Considering diving, BP/W is ok?

[divin'dog]

I know most of you are going to say I shouldn't buy my gear before getting certified. But I just can't help it, I wanna wear my own gear for the classes. I'm way too excited about scuba...

I'm a snowboard guy and I remember when I bought my first board, I wanted to go for the looks and then someone saved me and pointed me to right direction...

OK, I'll say it. Why don't you wait until you're certified? You'll have a slightly better idea of what you might like to look for and may have the possibility to try some different gear as well as talk to others to find out why they dive with the equipment they have. You'll be able to make a decision with at least having been under the surface. How many weeks do you have to wait until you're certified?

 

[TSandM]

Felipe, the Halcyon Infinity system has the Cinch system, which is a releasing mechanism for the shoulder straps. It also comes with strap padding and a back pad, neither of which are really necessary. Halcyon makes very good gear that sits at a premium price point, but at least they have been in the backplate and wing business since the beginning, which ScubaPro has not.

A friend of ours bought the ScubaPro X-Tek single tank setup, because he gets key man pricing on SP, so I have had a chance to help him set it up, and to see the gear and handle it myself. I honestly wasn't impressed with the quality of the workmanship -- if you compare the appearance of the gear with DSS or Halcyon, it just looks cheaper. I'm talking about the stitching on the wing, and how the grommets are put in -- things like that. But if you buy their stuff, make SURE you don't go for the oversized wing they want to see for a single tank setup. The small doughnut wing they sell is reasonable in size.

If I were you, I'd buy something less expensive than the MK25/S600s. I have them as my doubles regs, and they're great regs, but they're expensive to service, and they're expensive to buy. For single tank diving, if you want to stay with a major name brand, something like the Aqualung Titan is a much better purchase.

I don't want to discourage you from buying gear from your dive shop, but remember their goal is to put you into the highest profit margin equipment they sell. And when you get into things like backplates, unless the shop where you are looking has a significant proportion of backplate users, they may not know what they are talking about. We finally talked the LDS for which Peter and I teach into carrying backplates . . . but we're the ones who sell them, and we still have to go into the shop and help folks who buy them to set them up.

 

[FelipeBR]

The LDS that told me to go with the Halcyon also told me to go with hog as a first choice. I'm starting to consider the Halcyon Infinity, I'll compare both side by side and see. I think I would be embarrassed showing up with something like X-Tek after this thread. As for the mk25/s600, the LDS here has it on sale for 40%off .

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Buy your plate/basic harness used, buy your wing new from H, DSS, or Hog -- in that order. If you're dead-set on an expensive piston reg, save yourself the pain of SP customer "service" and buy an Atomic.


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[Pullmyfinger]

Buy your plate/basic harness used, buy your wing new from H, DSS, or Hog -- in that order. If you're dead-set on an expensive piston reg, save yourself the pain of SP customer "service" and buy an Atomic.


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And then he can experience the pain of paying for Atomic regulator service.
At least according to a recent thread on that topic.

 

[TSandM]

Let's face it -- regulator service is expensive. But if you only own one reg, it's not unmanageable. It's when you have 19 of them that it gets painful . . .

 

[Akimbo]

Are you really going to base this decision on a popularity poll?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The LDS that told me to go with the Halcyon also told me to go with hog as a first choice. I'm starting to consider the Halcyon Infinity, I'll compare both side by side and see. I think I would be embarrassed showing up with something like X-Tek after this thread. As for the mk25/s600, the LDS here has it on sale for 40%off .

If your LDS is a true Scubapro dealer and has that reg set on sale for 40% off then something is wrong.
SP dealers are only allowed to discount regs 10% from retail. At 10% off they are still making 100% markup. So at regular price they are marking it up 110%. If they are giving 40% off that means they are initially marking up the reg 130% (ouch!!).
Scubapro controls the retail prices on all their regs at authorized dealers. If dealers violate the agreement they will get their dealership pulled.

 

[James R]

SP PFL is now at a two year service interval, but you can do it yearly if you want to. You will pay for labor, of course.

I have the ScubaPro x-tek form harness with AL plate and a Halcyon Infinity with SS plate (and others too...heh) I use the xtek with some classes I teach as it's gear the shop sells, the Halcyon isn't. I travel with my Infinity & prefer it over all the others I have. My gf has the Halcyon Infinity pink limited edition and loves it.

 

[diverrex]

I use the SP MK25/S600 and really like them (one for my single tank and one for my pony).

I am grandfathered in on parts for life and now it is only every two years for service.

Having said that no way would I allow myself to be forced to get reg and BC/computer to get free parts for life instead of picking the brand of BC and computer I really want.

And for that matter if I was just buying a reg today I would look at Hog.

I also use the Halcyon Infinity B/P and really like it. Yes it is more costly than others but if you dive a lot over time the cost is not that big of deal.

If a new diver started with a B/PW I really don't think they would realize they were using something different. It would just seem normal. Go for it now, if you dive a lot very likely you will end up with one eventually.