bang-on and thoughtful.

As for kit, I dive in the Pacific Northwest and it's cold water diving here year-round. I chose a Heser backplate and Heser Single Tank Adapter, along with Halcyon cam-bands and a 40 lb Eclipse wing. With a Santi BZ400X undersuit to sink, I needed about 20 pounds of lead and I was nicely balanced out. Heser isn't terribly well-known (they're out of Germany), but they machine cut their plates instead of laser cut and the fit and finish is excellent. Whether it's worth the extra money is up to you - it was to me, but I like that sort of stuff. I also picked the Halcyon harness setup. Heser also make some very cool backup lights (which I don't own...have a pair of Halcyon Scouts instead). I also dive a pair of Hollis F1 fins that come with spring straps. Other than that, I'd suggest a good bottom timer (Liquivision Xen was my choice) and the Suunto compass with the Deep Sea Supply bungee mount. I also added a Deep Sea Supply OPV to my wing which was a huge improvement over the stock Halcyon OPV.

Anyway, there is lots of good advice in this thread. If I can be of any service, ask away - happy to share my experiences and choices so far!

 

[Charlesl]

I along with the OP is looking for a DIR rig I can grow with, into more diving as well as eventually progressing to more tech / cave environments since I am in South Florida and will be moving to Gainesville in the next year or so.


Is the

Is this set up DIR compliant? The Dive rite transpac xt

Dive Rite Transpac XT Travel Zenith Package

 

[eelnoraa]

I will definitely suggest OP to get a SS plate for NorCal. Even if you travel sometime, SS plate will still be a good option. The difference between SS and AL is 4lb. Most likely, you will be diving AL80 on vacation, you will need that 4lb anyway. And beside, a backplate isn't that expasnive. If you find the need for an AL plate, you can always buy one later.

---------- Post added July 10th, 2015 at 02:27 PM ----------

I along with the OP is looking for a DIR rig I can grow with, into more diving as well as eventually progressing to more tech / cave environments since I am in South Florida and will be moving to Gainesville in the next year or so.


Is the

Is this set up DIR compliant? The Dive rite transpac xt

Dive Rite Transpac XT Travel Zenith Package

Trasnpac is NOT GUE/UTD approved. You need a rigid backplate, so that soft backpack won't do it. You will also need a one-piece continuous webbing harness, so that "transplate" comfort harness won't do it. I will so NOT recommend that DiveRite quite release weight pockets wither. The inner pocket holding the weight has large corner opening. A 2lb bullet shape weight will slide out.

 

[Charlesl]

Trasnpac is NOT GUE/UTD approved. You need a rigid backplate, so that soft backpack won't do it. You will also need a one-piece continuous webbing harness, so that "transplate" comfort harness won't do it. I will so NOT recommend that DiveRite quite release weight pockets wither. The inner pocket holding the weight has large corner opening. A 2lb bullet shape weight will slide out.

You know, I assumed the harness had a solid back-plate built into it like an infinity setup would have. I see now what you're referring to. Do you recommend any systems that are GUE / UTD that don't break the bank like the halcyon infinity.

 

[elgoog]

eBay+SB forums have been good to me.
If you're looking for new BP/W, DSS, DiveRite, HOG, Light Monkey all come to around $500 for a single tank rig. I've only used DSS and am happy with it so far, no firsthand knowledge of the others.

 

[KevinNM]

DRIS has a package for $379 that looks OK, but I've never seen it in person.

I bought a used Infinity on ebay for $500 myself.

 

[OtherHalf]

A few weeks on eBay will really whittle down your costs. Lots of good deals out there. Order your webbing and hardware and lace it yourself. I like DGE hardware and webbing. You will sooner or later end up with both an Al and SS plate. I'd say start of with the Al. You can add a v-weight to an Al plate but can't shed weight from a SS plate if you're overweighted.

 

[Charlesl]

DRIS has a package for $379 that looks OK, but I've never seen it in person.

I bought a used Infinity on ebay for $500 myself.

DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL - Dive Right in Scuba

Yeah, that looks like a good deal.

I'm also eyeballing this but I'm not sure about the corrosion.

Scuba Back Plate Wing and Regulators Hog D1 DIN SEALED Single Tank Regulators | eBay

 

[Charlesl]

A few weeks on eBay will really whittle down your costs. Lots of good deals out there. Order your webbing and hardware and lace it yourself. I like DGE hardware and webbing. You will sooner or later end up with both an Al and SS plate. I'd say start of with the Al. You can add a v-weight to an Al plate but can't shed weight from a SS plate if you're overweighted.

What do you think about this sale on ebay?

Scuba Back Plate Wing and Regulators Hog D1 DIN SEALED Single Tank Regulators | eBay

or

DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL - Dive Right in Scuba