Gear Dilemma

[biggmarty]

Hey-

I have a dilemma about whether I should buy gear or rent it wherever I dive.

Here's the price rundown from the shop that I am being certified through.

They will sell a package that includes:

SeaQuest Balance BCD
Apeks XTX50 reg
Apeks XTX50 octo
Suunto Pressure/Depth Combo
for $1618

and for a Suunto Cobra w/compass add $600
for a total of $2218. Looking around sites like leisurepro, etc. these prices do seem rather high, even though they are supposed to be a special deal. Does this seem high to anyone else? They do, however, include a "bring back a piece of it, and we'll give you a new one" warranty, or so I'm told.

Also, I *hope* to be able to dive 15-20 dives this summer, in addition to my 5 OW checkouts in 2 1/2 weeks. However, there's a possibility that I might only get 5-8 in. Assuming the latter, but also that I will be taking a AOW class in the fall semester. Should I buy my own gear, or not?

I guess the main reason that I want to buy my own gear is because I want to know its entire history. I find it hard to trust life-support gear that I don't know who maintained it and when and who's (mis)used it. (BTW for my checkouts, I'm using gear maintained by my instructor, who is my g/f's cousin and The Dive Shop in Memphis, where he works, so I feel pretty good about it, I guess.) Also, I really don't want to have to "get used to" a new rig every time I try to go on a dive.

We all know how expensive of a hobby I've picked up, so I'd love to hear thoughts/advice/etc. on this subject.

Thanks!

Martin

 

[SkullDeformity]

Lots of people recomend that you own your own regulator first. If you're not sure how many dives you're going to get in, and 20 dives is really not that much anyway, I wouldn't buy much. Plus, as you dive more, likely you will come to the realization that you didn't want this you wanted that! A regulator is a pretty safe first buy.

 

[Bibendum]

Hi Biggmarty -

Having only been certified for two years now and having just bought my gear a year ago...I would recommend that you rent for awhile to get some dives in and try out some different brands of gear. This should help you to figure out what you do and do not want in your own gear set up. At the very least you should wait until after your OW check out dives - in my opinion.

Sure, if you dive a lot, renting can get expensive..but so can buying gear and then realizing that it wasn't what you really wanted/needed.

For instance, when I first started diving I really thought I wanted to get the Suunto Cobra, but when I finally ended up buying my gear I decided that the difference in features between the Cobra and the Gecko weren't worth the extra cash for me and the type of diving I do (such as being able to download diving info., and wireless isn't something I really need/want).

The price you mention seems a little high to me. The LDS I go to has a similar package (but with the AquaLung Legend reg and octo) with the cobra and compass for around $1600. But prices do vary by area, so that could be reasonable in your area.

Good luck.

 

[Texasdivechick]

You may want to ask your OW instructor whether or not you can use your own gear for your OW checkout dives BEFORE you buy. I was not allowed to use my own gear, with the exception of mask, fins, wetsuit, and snorkel. I wanted to try out my BCD, regs, and Suunto Cobra computer but was told that for liability reasons I had to use the equipment maintained and rented by the dive shop. This may or not be the case for you, but if anything, it will give you some more time to save $$ to buy exactly the equipment that you want and not settle for something cheaper, imho. Good luck on your OW checkout dives.

 

[under water]

Are you going to put your own air in the tanks too? Probably not. I would not worry about buying just yet (especially at those prices). Once the purchase fever kicks in it will kick you hard. So better to have taken notes on different types of equipment before that and done some studying around scubaboard. You don't need expensive or new equipment to dive safely. Your dive shops choice in regs are high quality and you are paying for technical performance that you will probably not need for quite some time, if ever.

 

[TravelSimone]

Hey-

I have a dilemma about whether I should buy gear or rent it wherever I dive.

Martin

This questioned is asked and answered every few weeks around here (or so it seems). While there is one camp that likes to buy equipment right away, there seems to be an even larger group of people who will suggest that you first complete your OW and get a few dives under your belt to make sure that you like it enough to invest in the equipment, and also try a variety of equipment to see what you like. It seems that many people rushed out to buy gear right away, just to get rid of it a year later once they knew what they really wanted. If you spend some time doing searches on this subject, you will learn a lot. Just the whole discussion about using a BP/W or a jacket BCD is enough to make a newbies' head spin.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

You may want to ask your OW instructor whether or not you can use your own gear for your OW checkout dives BEFORE you buy. I was not allowed to use my own gear, with the exception of mask, fins, wetsuit, and snorkel. I wanted to try out my BCD, regs, and Suunto Cobra computer but was told that for liability reasons I had to use the equipment maintained and rented by the dive shop. This may or not be the case for you, but if anything, it will give you some more time to save $$ to buy exactly the equipment that you want and not settle for something cheaper, imho. Good luck on your OW checkout dives.

What a crock! If your gear was new or in good shape to not let you use it for class is just plain nuts. Did you have to rent shop gear for the checkout dives? If so then they ripped you off for the rental. I had all my gear before my first pool session. Granted I bought it from the shop but even still we allow students to use their own gear if it's in good shape and safe. We have even serviced regs students bought elsewhere or got from a friend or family member so that they could use the gear THEY WOULD BE DIVING WITH! Did the lds you used sell the brands you had or was it from somewhere else? If from elsewhere there's your answer. They wanted you to be a bulletin board for their lines. Liability my butt!

 

[m3830431]

I am in the camp that says buy it and you will use it. Having said that there is also the fact that if you buy it ans can't eat that is a problem. The package you picked is very good. Ask if you can buy is in stages obviuosly at a greater price but they know they are getting a sale.

Apeks won't warrranty anything bought from an unathorized dealer such as liesurepro. Thant only means you pay for parts. Some people don't have their rega serviced annually anway so you would save the service fee some years.

 

[sytech]

From what I can tell you are anywhere from about $300-$500 more than what you can pay at LeisurePro. If you want to keep "peace" in the family spend the extra and buy it at your local dive shop, though I think the price differential can't warrant the difference.

I use LeisurePro for everything and find them to have the best pricing, service and responsiveness. Regarding the products they sell for which they are not "authorized" dealers they stand behind the products and have qualified personnel to repair them. Also, I had a Cressi-Sub BCD which I bought at LeisurePro replaced by Cressi even though LeisurePro is not an "authorized" Cressi dealer.


Sy

Hey-

I have a dilemma about whether I should buy gear or rent it wherever I dive.

Here's the price rundown from the shop that I am being certified through.

They will sell a package that includes:

SeaQuest Balance BCD
Apeks XTX50 reg
Apeks XTX50 octo
Suunto Pressure/Depth Combo
for $1618

and for a Suunto Cobra w/compass add $600
for a total of $2218. Looking around sites like leisurepro, etc. these prices do seem rather high, even though they are supposed to be a special deal. Does this seem high to anyone else? They do, however, include a "bring back a piece of it, and we'll give you a new one" warranty, or so I'm told.

Also, I *hope* to be able to dive 15-20 dives this summer, in addition to my 5 OW checkouts in 2 1/2 weeks. However, there's a possibility that I might only get 5-8 in. Assuming the latter, but also that I will be taking a AOW class in the fall semester. Should I buy my own gear, or not?

I guess the main reason that I want to buy my own gear is because I want to know its entire history. I find it hard to trust life-support gear that I don't know who maintained it and when and who's (mis)used it. (BTW for my checkouts, I'm using gear maintained by my instructor, who is my g/f's cousin and The Dive Shop in Memphis, where he works, so I feel pretty good about it, I guess.) Also, I really don't want to have to "get used to" a new rig every time I try to go on a dive.

We all know how expensive of a hobby I've picked up, so I'd love to hear thoughts/advice/etc. on this subject.

Thanks!

Martin

 

[greenislanddiving.com]

HI
Maybe check out this link www.scubaeverything.com
A new start-up by the same guys of greenislandadventures.com
They are flexible with prices and willing to help.