Gear suggestions

[dreddyk]

Hello,

Years ago I was an avid, experienced diver. Was a DM for several years used to be abreast of / had the latest and greatest gear. I sold off my gear when I moved to Colorado. Now diving as once again surfaced on my radar and I am in need of new gear. The two dive shops I went to were all about the sale not the info.

I am looking for recommendations for some good, solid gear... starting from scratch, and am excited to buy new toys.

My needs will be alpine diving ( no ice or mixed gas - don't have the bandwidth, unfortunately) and warm carib diving.

Mask fins?
1st and 2nd stage recommendations
BCD?

I no longer need the uber exotic, top end equip, just reliable, comfortable gear.

Your help would be very helpful

Thanks in advance,
Ed

 

[SnorkelLA]

Check out HOG gear. I've had it in the conditions you've described and it performed flawlessly.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I do the diving you describe, and enjoy a Seaquest balance BCD, aqua lung legend 2nd stage which is adjustable to the conditions. I like split fins, and though pricey, the Atomic Aquatics split fins are my favorite. I have 4 different sets of gear, but what I have described is what I use for Colorado and tropical recreational diving. There are other makes and models of gear that will suit you too, but as I dive where and I how you plan to dive, I share my preferences with you as a suggestion. My LDS, UnderwarePhantaseas in Lakewood will take time to give you lots of input on gear. Ask for Derrick, Steve or Bill.
DivemasterDennis

 

[TSandM]

Well, if you haven't had a chance to try a lot of things, I'd start with simple and relatively inexpensive -- then if you aren't happy with something, you can move up, but if you are, you haven't spent money you didn't need to spend.

A middle-of-the-road regulator is fine for most people and most diving. Having one you can get serviced locally is nice, so that you don't have to ship your gear if something goes wrong with it. If you have a local HOG/Edge dealer, the regs are a very good buy.

I would advise against split fins. They're about twice as expensive as the normal kind, and although the people who dive them love them, there are a lot of us who don't. A simple paddle fin like the ScubaPro Jet or the Dive Rite ExP will do for most diving applications -- again, if you are unhappy with them, their resale value is pretty good and you can move on to something "higher end".

For a BC, the most important thing is fit. If the BC doesn't hold the tank stable on your back, you'll never be as comfortable as you could be. A lot of people like back-inflate BCs, because they leave the front of the body less cluttered; the ultimate in that is the backplate and wing setup, which is modular and infinitely adjustable. You can find more to read about different BCs here than you would ever want to wade through!

Have fun with your shopping -- buying gear is both fun and frustrating. If you have questions about specific pieces or brands, have a look here, or ask . . . most everything sold for diving is in use by somebody here somewhere!

 

[Doc Harry]

1+ for what TSandM says

Alpine diving - get a dry suit. Warm divers are happy divers. Warm divers dive more than cold divers.