Hello everyone,
I'm just getting into diving. I work with a non profit that clears hazards from area waterways. We were removing some rebar from a whitewater feature in Dayton ohio. the base of it was out of snorkel range. After we got done the COO mentioned that they had considered getting a couple people scuba certified even though we are usually only in 5-20 feet of water. I started doing some research and it snowballed from there.
I did my try/discover scuba class Sunday and had a blast. We spent about 30-45 minutes in the deep end of the pool. It was wild swimming under others, but so natural being in the water. I signed up for my open water certification the next day through Padi because they are doing classes ten minutes away vs 40 and the days work better. I'm still debating between Padi and SDI for training overall. I know there is alot of personal opinion on the matter. I might try a little from each.
If everything goes well with my open water class, I plan on taking more classes, especially AOW right away, nitrox, rescue (since so many say its so good) search and navigation (since this likely will correlate and help with work)and anything else that people highly recommend or that sparks my interest.
I have Gilboa Quarry 2.5 hours away, another one 45 minutes and another in town. I don't expect to take any trips outside the country so will be focused in the surrounding areas for now. Maybe some trips to North Carolina or Florida down the road.
I spent 2.5 hours in one of two local shops yesterday. They really explained and taught me so much about equipment. How various regulators work, why some are better than others especially in the colder ohio waters. Its helped me narrow down choices.
One shop has the Dive rite XT2 package and another has the Apex Xtx50. I'm leaning towards the Apeks even though its about $200-250 more. I'm just trying to decide if the extra money will be worth it overall.
I'm still not decided on a wing BCD yet and looking at options. The zeagle covert was a suggestion. Since I don't plan on traveling do I really need to save the weight with it?
I'm certainly getting a shearwater computer, just trying to decide on which one. I may go big with the perdix and buy it once.
Here I was thinking that kayaking was a rabbit hole with gear lol.
