Gear purchase, got a list, looking for advice, new diver!

[Jim Lapenta]

Jim, the reg is 799, and I had never thought about the servicing abroad factor. I assume this is very important, and I like the Hog idea where you can bring the tools. Is there or are there brands that are known for their worldwide use/serviceability?

On a side note, I have read a number of very positive Hog reviews on this site, but I remember something about them only coming with the DIN as of right now?

Aaron, the HOG is currently available in DIN to use with an included adapter if you buy the single tank package that has a list price of 449.99 on my site and includes a sealed cold water 1st stage, 2 identical balanced adjustable high performance seconds, a DIN yoke Adapter, a 7ft primary hose (5ft optional if you like that better, I prefer the 7ft), a 22 inch octo hose, and a bolt snap for the primary. You can add an SPG for a a list price of around 95.00.

However in about a month HOG/Edge Gear will offer a conversion for the reg to yoke that any dealer can install. It will be at additional cost and I don;t have the final number right now but somewhere in the area of $60 USD as far as I know. If someone buys a reg from me not only will I install the kit but will not charge labor to do so. And you will get the DIN parts as well should you decide at some point you want to switch back.

I have been using the adapter for my single tank diving for three years with a BPW and with my Express Tech and have never had an issue with clearance for my noggin.

And just to be clear the kits are components needed to service the reg. You still need to supply the tools or again have an experienced tech take care of it in a pinch.

As far as ease of service worldwide if I did not own HOG's and they were not in existence and service my own regardless of make there are more than a few. If I had to choose from them knowing what I do now about service and the policies of the respective brands my choices would be in this order.

1. Sherwood
2. Dive Rite
3. Oceanic
4. Aeris - interchangeable with Oceanic
5. Cressi
6. Poseidon - except in the US
7. TUSA
8. MARES

I would only take Aqualung and it's affliates or ScubaPro and theirs if nothing else was available. Not because they are not good regs, they are. And yes I said good - not great but good. But because of their restrictive dealer policies and the way they do business I cannot support them by purchasing their products any longer and be ok with myself from an ethical standpoint.

 

[ddmattos]

BPW---custom fit every time and less stuff in front.

My trip to Greece.

Carry on>>>>Shearwater and VT3. Both regs (long hose/short hose and a Dive Rite setup for a stage). Santi drysuit, wreck reel and spool, strobe, backup lights, can light, lifeline.
Checked in >>>>>backplate,wing, STA (disassembles), Undergarments with other clothing. I have a 6ft SMB in the back pouch clipped off to the rear d-ring and an 85lbs lift bag in a Dive Rite pouch on bottom of plate clipped off to the waist d-ring.
I dive the same gear always

 

[victorzamora]

I just chose a BPW setup and am very glad I did so. One thing is I went with the Hollis Elite 2 harness. I'll almost definitely end up switching to just a standard harness. My fiancee might be getting my current harness.

Also, Hollis is owned by the company that owns Oceanic and Aeris (t's their diving division). Also, they're having a free second stage giveaway right now. Stop by any Oceanic retailer (ScubaToyz if online) and you can get their cheaper second stage with a free nicer first stage. From ScubaToys, I think it's $350 right now for a 221/DC3 and a free 212 shipped CONUS. I don't know about shipping to the Great White North....but it's an incredible deal I simply wouldn't pass up.

About the setup, Jim described exactly what I went with. 7' main, short octo, short spg hose, BPW setup. About Jim: he was the first to answer my first post on SB, and I've learned to trust him. Great guy, lots of knowledge. +1 to what he's said so far.

 

[Colliam7]

You have gotten a lot of feedback already. I will echo some of it, and not comment on some areas which are already covered. But, I also have some questions

My intention is to travel a lot for the next 4-5 years, and dive as regularly as possible during the trips, at home, and after when I settle back down...wherever that may be. I currently live in Ontario Canada so gear that is usable in temperate water is a must.

So, while some diving will be travel diving, some of it will be at home. Which environment is the most probably main diving location? Also, your LDS set up this list, so they must be a Zeagle dealer, and an Apeks dealer among other things. Did they suggest any Zeagle regs to consider (e.g. a DS-V, which a nice, very functional reg)?

Apeks XTX200 Yoke w/ Eagress Octo. Great reg. Don't know why you would want / need / have recommended to you a XTX 200. I could see a 50, even a 100. Definitely agree with identicial second stages for the primary and alternate. (And, I will echo the thought of a long hose primary, with a bungeed necklace octo, although that wasn't one of you original questions.)

Apeks 3 gauge Console Go wrist mount computer and wrist mount compass, go with a brass and glass SPG, clipped to your waist strap. Much simpler, cheaper, more practical.

Oceanic Geo Computer

Zeagle Stiletto BCD Nice BCD. I would look at the Express Tech as well, for travel. But, the Stilletto is nice. Personally, if you are doing that, look at a BP/W as well, with a simple one piece web harness. (And, BP/W is simply a BCD, NOT just a TEC BCD, irresepctive of what your LDS said.). Since some / much / most of your diving is cold water, I would look at a SS BP. But, a lot of people will say that is too heavy for travel. I don't think it is but, reasonable people can disagree.

UK SL3 eLED (125 Lumens) Lots of better choices available and several have already been mentioned. Get a flashlight style, LED unit with commonly found batteries (e.g. AA, or C or D - not CR123), since you are planning on traveling.

And a Bare 3mm suit (I'll get a thicker one for up here) and one of those Trilobite line cutters. A 3mm suit is reasonable, if you are sure you will travel a lot. If you think you will dive at home, travel to Europe, dive during the winter even in FL, you might think about a 5mm. Not a big deal, just a thought. Since you are in canada, and planning to spend money, for that matter, having a 3mm full suit for warmer waters, and a drysuit for home diving is even better than two wetsuits of different thicknesses.

What are you going to do with whatever you buy, FIRST? IOW, while travel is in the plans, how likely is it that you will dive your new gear locally first, and for the foreseeable future? In that case, look seriously at a drysuiit right out of the box. And, think about a wetsuit when you strat to travel.

 

[AaronRiot]

Alright, I haven't posted here in a while but I wanted to return for an update. I also want to thank everybody for their advice and opinions. The board in general has been a wealth of information, and all the personal advice in my thread has been more than helpful.




Anyway, I have made a few purchases, and am still unsure about a few.




First of all, I went with the Stiletto BC, but rather than new I found a very lightly used one in the classifieds. My thoughts on this are as follows. In my personal life I have always loved to teach, I have a degree in Child and Youth Work, which basically puts me in the position to help kids/teens who are having a tougher time than most. My last placement was in a custody facility. Anyway, keeping this in mind, I would like to keep the door open to becoming a PADI instructor in the future. Now, I feel strongly that in order to give advice you should know what you're talking about and have the experience to back it up. So, having the BCD and BP/W time put in I would feel good about making informed suggestions to others.



I also purchased a reg setup. I went with HOG. I am pretty pleased to have discovered the company, and I think that the gear will grow with me as a diver. Big thanks to Jim Lapenta for the hookup, and for the honest no-nonsense advice (which seems to be the trend here on SB in general, at least with the people I have communicated with). To go with the reg setup I got the SPG and am looking into a wrist compass.



I have yet to actually make the purchase, but, for a computer I am really leaning towards the Geo 2.0, with the Veo 3.0 being the runner up. After some research these seem to have some great options for the price tag and I should be able to get a few years out of them. I was going to go hi-end, but I'm thinking I should hold off. I have a feeling there will be a technology jump soon away from the Timex watch screens/interface to something brighter and more user-friendly. Just a hunch that's based on nothing specific other than noticing the dive comps of today look like the cell phones of yesterday.



What I'm still stuck on..



The dive lights. I see that I'll need a primary and backup, and that my primary for REC would likely be my future secondary should I choose to move into TEC (deep and cave diving in particular are what I seem to be gravitating towards in the far distant future...in thought at least, lol). I guess my main concerns are I'd like it bright enough for a night dive without scaring off the wildlife I'm trying to see in the first place. I am looking at LEDs though.



The suits. For traveling would it be best to go with a 5mm? And then have the drysuit for colder water? Colliam7: starting my travels this summer and should be in warm reef areas mostly. With the way things look with funding etc, I'll likely be home one month and on the road two. Maybe at some point a 3/6 etc. I would like gear with some versatility but don't plan to do Europe any time soon. Would the 5mm be overkill for this? I've yet to travel south so I'm completely ignorant here. I would rather air on the side of caution and go with the five if I'm not going to be sweating bullets in it. Mostly I would like something I will be comfortable in for travel and for back home in the warmer months. I want to look into a drysuit as well for diving up here when it's cooler, I think there have been very good points made with that respect. I picked up the video and book the other day along with a few others. There is a lot of variability with these suits!

 

[buddhasummer]

Alright, I haven't posted here in a while but I wanted to return for an update. I also want to thank everybody for their advice and opinions. The board in general has been a wealth of information, and all the personal advice in my thread has been more than helpful.





Anyway, I have made a few purchases, and am still unsure about a few.




First of all, I went with the Stiletto BC, but rather than new I found a very lightly used one in the classifieds. My thoughts on this are as follows. In my personal life I have always loved to teach, I have a degree in Child and Youth Work, which basically puts me in the position to help kids/teens who are having a tougher time than most. My last placement was in a custody facility. Anyway, keeping this in mind, I would like to keep the door open to becoming a PADI instructor in the future. Now, I feel strongly that in order to give advice you should know what you're talking about and have the experience to back it up. So, having the BCD and BP/W time put in I would feel good about making informed suggestions to others.



I also purchased a reg setup. I went with HOG. I am pretty pleased to have discovered the company, and I think that the gear will grow with me as a diver. Big thanks to Jim Lapenta for the hookup, and for the honest no-nonsense advice (which seems to be the trend here on SB in general, at least with the people I have communicated with). To go with the reg setup I got the SPG and am looking into a wrist compass.



I have yet to actually make the purchase, but, for a computer I am really leaning towards the Geo 2.0, with the Veo 3.0 being the runner up. After some research these seem to have some great options for the price tag and I should be able to get a few years out of them. I was going to go hi-end, but I'm thinking I should hold off. I have a feeling there will be a technology jump soon away from the Timex watch screens/interface to something brighter and more user-friendly. Just a hunch that's based on nothing specific other than noticing the dive comps of today look like the cell phones of yesterday.



What I'm still stuck on..



The dive lights. I see that I'll need a primary and backup, and that my primary for REC would likely be my future secondary should I choose to move into TEC (deep and cave diving in particular are what I seem to be gravitating towards in the far distant future...in thought at least, lol). I guess my main concerns are I'd like it bright enough for a night dive without scaring off the wildlife I'm trying to see in the first place. I am looking at LEDs though.



The suits. For traveling would it be best to go with a 5mm? And then have the drysuit for colder water? Colliam7: starting my travels this summer and should be in warm reef areas mostly. With the way things look with funding etc, I'll likely be home one month and on the road two. Maybe at some point a 3/6 etc. I would like gear with some versatility but don't plan to do Europe any time soon. Would the 5mm be overkill for this? I've yet to travel south so I'm completely ignorant here. I would rather air on the side of caution and go with the five if I'm not going to be sweating bullets in it. Mostly I would like something I will be comfortable in for travel and for back home in the warmer months. I want to look into a drysuit as well for diving up here when it's cooler, I think there have been very good points made with that respect. I picked up the video and book the other day along with a few others. There is a lot of variability with these suits!

I have a degree in Social Work and when in my home country work with at risk youth and echo possibly becoming an instructor.

Congarts on the HOG regs, many many good reports, a great price and the owner seems like a stand up guy. My next regs will likely be HOGs.

Everyone feels temperature differently, I feel the cold so even diving tropical I wear a full 5mm, locally I wear a 2 piece 7mm FJ with hood but will get out of the water when temps drops below around 62, Id love a drysuit but way out of my budget.

As for lights this largely depends on where you dive and in what conditions. If dark murky water you want a bright light with narrow beam. If diving warm clear tropical waters you want a less bright, so as not to scare everything away, with a wider beam. What is your budget? Personally I use an Mb-Sub X1-VB for tropical diving it has a variable beam. 3-25 degrees so is also good for day time use. I use a X1-800 for darker night diving but do find the beam, 12degrees, is a little wide when the vis is low, think high beams in fog. There are many cheaper lights available with good specs e.g Dorcy and Intova. Good luck.

 

[k ellis]

First of all, I went with the Stiletto BC, but rather than new I found a very lightly used one in the classifieds. My thoughts on this are as follows. In my personal life I have always loved to teach, I have a degree in Child and Youth Work, which basically puts me in the position to help kids/teens who are having a tougher time than most. My last placement was in a custody facility. Anyway, keeping this in mind, I would like to keep the door open to becoming a PADI instructor in the future. Now, I feel strongly that in order to give advice you should know what you're talking about and have the experience to back it up. So, having the BCD and BP/W time put in I would feel good about making informed suggestions to others.

Excellent choice! There is nothing wrong with a Zeagle though I prefer the Ranger LTD. As you have seen in the many responses there are a large number of people who tend to lean towards the BPWs and thats their decision. I personally was not impressed with them and promptly decided against them after about a month of extreme testing but that again is my choice. I cant help it though if I think the Ranger LTD is the cats meow!!!

You sound like you are pretty into the diving thing so I just want to give an early word of caution and most people in here will agree with me I am sure. Most divers I know research and decide they want a product and promptly go out and buy one. Then a few months later and in many cases many dives later they decide they want a new product. What you end up with is a situation like mine and many others in that we have enough gear to supply a third world nations military

As for the Hog I can not offer any advice what so ever as they only thing I know about them is that they exist but I have never seen one nor used one.

As far as suits I guess I am one of the rare ones but I rarely use wet suits in water less then 72 degrees. Even then if I do it tends to be at best a 3 mil. if your ok with used wet suits ask some of the dive shops if they have any suits they are willing to retire. Often times they out source their old gear in order to get a newer product in that may persuade students to want to purchase them. They also do this for the dive sites so many of the older divers might see some new line of gear and want to purchase it. Just a thought there.

As far as a light invest in one that will be quality for your future goals. If you plan to night dive get a VERY good quality one. It gets real dark real fast with out the light working. I personally and only a personal preference love the princeton tec. Though they have their issues like most dive lights they tend to be considered nearly indestructible and are fairly reasonable.

 

[Colliam7]

The dive lights. I see that I'll need a primary and backup, and that my primary for REC would likely be my future secondary should I choose to move into TEC (deep and cave diving in particular are what I seem to be gravitating towards in the far distant future...in thought at least, lol). I guess my main concerns are I'd like it bright enough for a night dive without scaring off the wildlife I'm trying to see in the first place. I am looking at LEDs though.

As several have noted, you have a range of options, including how wide the beam angle is, the light intensity, battery style, etc. I suspect you could buy any one of probably 10 lights and be happy with it. I have several of the Intova lights which I bought as back-up lights, but have used as a primary for night diving, including a) the smaller, narrow beam, 4.7 watt light (Intova 4.7 Watt CREE LED AAA Version) and b) the bigger, brighter (but adjustable intensity) Intova light (Intova CREE LED AA Version) and found both to be functional. I have a small Big Blue light (Big Blue 250 Lumen Adjustable Beam Light) with an adjustable beam that I like as well - a bit more expensive at ~$125, but fits easily in a Goodman Glove, so I can put it on my hand like my canister light head. (And, BTW, the links all happen to be for Northeast Scuba Supply, simply because I knew they stocked the lights.) The Princeton Tec lights are fine - reliable, inexpensive, good track record - although I would recommend a LED light rather than a halogen bulb. Also, if I really want to use a light as a primary, I prefer it small enough to fit in a Goodman Glove (the larger Intova does not fit). One other comment on lights - a canister light is NOT necessarily only a Tec diving light. Yes, it is useful in deeper, darker technical diving, but I also use mine in warm Caribbean waters and love it. I tell my OW students that the two 'best' scuba gear purchases i have ever made are the drysuit and the canister light.

For traveling would it be best to go with a 5mm? And then have the drysuit for colder water? . . . should be in warm reef areas mostly . . . I would like gear with some versatility but don't plan to do Europe any time soon. Would the 5mm be overkill for this? . . . Mostly I would like something I will be comfortable in for travel and for back home in the warmer months. I want to look into a drysuit as well for diving up here when it's cooler, I think there have been very good points made with that respect.

I am not sure there is one 'right' answer for you. For diving in 82 degree Caribbean waters, is a 5mm overkill? Possibly, although I was in Bonaire for a week in September, diving in warm waters and one of the people in my group dove a 5mm throughout the week and was comfortable (I dove a 1mm and was comfortable). Would it be a good choice for diving at home in warmer months, absolutely. Honestly, if you are going to spend most of your time in waters that are above 72 degrees, a 3mm should be fine - you can always add a hooded vest if you find you are a little on the chilly side. The choice probably depends on your experience to date in cool water - do you find that you get cold easily, or not?

My own experience is that for 10 years I dove either a 3mm wetsuit or a drysuit, and only added a 5mm in the last 6 months. If the water was above 72 degrees, it was the 3mm. If below that it was the drysuit. And, that generally worked well. What I realized after getting the 5mm is that I probably could have used it for much of the warmer water diving, and at least some of the diving in water between 66 and 72 degrees.