First off let me say that everything I have read on this board about Scubatoys has been true for me so far. Joe (at Scubatoys) has been the most patient and helpful person I could ask for in helping me pick out gear for both my wife and myself. Not only was he helpful, but he matched prices without any argument or discussion, gave me the Scubaboard discount on items that were not price matched, and overall made the experience far less painful and far more enjoyable than I had ever hoped. I'll post a followup once the gear arrives, but so far I have nothing but my heartfelt praise and thanks to Scubatoys.
Now on to the fun stuff! We finally placed the order this morning, after going back and forth (and asking several questions here on Scubaboard)!! We are planning on heading down to Roatan this fall for a six month stint to go through DMT and IDC, so we wanted gear that was appropriate to learn and teach in. As always, my hat is off to the DIR and tech divers, but I was looking for some more traditional gear for my first purchase. In a few years when I come back groveling for advice on DIR you are all welcome to bring this up and tell me I should have DIR the first time.
HIS:
BCD: Oceanic Probe LX
Reg: Oceanic Delta IV 2nd stage matched with Oceanic Delta 3 Titanium TDX5 1st stage
Octo: Oceanic Swivel 180
Computer: Oceanic Pro Plus 2
Extras: Spinner Knife, Princeton Tec Eco-Flare Tank Light, Seacure Mouthpiece, UK Mini Q40 eLED Plus, Dive Alert
Bag: (FREE) Oceanic Voyager 3
HERS:
BCD: Oceanic Isla (hey, my wife liked the specs/look better than the Hera, and the price was so incredible I just couldn't see picking anything else)
Reg: Oceanic Delta IV 2nd stage matched with Oceanic Delta 3 Titanium TDX5 1st stage
Octo: Oceanic Swivel 180
Computer: Oceanic Pro Plus 2
Extras: Princeton Tec Eco-Flare Tank Light, Seacure Mouthpiece, UK Mini Q40 eLED Plus, Dive Alert
Bag: (FREE) Oceanic Voyager 3
We also picked up some various accessories (snap-bolts, BC hanger, etc). All in all, I feel like a kid waiting on christmas... I am quite happy and exited. Thank you to everyone who helped us pick out the gear. Sorry to everyone whose advise I didn't take (I couldn't afford to buy every single recommended BC/Reg!).
Lastly, to those who may wonder why we went Oceanic instead of Zeagle (or Scubapro, or Aeris, etc) - the shop we are getting our DM through is an Oceanic dealer, and I couldn't find a Zeagle dealer in Roatan. I want to be sure we can get parts if necessary, and it helps knowing that our friends already have experience servicing Oceanic gear.
I'll post back next month with opinions of all the gear post-dive. For now, I'm just excited and had to share the good news. I also haven't felt this good making a multi-thousand dollar purchase in years - Scubatoys really came through in getting a package put together that satisfied everything we wanted and then some. No more 'ratty rentals' for us! :no
Edit: One last thing that comes to mind is this - every LDS I've been to has always tried, in my opinion, to upsell... to push you from each price bracket and product to the next until you end up at the most expensive the store has to offer. We don't go for it, and it generally irks me to no end. Dealing with Joe was the exact opposite - not once did he try to push a more expensive product. Instead he just gave opinions and comments about each product I asked about. Talk about making the customer comfortable!
Now on to the fun stuff! We finally placed the order this morning, after going back and forth (and asking several questions here on Scubaboard)!! We are planning on heading down to Roatan this fall for a six month stint to go through DMT and IDC, so we wanted gear that was appropriate to learn and teach in. As always, my hat is off to the DIR and tech divers, but I was looking for some more traditional gear for my first purchase. In a few years when I come back groveling for advice on DIR you are all welcome to bring this up and tell me I should have DIR the first time.
HIS:
BCD: Oceanic Probe LX
Reg: Oceanic Delta IV 2nd stage matched with Oceanic Delta 3 Titanium TDX5 1st stage
Octo: Oceanic Swivel 180
Computer: Oceanic Pro Plus 2
Extras: Spinner Knife, Princeton Tec Eco-Flare Tank Light, Seacure Mouthpiece, UK Mini Q40 eLED Plus, Dive Alert
Bag: (FREE) Oceanic Voyager 3
HERS:
BCD: Oceanic Isla (hey, my wife liked the specs/look better than the Hera, and the price was so incredible I just couldn't see picking anything else)
Reg: Oceanic Delta IV 2nd stage matched with Oceanic Delta 3 Titanium TDX5 1st stage
Octo: Oceanic Swivel 180
Computer: Oceanic Pro Plus 2
Extras: Princeton Tec Eco-Flare Tank Light, Seacure Mouthpiece, UK Mini Q40 eLED Plus, Dive Alert
Bag: (FREE) Oceanic Voyager 3
We also picked up some various accessories (snap-bolts, BC hanger, etc). All in all, I feel like a kid waiting on christmas... I am quite happy and exited. Thank you to everyone who helped us pick out the gear. Sorry to everyone whose advise I didn't take (I couldn't afford to buy every single recommended BC/Reg!).
Lastly, to those who may wonder why we went Oceanic instead of Zeagle (or Scubapro, or Aeris, etc) - the shop we are getting our DM through is an Oceanic dealer, and I couldn't find a Zeagle dealer in Roatan. I want to be sure we can get parts if necessary, and it helps knowing that our friends already have experience servicing Oceanic gear.
I'll post back next month with opinions of all the gear post-dive. For now, I'm just excited and had to share the good news. I also haven't felt this good making a multi-thousand dollar purchase in years - Scubatoys really came through in getting a package put together that satisfied everything we wanted and then some. No more 'ratty rentals' for us! :no
Edit: One last thing that comes to mind is this - every LDS I've been to has always tried, in my opinion, to upsell... to push you from each price bracket and product to the next until you end up at the most expensive the store has to offer. We don't go for it, and it generally irks me to no end. Dealing with Joe was the exact opposite - not once did he try to push a more expensive product. Instead he just gave opinions and comments about each product I asked about. Talk about making the customer comfortable!