General advice to new scuba divers: do not waste your money!

[Belzelbub]

Avoid package deals at shops, like you would have avoided a wet-coughing toddler with a pendant length of green snot, traveling from his nose to his wrist and swaying, elastically, non-breaking, like a jump rope, during the height of the covidiocy.

Every example that I have seen has featured a weak link, whether p.o.s. regulators and octopuses; discontinued items (often with doubtful warranties), such as computers or BCs, etc. When I worked at shops as a kid, that was how extraneous crap was jettisoned -- operative word: crap. Run like hell from "silver," "gold," and "platinum" packages. Some friends who run shops, will freely admit the sleazy up-sell.

Yep. My first set of gear was a package. It was mostly full of crap. Served me fine, I guess, for the first few dives, but as I was starting to dive more, it wasn’t long before I replaced everything.

I tend to disagree with those suggesting that regulators are not a primary concern and worth the cash. I would splurge on them; spend as much as you can -- name brands, who have a long history of support and avoid those with supposed "lifetime warranty" on parts, which are, nowadays, fraught with more legalese and are about as skeezy as timeshares in Del Boca Vista or "rolling land" real estate opportunities in Florida. I also know of people who have bought off-brands, usually as "great deals" from online sources, who have been unable to find any local servicing or parts.

Splurging on regulators makes sense. To a point.

There is absolutely no need to pay $1500 or more on a regulator. The difference is usually in materials. Everything else equal, a regulator made of brass will perform as well as one made of titanium. With a minor amount of care, there is unlikely to be a longevity difference either. Pay more for performance, not materials.

A better measure of longevity is in the brand, and the degree of commonality within that brand. Lots of different service kits within the brand can be a problem if the model is discontinued. My reg, and that of my oldest daughter have both been discontinued for several years. Hers has been discontinued for a while now. No problem, though as the brand uses one service kit for the majority of their line, so it’s unlikely that parts will become unavailable as long ast the brand is still in business.

 

[Bazzathemammoth]

Can someone explain the idea behind buying expensive regulators?

I get the parts availability argument, but are they really any better performing than a cheap set for recreational dives?

I bought the cheapest I could from my lds after my dacor ones became unserviceable and have had them for 7 years without an issue. Pretty much all my diving is in the ocean in temps from 12-20 degrees and down to 40m max. It’s never had any noticeable issues.

For arguments sake, say I spent $300nzd on my set and a top of the line set is $2600 nz. Even if my cheap set fails and is unserviceable in ten years, the interest on the savings would buy me multiple cheap sets. I just don’t get it.

 

[Bigbella]

Splurging on regulators makes sense. To a point.

There is absolutely no need to pay $1500 or more on a regulator. The difference is usually in materials. Everything else equal, a regulator made of brass will perform as well as one made of titanium. With a minor amount of care, there is unlikely to be a longevity difference either. Pay more for performance, not materials.

I agree with paying for performance; that's it -- and a 1500.00 regulator or that 2500.00 titanium joke is just a f**king stunt.

All of mine are made of chromed brass . . .

 

[Marie13]

Some regs definitely breathe better than others. I’ve had AquaLung LX Supreme for single tank. Breathed fab. Was more expensive, but worth it. Apeks XTX50/DST first stage for doubles then SM. I sold them a few months back. They were always a massive PITA to get the din fitting screwed into valves. Sometimes took 4-5 tries. Other people here reported the same issue. They breathed great but that din fitting issue was a huge hassle. Now have Dive Rite XT1/2 for OC SM. They breathe just fine and screw into the valve on the first time.

 

[Bazzathemammoth]

I don’t doubt it. I guess my point is that how my regs breathe has never bothered me.

When I’m at 40m I’m not thinking “man this reg isn’t breathing well”, I’m thinking “look at the pretty fishies!”

Some regs definitely breathe better than others. I’ve had AquaLung LX Supreme for single tank. Breathed fab. Was more expensive, but worth it. Apeks XTX50/DST first stage for doubles then SM. I sold them a few months back. They were always a massive PITA to get the din fitting screwed into valves. Sometimes took 4-5 tries. Other people here reported the same issue. They breathed great but that din fitting issue was a huge hassle. Now have Dive Rite XT1/2 for OC SM. They breathe just fine and screw into the valve on the first time.

 

[Bigbella]

Can someone explain the idea behind buying expensive regulators?

I get the parts availability argument, but are they really any better performing than a cheap set for recreational dives?

That would depend upon the regulators and how they are put to use.

Most rental fleets use p.o.s. equipment, leaking like sieves; but I had seen enough vacationers enjoy that experience without real accident or injury; but I wouldn't trust them under the ice, for example, or expect to easily breathe off them, in a swift current, which I have frequently experienced

I dive commercially; and when I first began, there were basically only two brands which saw regular use, in science, military and industry -- ScubaPro and Poseidon, both of whom always leaned toward the pricier side. The Swedes cut us a break; we went that route; and I still have most of that gear -- and the regulator seen below is my first, from mid-1970s. Parts are still available; and I think nothing of using it, under even the heaviest of conditions. I also work on them and have rebuilt them any number of times.

If you like the cheap-o route, and you're happy with it -- more power to you; but I am only interested in the long haul and not keen on too much disposability . . .

 

[Belzelbub]

Can someone explain the idea behind buying expensive regulators?

I get the parts availability argument, but are they really any better performing than a cheap set for recreational dives?

To a point, yes. But it can vary by brand. Atomic for example, all of their regs breathe the same. The difference is in materials.

A basic reg may not be balanced. A balanced reg will breathe more consistently. Then you’ve got things like environmental sealing, which makes a big difference in some environments.

Though I generally may not need environmentally sealed regs, they do make cleanup easy. All moving parts are kept from the water, so no chance for salt crystals to form and impact performance.

For arguments sake, say I spent $300nzd on my set and a top of the line set is $2600 nz. Even if my cheap set fails and is unserviceable in ten years, the interest on the savings would buy me multiple cheap sets. I just don’t get it.

I’m more referring to the difference between a $300 set and a $600 set. That may be quantifiable. The difference between a $600 set and a $2500 set is primarily cosmetic.

 

[S****N]

Hi everyone, considering that at the beginning of my “diving journey” I’ve made some mistakes in terms of “equipment choices”, wasting money and/or time, I wanted to share some general advices to all those fellow divers who are now facing the classical conundrum in terms of equipment choices. For most of you this is just good sense, but in my experience at the beginning it can be overwhelming considering the complexity of a proper scuba configuration.

• You often don’t know when you start diving what kind of diving are you going to do: we all start via the recreational way, and sometimes we end up in more tech courses over time. For this reason, when at the beginning of your journey you wanna buy new equipment bear in mind that “with a TEC equipment configuration you can do recreational diving, but its not true the other way around”: unless you are going toward the instructor route in the recreational world, think about buying equipment for a technical configuration even if you’ll be using it (at least at the beginning) to do recreational diving with your local diving center;
• Sometimes, your local diving is also a local dealers and since they have a real business to run and they bought equipment from one brand and not from another, they will tend to sell you what they have in stock and not necessarily it is the best equipment for your specific needs: before buying anything based on the advices of your local dealers (which are not necessarily bad advices) take a deeper look over the internet (scubaboard included) to see what other people buy and why;
• Drysuit: since it is probably the most expensive piece of gear you are going to buy, do your research and talk with all kind of divers (recreational, tech, salty or not salty water). A neoprene drysuit has definitely its own advantages (its warmer with less undergarments and consequently less expensive overall) and disadvantages (generally less mobility) but a trilaminate one will maybe serve you better over the long period: it can be used with a lot of different undergarments and it is ok for all different “schools”, including the stricter ones (GUE, UTD etc);
• BCD: if you go (and I strongly advice for it) toward the BP route, do not overthink about the brand because it is maybe the only piece of gear where it does not make such a big difference: an alluminium or steel backplate from the most trendy brand is basically the same as a cheaper one. Save money for your regulators;
• Regulators: do not save money here. If you have a budget, cut half of it to buy the best you can. It is better to have a mediocre drysuit/wetsuit and fins than a mediocre regulator: it does not matter what kind of diving you are doing;
• Computer: think about buying a multigas computer…by now you can find it at the same price of an air/nitrox computer (e.g. Garmin G1) but it will serve you over the long period;
• Multi use equipment: although 90% of your equipment will be for scuba only, you can still buy few pieces of your configuration that will serve you in other hobbies or everyday life: undergarments (a good pile is just a good pile, no matter if it is for mountain climbing or scuba) and computer (e.g. a multisport). It is good to buy specific tool for the specific job, but in a budget constrain environment and if you are at the beginning, postpone those expenditures once you know for sure that scuba will be your hobby for an extended period of time.

And these kind of recommendations is how I always end up buying premium second hand gear from beginners. Last steal was a brand new Halcyon Infinity. Price new in Europe is around €1100, bought it for €300.
And the poor guy stated: “ Yeah but the wing has done quite some dives, for sure around 100.”
Me:” Oh yeah, you really used it a lot. Can we agree on €300 instead of €350, given all that wear.”

I rarely buy new equipment. Too much interesting second hand stuff on the market, often for less than 1/3 of the price new. And the day I want something else, I sell for the same price I bought it.

 

[Bazzathemammoth]

I don’t know a lot about regs. Doesn’t balanced vs unbalanced come into play when the tank pressure drops below ip set point? Is that around 150psi?

 

[Belzelbub]

I don’t know a lot about regs. Doesn’t balanced vs unbalanced come into play when the tank pressure drops below ip set point? Is that around 150psi?

Depth plays a factor as well.

And on other things that make a difference, Venturi assist is useful. Helps to keep the valve open, thus lowering work of breathing. Adjustable cracking effort is also generally not available on entry level regs. May or may not be necessary, but can provide some ability to adjust during the dive.