Certified as of today

[Nikkib]

to be a smart new diver, you should go find a local dive shop (LDS) where the staff knows that they are doing, where they value you as a customer, where they will help you develop as a diver, and will work with you on getting the best and right gear for you.
this is not an easy thing to find!

if you are going to dive regularly, buying used gear may save money but not be best. I tell my students to buy new quality gear. Too much of what you find on e-bay and such is older stock and out of warranty. i've had several students come to me with that great deal they got only to find parts are no longer available.

a good LDS is the backbone of the dive industry. It should be a place you can go to just talk about diving and where you go to meet local divers and where to find out about upcoming dive trips. A good LDS will just give you that 79 cent part when you need one. A good LDS will meet the price of that stuff on the internet. You can create a relationship and yes....a friendship with a good LDS.

The LDS i frequent is Stuart Scuba in Stuart, Florida (www.stuartscuba.com). The owners are on-site, the staff well trained and experienced. I had a problem with a deco cylinder and i needed a new one. They didn't have one in stock but the owner loaned me his personal deco cylinder. That is the kind of service that you can't get on Craig's List. After that i started giving all my LDS business to them.
Several months ago, my relationship with them deteriorated and they made it clear that they no longer wanted me as a customer. So now, i am part of the senior staff at Stuart Scuba!

We are all divers in the shop and most of us are instructors for multiple agencies and most of us are trained to very high levels (tec, trimix, cave). We match prices on the internet and do not bother selling stupid crappy stuff to our customers. We try and focus our customers on what they really need to grow with and enjoy this sport.

If you are ever in Stuart Florida, come say "hi"!

Thx for the info, and I will

 

[KeithG]

this ^^ is the koolaid i was talking about.

 

[Nikkib]

this ^^ is the koolaid i was talking about.

Gotcha Thx

 

[Nikkib]

I suggest you spend lots of time reading thru new and old threads on SB. This will help to fine tune your BS filter. You will need it.

There are two extremes (you may find you slot somewhere in the middle?):
a) drink the koolaid and blindly buy everything from your LDS
b) fully learn about your gear and then buy the proper stuff from the proper place (some online, some LDS)

If you are a) above, then you can stop reading now...

Somethings need to fit to work properly (like a mask). Use your LDS for these purchases. I also buy booties at my LDS. My divebuddy wants a new BCD, this will be bought locally not online since fit is important.

Other things are pretty generic and can often be purchased cheaper online and delivered quicker than your LDS: dive lights are an example.

Some gear is highly specialized and your preference may not be carried locally - think camera gear, custom prescription masks or custom fit wetsuits...

Lots of gear is hyped like crazy by the marketing folks: snorkels, fins, regs & computers...

Asking questions is the first step! Applying your BS filter is the next.

would you recommend purchasing fins online, and what are some trusting sites, one lady in my OW ting bought hers from leasure pro, are they ok?

 

[kelemvor]

Almost all online stores are a local shop somewhere. I've bought a few things from diverightinscuba.com and scuba.com. As I understand it, the former is a store in the great lakes area, and the latter somewhere in California.

Fins can hurt if your foot doesn't fit well into the foot pocket. I have a (used) pair that I bought, but don't use because of this problem. I'd hesitate to get them online. I would buy a regulator, computer, miscellaneous stuff (like SMB, whistles, other gimmicks) online if I needed.

I'm fortunate in that I've got probably 5 dive shops within a 15 minute drive. If you've got more than one, you should check them all out. Usually shops sell only a handful of brands. Then that shop will tell you anything other than their brand is low quality or dangerous. Some shops don't do that but many do.

There's this whole concept of "grey market" that a lot of online scuba stores use. I won't go into detail there but it generally means the manufacturer won't honor the warranty on your item. You can avoid it by simply checking with a manufacturer to see if the store you've chosen is an authorized re-seller of whatever brand item you're looking at. It takes a few minutes to look it up, but when the warranty on something that might cost a few hundred dollars at stake, I take the time. Leisurepro in particular is notorious for this practice, but they're far from the only ones who do it.

I support my local dive shop (LDS) when it makes sense. If a pair of fins is $100 online and $110 in the store, I'll buy it in the store. If it's $150, the store is either going to price-match or not get the sale. They aren't a charity after all.


Also, I have had numerous good experiences buying used gear. Mostly from the for sale section on scubaboard, or in a diveshop that has used stuff. Just consider that most used gear will need to be checked out by a technician at a local store - which costs a few bucks extra.

One thing you don't want to do is burn bridges at your local store. At some point you'll need them for service, or to buy air fills, or something else. Keep up the relationship, buy from them when it makes sense, but don't be a sucker.

 

[KeithG]

would you recommend purchasing fins online, and what are some trusting sites, one lady in my OW ting bought hers from leasure pro, are they ok?

fins need to fit. If you wear booties, then that can affect the fit as well. my second set of booties screwed up the fit of my fins so the booties got replaced fairly quickly. I learned from that.

Some LDS have fins that your can try in their pool. Or maybe they have different types in their rental fleet.

 

[WarrenZ]

For what its worth my local dive shops are worthless however my LDS (Long-distance Dive Shops) are Dive Right In Scuba and Dive Gear Express.

 

[KeithG]

fins need to fit. If you wear booties, then that can affect the fit as well. my second set of booties screwed up the fit of my fins so the booties got replaced fairly quickly. I learned from that.

Some LDS have fins that your can try in their pool. Or maybe they have different types in their rental fleet.

To be clear - I would buy fins that I tried on and swam with from my LDS. Being able to try things on is the advantage of purchasing through an LDS. I do not believe in using my LDS as a "fitting room" and then ordering the product online. We just paid through the nose to purchase a new BCD for my divebuddy at a LDS. We could have confirmed the size and then ordered online, but that's not cricket. I am willing to pay a premium for service that an online supplier can not provide.

But: I just received a dive light in the mail the other day. None of my LDS stocked the brand / model I wanted (LDS == limited selection). I knew the light and it was on deep discount clearance sale online. It cost less than 50% of buying a comparable light at a LDS.

 

[TkdDiver]

I bought my first BC after 6 months and ~35 dives but it wasn't a jacket style like you probably used in your class, both of my instructors are certified tech divers as well and only use a backplate and wing combo. If you think you have any potential of doing technical diving (wreck, cave, deep, etc) then seriously look into those configurations. If not still do the research because it's not just for tech divers the BP/W works in for recreational diving too.

 

[Nikkib]

Almost all online stores are a local shop somewhere. I've bought a few things from diverightinscuba.com and scuba.com. As I understand it, the former is a store in the great lakes area, and the latter somewhere in California.

Fins can hurt if your foot doesn't fit well into the foot pocket. I have a (used) pair that I bought, but don't use because of this problem. I'd hesitate to get them online. I would buy a regulator, computer, miscellaneous stuff (like SMB, whistles, other gimmicks) online if I needed.

I'm fortunate in that I've got probably 5 dive shops within a 15 minute drive. If you've got more than one, you should check them all out. Usually shops sell only a handful of brands. Then that shop will tell you anything other than their brand is low quality or dangerous. Some shops don't do that but many do.

There's this whole concept of "grey market" that a lot of online scuba stores use. I won't go into detail there but it generally means the manufacturer won't honor the warranty on your item. You can avoid it by simply checking with a manufacturer to see if the store you've chosen is an authorized re-seller of whatever brand item you're looking at. It takes a few minutes to look it up, but when the warranty on something that might cost a few hundred dollars at stake, I take the time. Leisurepro in particular is notorious for this practice, but they're far from the only ones who do it.

I support my local dive shop (LDS) when it makes sense. If a pair of fins is $100 online and $110 in the store, I'll buy it in the store. If it's $150, the store is either going to price-match or not get the sale. They aren't a charity after all.


Also, I have had numerous good experiences buying used gear. Mostly from the for sale section on scubaboard, or in a diveshop that has used stuff. Just consider that most used gear will need to be checked out by a technician at a local store - which costs a few bucks extra.

One thing you don't want to do is burn bridges at your local store. At some point you'll need them for service, or to buy air fills, or something else. Keep up the relationship, buy from them when it makes sense, but don't be a sucker.

Thx, I've been reading a lot of info on here