If you plan to travel with your gear, specifically your reg set then you should consider servicability on the road. Given the current state of affairs with Aqualung, I would not recommend dropping coin on their regulators despite them being good equipment and nearly worldwide serviceability...the next in line with worldwide recognition/serviceability would be Scubapro followed by Mares. While I like Mares for their simplicity, I think you would do well to scope out Scubapro....I don't think you will have any issues finding a shop overseas (Europe, South America, Asia) to service Scubapro regulators, whereas Atomic and Zeagle may be hit or miss.
For drysuit, I would recommend having a wrist cuff ring system installed as OEM instead of waiting...this will give you the option to run either latex or silicone seals, and will afford you the option to add a dryglove system later. I am partial to the Si-Tech QCS oval wrist ring system. In particular, the QCS oval rings give one the most choices for dryglove systems down the road. The other recommendation would be Kubi, but one can only couple the Kubi glove rings with the Kubi cuff side rings.
While you have probably seen loads of discussions about back plates, you will find once you have one, that it is just a bent slap of metal that you strap a tank to and sling on your back....They all pretty much work the same and more expensive ones don't really offer anything over an inexpensive one in the water. I would not hesitate to purchase a DGX bp/w package, especially if you are going with a one-piece webbing harness (hogarthian style)...if you want something adjustable then I would recommend looking at the Sub-Gravity Paragon adjustable harness. In fact, I am considering converting my wife's harness to the Paragon, by cutting her existing one-piece webbing harness and adding similar adjustable metal buckles sourced from Piranhadivemfg.com at nearly half the price compared to the individual hardware pieces sold by Sub-Gravity....but Sub-Gravity makes very nice equipment (my wife and one of my duaghters each have Sub-Gravity small plates).
Also, opinions on drysuits with regard to material type abound (crushed neoprene vs Trilaminate)....both are good. In my eyes the benefit of the neoprene is that one does not need as thick of an undergarment as the neoprene provides some thermal protection, but if you find yourself prefering to dive with a drysuit and the water temp does not necessecitate much thermal protection, a benefit of a trilaminate suite is that one can vary what one wears, from nothing to full-on max thermal protection as the water and air temp dictates....one just has a little bit more flexibility in adjusting for comfort in my opinion.
One last recommendation is to consider a Si-Tech neck ring system. While DUI zip seals have their dedicated followers, and they make it easy to replace neck and wrist seals, the seals themselves are awfully expensive, prohibitively so in my opinion. The Si-Tech neck ring will give you the option of using a silicone, latex, or a neoprene neck seal, and you won't need a 2nd mortgage to pickup a spare set of seals for your save-a-dive kit.
-Z
For drysuit, I would recommend having a wrist cuff ring system installed as OEM instead of waiting...this will give you the option to run either latex or silicone seals, and will afford you the option to add a dryglove system later. I am partial to the Si-Tech QCS oval wrist ring system. In particular, the QCS oval rings give one the most choices for dryglove systems down the road. The other recommendation would be Kubi, but one can only couple the Kubi glove rings with the Kubi cuff side rings.
While you have probably seen loads of discussions about back plates, you will find once you have one, that it is just a bent slap of metal that you strap a tank to and sling on your back....They all pretty much work the same and more expensive ones don't really offer anything over an inexpensive one in the water. I would not hesitate to purchase a DGX bp/w package, especially if you are going with a one-piece webbing harness (hogarthian style)...if you want something adjustable then I would recommend looking at the Sub-Gravity Paragon adjustable harness. In fact, I am considering converting my wife's harness to the Paragon, by cutting her existing one-piece webbing harness and adding similar adjustable metal buckles sourced from Piranhadivemfg.com at nearly half the price compared to the individual hardware pieces sold by Sub-Gravity....but Sub-Gravity makes very nice equipment (my wife and one of my duaghters each have Sub-Gravity small plates).
Also, opinions on drysuits with regard to material type abound (crushed neoprene vs Trilaminate)....both are good. In my eyes the benefit of the neoprene is that one does not need as thick of an undergarment as the neoprene provides some thermal protection, but if you find yourself prefering to dive with a drysuit and the water temp does not necessecitate much thermal protection, a benefit of a trilaminate suite is that one can vary what one wears, from nothing to full-on max thermal protection as the water and air temp dictates....one just has a little bit more flexibility in adjusting for comfort in my opinion.
One last recommendation is to consider a Si-Tech neck ring system. While DUI zip seals have their dedicated followers, and they make it easy to replace neck and wrist seals, the seals themselves are awfully expensive, prohibitively so in my opinion. The Si-Tech neck ring will give you the option of using a silicone, latex, or a neoprene neck seal, and you won't need a 2nd mortgage to pickup a spare set of seals for your save-a-dive kit.
-Z
