European first stage for an American diver?

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mabryt

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Location
Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
Hi all-

I live in Monterey, California. But if I buy a SCUBAPRO MK11 DIN first stage in Germany will my American hoses fit, i.e. octopus, SPG, BC inflator hose, etc?

Thanks for entertaining a really basic question!

Stan
 
it should. some older 1st stages like the old poseidons, conshelfs, apeks had non-standard lp ports and the vintage regs had 3/8 hp ports, but adapters can fix that. these days, the port sizes are pretty much standard thankfully.
 
Yes, it'll fit. Allmost all HP Hoses are 7/16" UNF and almost all LP Hoses are 3/8" UNF (there are some 1/2" around, but not for scubapro and it's rather exotic anyway).
 
Hi all-

I live in Monterey, California. But if I buy a SCUBAPRO MK11 DIN first stage in Germany will my American hoses fit, i.e. octopus, SPG, BC inflator hose, etc?

Thanks for entertaining a really basic question!

Stan

of course, it will fit...

but I though the prices were better in US... unless you buy tax-free in germany in a US base shop
 
of course, it will fit...

but I though the prices were better in US... unless you buy tax-free in germany in a US base shop

Funny with those prices... & exchange rates... it always depends... But some diving gear e.g. some computets, not shearwater, appears to come at a a bit of an extra premium in the US.

Anyway, as a non-EU resident you can also buy from any shop that will give you the paperwork to get the sales tax back. Make sure of that upfront, prior to buying ... All you need to do is to be a resident from outside the EU and upon leaving the EU go to the customs office in the departure airport (last one in the EU) show the goods you are exporting, show the paperwork, get some stamps, send that back to the shop and you should get the paid 19% sales tax back.... which has an effect on price comparison... Customs will check that you are a non EU resident indeed... it needs to say so in your passport, I think... If you have a non EU passport but it says in there you are an EU resident then that won't work.

If you leave from e.g from a German airport and transfer in another EU airport and don't care to find out if your actual layover after delays and all that good stuff leaves you the time to find customs and do all that, you can still do it if your checked luggage is checked through. Then you tell the people at the original departure airport check in counter that they cannot have your checked luggage yet and why, they tag it for you and hopefully also sort of tell you where to go to find customs, you bring the particular checked luggage piece there. They do their thing. They may or may not put a tamperproof device (plomb?) on your luggage so the tax-refundable items stay in there... They may or may not want to see the actual item (they should... )
Anyway, then you bring the checked luggage to where the check in counter person told you to to have it "go to the plane". That of course forces you to be content with whatever you bought being checked, inspected in your absence and hopefully still being there when you arrive.

If your flight is at an ungodly time and customs at your departure airport is closed you likely are out of luck for the refund.

If you forget to mail in the paperwork .... out of luck.
If the shop does not receive it or does not follow through... out of luck...

Another potential caveat: Be sure upfront how you would actually be getting that refund... it may not be on the credit card account if the shop does not do that. transferring to an account overseas may come with fees... etc.

Whether you need to declare the goods (or how much of it) if you do or do not and rather risk a fine... is for you to determine. I once paid, I think, 3.5% import duty (declared over the limit, not as a fine) on scuba stuff brought to the US. If the goods are within the free limit (for you or for your whole travelling family, no issue).
If there were to be a trade war going on and punitive tariffs are enacted (usually on cheese, wine, steel and such, hopefully not scuba gear, but who knows) ... or if ypu pay a fine for undeclared goods, you could end up paying more than what you saved.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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