Getting ready to sign up for open water class

[cityleader]

I figured I would give this a shot since most of you are experts and have been on many dives. I'm getting ready to sign up for my Padi certification and I wanted to buy a kit that included the mask, fins, snorkel and possible boots. I really need to know what brands to stay away from or what brands are good for the price. The local dive shop that I'm going to do the class has a kit for 125.00 but it was a brand that I've never heard of and haven't been able to find their company online. So ultimately - I'm really trying to get the most bang for my buck. So if you guys could help me with either links or brands that will be good for a noob like myself to start out with. I really don't want to spend over 150.00 for all of my equipment.

Thanks for your help

 

[Keith.M]

First off, what are the brands they are offering?

Primarily, make sure you choose a mask that fits. To me that is the most important.

For the snorkel, I prefer one that does not limit air flow in any way. That mean no to any kind of device on the end that restricts water from filling the snorkel. It is very simple to blow a snorkel clear, those contraptions on the end just limit the air flow when you are breathing from it.

Fins are a very personal choice and you can never really judge them until you actually try them out.

I can understand wanting to put a limit on your spending, but... Sometimes I have found that when you try and limit that spending, you have limited your choices and you may find that in a very short while, you are replacing some of the original gear. So instead of saving any money, you have actually cost yourself more by not buying the better gear up front.

And you can also try and get better gear for the money on the used market. Take a look at the classifieds here and also check out craigslist. There are many people who after getting their certification, they outfitted themselves and then never really got in to it. So there is lots of "used" gear out there that has very little use.

 

[redacted]

Regardless of the brand, you will almost surely pay more than necessary and be replacing that gear within a few years if you stick with diving. But it should still be OK backup gear. One piece of advice - go for the cheapest snorkel.


Actually, the deal from your shop may not be that bad. Many shops are pushing $200 fins on student divers.

Also, if folks knew where you lived, someone might offer to lend you some gear for training.

 

[Coconut Divers]

Hey, cityleader,

i agree with Keith.M buy a mask that fits and is comfortable the brand doesnt matter. Fins buy open heels with bootys if you have a chance try some out a good allaround brand in fins is Mares not cheap but they last.
To buy used Equipment like a reg and a bcd which are easy to check and to service thats a good idea but mask, fins and wetsuit are things that have to fit you !


Coconut Divers

 

[rhwestfall]

As others have said....

Mask - fit is most important. The shop should be working with you to achieve the best fit, not the highest sale potential. I'll say that $$ doesn't necessarily equate to fit. Try on all they have in the shop. You like what you like. My wife has one of the least expensive masks - loves the fit. Avoid purge masks...

Fins - that's a tough one.... They are very "personal". You don't know what you want until you use them. That's why I have 4 pairs, and my wife has three..... Open heel are universal for both cold and warm water, so I suggest that style with booties. Anticipate getting something different down the road....

Snorkel: simple, simple, simple.... avoid the gimmicks & "bells and whistles"

 

[Damselfish]

First off, price and brand and quality/suitability are not all that strongly related in scuba gear.

If you limit yourself to whatever kit the shop is selling, there's a high likelihood you will wind up replacing some or all of it and spend more money in the end. Not because it's bad gear, there really isn't much actual bad dive gear out there, but because it doesn't fit you right or otherwise suit you. Sounds like they're trying to make it affordable and whatever they're selling is probably perfectly adequate quality-wise. And if the stuff all fits you and you like it, it may turn out to be a good choice, who knows? (One bad thing might be inexpensive stuff you buy at a big box store that is really intended for snorkeling, but I doubt that's what a dive shop is selling you.)

It will be more effort, but to get the best bang for your buck look at each piece individually. Mask is the most important right now, read about how to get the right fit then try on as many as you can. There are some perfectly fine inexpensive masks available but you really need to try them on. If you get a mask that fits and doesn't leak, you can be happy with that mask for a very long time. Spending $100 or more on the right mask and then spending $20 on fins and $10 on a snorkel might turn out to be the right thing to do.

Fins are another thing you can spend lots of money on, but there are some fairly inexpensive fins on the market that pretty much work just as well. If you want to save money, fins can also be a really good thing to buy used on eBay or whereever. With a little patience and effort you might score yourself some fins for $20 that are better than a lot of the stuff you can buy new for $150 or more.

As far as snorkels, I prefer one with a purge valve and splash guard rather than no "features" at all - but that's for snorkeling. For diving I really like the roll up ones that are easy to stash away in a pocket. So best depends on what you will do with that snorkel after you get certified. (Along with an awful lot of divers I don't like to have a snorkel dangling on my mask - you have to have one for class but after that people are all over the place on what they do about this seemingly simple thing.) If you're trying to save money, the cheapest plainest thing you can find is a good choice for now.

 

[TSandM]

That price is a pretty good deal. If the mask fits, you could do a lot worse. A mask that fits and does not leak is critical to enjoying your OW class -- I've seen so many students trying to make poorly fitted masks work, and it just isn't worth it.

Most likely, at that price, the fins are pretty cheap ones, which means they're probably pretty floppy/flexible, and you probably won't want to use them for very long if you decide to dive regularly. However, at this point, you don't really even know if you like the sport, and buying inexpensive fins may not be the worst thing. (Beats being talked into the $200 fancy-dancy thing that you give up using and replace with $100 Jet fins less than six months later. Ask me how I know . . . )

 

[cityleader]

Sorry for the delayed response -

The brand that they are advertising on their website is - Scubapro

here is the URL - tell me what you think..

Midwest Scuba • Gear Packages

Good point about investing alot of money into a sport - that I'm not sure I'm going to like. I knew asking you guys was the right step..

I have another question - Some of the vendors make you purchase a wet suit. Others do not. I'm confused by this because - I assumed you wore one when you dive? I guess maybe some are including it.. Sorry - that maybe a dumb question..

 

[Damselfish]

So what is the brand of the $125 package you mentioned that you had not heard of and could not find online? No $125 package on that page. Scubapro is on the expensive side, but a good and well known brand - so well known that you will be paying partly for the name. (Scubapro is a brand that does not allow much discounting, but places can get around that by bundling it in a package with something else and offering a good deal on the whole thing. Without knowing what they'd charge for the class alone or looking up the list prices of the gear, I wonder if they might be doing that here.)

There is no good-better-best in those packages though, no matter how they are labeled. They are simply ranked according to price which is entirely different. Split fins for example - some love them while others hate them and wouldn't consider them the "best" anything.

As far as suits, some places may include suit rental in the class cost, some may expect you to pay extra to rent one. I've not heard of places making you buy a wetsuit for OW class, particularly a heavy one for cold water, and that usually won't make sense. Good ones can be expensive, and would go to waste if you decide you don't like diving, or have no intention of diving in cold water after your class. (Or like cold water so much you want to save your money and go straight into a drysuit.) The other stuff at least has slightly better resale value and could be used to go snorkeling. One time getting a suit right away might make sense is if you're exceptionally hard to fit.

 

[Paladin]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Scubapro makes some good stuff. I'm not a big fan of their regulators but that is a personal choice and not because it's bad gear. I just think they're over priced. That said, I have a pair of Scubapro Jet Fins that were made back in the 1970s and are still going strong. Considering that the gear you're thinking of buying is made by Scubapro, $125 is not a bad price at all.

Somewhere, Beaverdivers is laughing.