Gear check and advice - wall of text haha

[AGNZ]

Update:

Completed our PADI course and have been on a few open water dives now; absolutely loving it! Purchased all the gear above excluding the computer (just borrowing the club one for a few months until I get my experience up). I used the rental equipment for the pool sessions and then my own equipment for most of the open water sessions.

My only word of caution for anyone with the SS BP Wing and harness is dont drop it! Totally my own fault........however I hung the harness, wing and back plate up to dry and the rack i had it on broke from too much weight (this was after a few days hanging on the same rack). Consequently the impact caused the back plate to cut right through the wing, pretty gutting but thats life. Taking it into the Dive Shop to see if it can be repaired but I am expecting it to be a right off as its a pretty decent hole and pretty sure it went through both sides of the bladder!

p.s. my instructor was not that impressed when I turned up with a BP/W despite his boss selling me the equipment haha. His disappointment was short lived as being a free diver I found the practical skills pretty straight forward leaving him all the time to deal with other divers who struggled with clearing masks and buoyancy etc. However, there was probably a 60min period where a felt like a real dick for having my own gear.

Next step: Advanced Open Water in February, and a few dives over the Xmas summer break!

 

[gcarter]

Update:

Completed our PADI course and have been on a few open water dives now; absolutely loving it! Purchased all the gear above excluding the computer (just borrowing the club one for a few months until I get my experience up). I used the rental equipment for the pool sessions and then my own equipment for most of the open water sessions.

My only word of caution for anyone with the SS BP Wing and harness is dont drop it! Totally my own fault........however I hung the harness, wing and back plate up to dry and the rack i had it on broke from too much weight (this was after a few days hanging on the same rack). Consequently the impact caused the back plate to cut right through the wing, pretty gutting but thats life. Taking it into the Dive Shop to see if it can be repaired but I am expecting it to be a right off as its a pretty decent hole and pretty sure it went through both sides of the bladder!

p.s. my instructor was not that impressed when I turned up with a BP/W despite his boss selling me the equipment haha. His disappointment was short lived as being a free diver I found the practical skills pretty straight forward leaving him all the time to deal with other divers who struggled with clearing masks and buoyancy etc. However, there was probably a 60min period where a felt like a real dick for having my own gear.

Next step: Advanced Open Water in February, and a few dives over the Xmas summer break!

Pinch flats suck.

FWIW, I always hang mine partially inflated, not bar tight. Some level of inflation might help prevent a pinch flat if you drop it again.

Glad to hear you are happy with your gear.

 

[AGNZ]

Pinch flats suck.

FWIW, I always hang mine partially inflated, not bar tight. Some level of inflation might help prevent a pinch flat if you drop it again.

Glad to hear you are happy with your gear.

Requires a new bladder and two patches to the protective outer layer.....they were pretty surprised at how much damage there was. When I rework the rack in my garage its going to be much stronger and closer to the ground thats for sure.

I cannot fault the gear, even though I don't have a great deal of experience the other Divers at the club all complemented me on making a good choice in gear setup (well excluding my initial Dive Instructor). The Tech Dive instructor helped me adjust the gear and another tech DM took me out for a skills session after one of the PADI lessons.

Also found a near new second hand Aqualung Libra BCD for my wife for XMAS as she enjoyed diving more than she initially thought, picked it up for 1/4 retail price!

We have found the SCUBA community to be on the whole, extremely friendly and the Dive Club makes it easy to build confidence in the water as everyone is keen to teach you their little bit.

 

[gcarter]

I mounted a piece of metal electrical conduit across the width of my garage (10') using shower rod brackets like these:

This type of flange makes it easy to remove if necessary and pop it back in later. Cost me all of $20 start to finish.

After a dive it is often holding 2 x BP/W with steel plates, 2x7mm fullsuits, 2x7mm shorties, gloves, hoods, boots, regs, all on various hangers. I have been doing this for ~ 5 years now and it does not complain about the weight at all.

 

[Bierstadt]

Also glad to hear it worked out for you. I am amused when a strictly recreational dive instructor disapproves of BP/W rigs; they are the ones missing out, lol. Second what @gcarter said about keeping your bladder partly filled to mitigate against pinch flats. That said, I doubt it would have helped in your case unless you had it fully inflated, which you don't want to do. Happy bubbles!