Fire,
What type of diving do you see yourself doing, primarily, this year?
What kind of diving do you see yourself doing over the next 24 months, in terms of classes you would like to take, trips, etc?
If you consider yourself a recreational diver who will be pursuing recreational dive trips, liveaboards, etc., this stuff will be fine. There are better regulators, but this stuff is unlikely to kill you.
If you consider that you might want to pursue any type of technical diving then the opinions are different. Technical diving can perhaps most easily be described as any form of diving where you cannot surface in the event of an emergency. Either a physical overhead prevents surfacing, or a decompression obligation which will kill you if you surface requires that problems be solved at depth. One main concept to deal with this is to ensure that you avoid things that can become problematic BEFORE they become problems.
Plastic 'quick release' buckles, cumberbunds fastened with velcro, little rings and triangles that catch on things, pockets that add drag and contain nothing, and padding that requires one carry extra weight to negate the bouyancy of that padding all fall into a category of "things that can fail or cause problems that can ruin your entire day if they occur below 200'".
The idea behind a backplate and wings setup is that it is incredibly simple and about as failure-proof as can be made. It can be more difficult to get out of without quick releases on each shoulder, but the last thing you generally want to do below 200' is get out of it.
The difference between recreational diving and certain types of technical diving can be as profound as the difference between day-hiking and a 70 mile backpacking excursion. One is much less tolerant of equipment failure, human error or oversight than the other.
This is why I suggest you first decide what type of diving you want to do, or plan to do. A bp/wings rig will work fine for recreational diving, but the reverse is not true.
On the other hand, if you never intend to do any technical diving, this fact is utterly irrelevant to you.
If you are undecided, it can come down to an issue of economics. With either rig costing you between $400 - $500 you must ask yourself how much money you're willing to pay to try one thing now and another later. You could cover both bases with your initial purchases, or you could decide not to.
It depends largely on what you want to do with your diving. And while you are pondering, ponder this...the money you spend on that computer might go for better quality regulators, which are life support. The computer is largely unnecessary, unless you happen to be diving 4 or 5 times a day for several days in a row, on a steady basis. Get the computer after all the more important gear is on-hand. Become extremely proficient with tables. It will come in handy.
FWIW. YMMV.
Doc
What type of diving do you see yourself doing, primarily, this year?
What kind of diving do you see yourself doing over the next 24 months, in terms of classes you would like to take, trips, etc?
If you consider yourself a recreational diver who will be pursuing recreational dive trips, liveaboards, etc., this stuff will be fine. There are better regulators, but this stuff is unlikely to kill you.
If you consider that you might want to pursue any type of technical diving then the opinions are different. Technical diving can perhaps most easily be described as any form of diving where you cannot surface in the event of an emergency. Either a physical overhead prevents surfacing, or a decompression obligation which will kill you if you surface requires that problems be solved at depth. One main concept to deal with this is to ensure that you avoid things that can become problematic BEFORE they become problems.
Plastic 'quick release' buckles, cumberbunds fastened with velcro, little rings and triangles that catch on things, pockets that add drag and contain nothing, and padding that requires one carry extra weight to negate the bouyancy of that padding all fall into a category of "things that can fail or cause problems that can ruin your entire day if they occur below 200'".
The idea behind a backplate and wings setup is that it is incredibly simple and about as failure-proof as can be made. It can be more difficult to get out of without quick releases on each shoulder, but the last thing you generally want to do below 200' is get out of it.
The difference between recreational diving and certain types of technical diving can be as profound as the difference between day-hiking and a 70 mile backpacking excursion. One is much less tolerant of equipment failure, human error or oversight than the other.
This is why I suggest you first decide what type of diving you want to do, or plan to do. A bp/wings rig will work fine for recreational diving, but the reverse is not true.
On the other hand, if you never intend to do any technical diving, this fact is utterly irrelevant to you.
If you are undecided, it can come down to an issue of economics. With either rig costing you between $400 - $500 you must ask yourself how much money you're willing to pay to try one thing now and another later. You could cover both bases with your initial purchases, or you could decide not to.
It depends largely on what you want to do with your diving. And while you are pondering, ponder this...the money you spend on that computer might go for better quality regulators, which are life support. The computer is largely unnecessary, unless you happen to be diving 4 or 5 times a day for several days in a row, on a steady basis. Get the computer after all the more important gear is on-hand. Become extremely proficient with tables. It will come in handy.
FWIW. YMMV.
Doc
