Great gear day

[Nathan Doty]

I've been pretty proud of my gear collection to date. I've gotten high end gear, negotiated great deals, and paid for everything with reselling old aquariums. I'm decked out for $40 out of pocket but its been a journey to get myself equipped.

And tonight I got luckier.

A local had retired from diving and contacted a group I'm part of looking for a place to donate his gear. He mentioned regs, and fins. I Messaged him that I'm working to outfit my daughter (we're missing regs, computer and bc for her) and over a few days arranged for me to meet his wife and pick things up. I wasn't expecting much, didn't ask about brands, just looking for usable gear until we could change things out over time. This evening we met up, I transferred 4 bags (3 more than I anticipated), came home and started inventory.

What this terrific guy donated:
Zeagle ranger. It shows a little age but bladder has been holding pressure all night, and it fits her.

Scubapro mk20/380/250 combo with spg, compass and aeris atmos pro. Regs need serviced and computer needs a battery.

Scubapro twin jet fins. They're full foot but in great shape, great loaner pair.

Seadoo vs scooter. I think the battery is shot, otherwise looks good.

Bcd bags, dive knife, lobster bag, misc doo-dads.


I was hoping to get her by for a bit, expected old sherwood regs at best. Instead we ended up with gear that is going to last her indefinitely. Once the regs are serviced, she may want to upgrade eventually but there little reason to. The bc has a standard inflator that we'll end up swapping for an air 2, but otherwise should last her for years.

My wife has arthritis in her feet. We went snorkeling a couple weeks ago and the fins were killing her, she asked about a scooter to help her, but I hadn't started looking for one yet and our budget is too tight right now to really pick one up anyway. But I can make a battery happen.

Pretty much everything on my list of needs that I hoped to fill in the next year, was given to us in 1 day. It was awesome. So if you happen to know a Gary Buck in Melbourne fl, let him know he made my daughter very happy today. He made my day to say the least, and we appreciate it greatly.

 

[aquacat8]

Aw sweet!

 

[BlueTrin]

Wow awesome !

 

[Rechno]

Congrats, though I would not switch from standard inflator to this weird Air 2.

 

[Nathan Doty]

The air 2 is what she is trained on, both of us really. And I think our dive shop requires them for their AOW class. The few trips I've been on with local rental gear has had them as the alternate. Consistency and whatnot tells me to keep her on 1 system

 

[BlueTrin]

Congrats, though I would not switch from standard inflator to this weird Air 2.

Hot topic coming

I think you can have an opinion on the air 2 but calling it ‘weird’ is not constructive criticism.

 

[Rechno]

No worries. I don´t want so start a hot discussion. And if the TO, as stated, is already used to this system and using it, it´s absolutely fine.
My point was simply that if he was not already using it, I (personally) would think twice before switching to it.

 

[Fastmarc]

That's really awesome. Such kindness.

Now pass it on in your own way, however you can.

 

[Fastmarc]

When I started diving in 2005, I lucked out similarly. A new acquaintance heard that I had just started diving and said he had some scuba stuff that he bought for someone, but he ended up not giving them, so he wants me to have it. He didn't remember what he had and asked someone to deliver it to me when I was NY. It was a complete new dive set including tank. I couldn't believe my luck. Had to buy a bag to ship it back to Jamaica. The only thing I couldn't use was the full wetsuit, which I of course gave away.

 

[Nathan Doty]

I inflated the BC last night, bladder felt nice and firm today. All the dump valves worked, life is good.

Dropped the regs at the lds today for a service and new mouthpiece for the 380. It definitely looked like the previous owner was a chewer... I asked for hose protectors as well. She'll have a new purple and blue reg set by tomorrow Tech said the octo was a 190 and not a 250, and he was surprised to see the 380 paired with the mk20. He said that the 380 won't let the 20 work to its full potential. I've seen most 380 references as being an octo and not the primary 2nd but we're doing shallow rec dives for now. My gut says she'll be fine. We can upgrade later on if she needs it. I asked about doing the mk20 upgrade, tech flipped it over and said "Nope. Already been done." So if I've read correctly, ignoring the model number on the dial she's essentially breathing through a mk25, which is what I've got, which has worked very well for me.

We had a rental set scheduled for the 26th already, canceled the rental and she'll get to do her first dive on her own gear (excluding tanks). She's happy. It will be her first experience with a back inflate, hopefully she'll like it. We're going to be in 15-25 feet and a protected reef during slack tide. Short of a pool, it's the best first experience I can think of. Its going to be my first dive with my first BC also, and first BP/W wing setup. It's not my first back inflate, and I have no plans to go back to a full vest style. Lots of firsts on the 26th

The scooter battery, definitely toast. I hooked it to the charger, no charge. I hooked it to one of my car chargers. No charge. Started feeling the wires and the connections felt bad. I opened them up, nothing but corrosion inside the insulation. So went straight from the charger to the battery itself after a little cleaning, and the charger goes insane. I'm pretty sure there's a dead short in somewhere in there. So next step, jump the scooter with 12v and make sure it actually works and if so, new battery. The prop spins by hand, odds are pretty good it will spin up with some power.