DitrasetMan
Contributor
Good evening,
Many of you have seen my posts on the forum, and I have more questions - so I appreciate everyone's input. I am a new diver. I will be doing (1) reef dives from the beaches of Florida, (2) charter dives in Florida off the coast, and (3) traveling to the Caribbean and doing charter dives. I will not be going anywhere else with my setup, and I will not be going deeper than 130 feet. Ever.
Regulator: I am going a bit overboard and getting an Aqua Lung Legend LX (but getting it for $482)
Question: Should I buy DIN or Yoke? DIN has the benefit of being more secure (using your own o-ring in your first stage) but the negative is that every time I rent a tank, or go on a charter I have to worry about the availability of a DIN tank or I have to lug around an adapter which I really don't want to do. My sales guy made me think that Yoke is just not as good, but it has been around forever! Also, I am concerned with ease of breathing, and apparently the DIN will be better for this because it has a larger hole (true?). Considering my uses, what wold you do?
BC: I am going back and forth on the Aqua Lung Axiom (non I3) (for $403) and the Aqua Lung Dimension (i3) (for $417)
Question 1 (to I3 or not I3): Many, many sales people have told me to stay away from an I3 because they are over-engineered. But friends with the I3 systems say that they love them. The pro of the I3 system for me is that I have difficulty deflating my BC when descending because I always want to stay horizontal (which apparently you can do with the Dimension I3, but not the Axiom non I3). I dove today with another back-inflate, the Balance, which I hated because it put too much pressure on my back. I find both the Axiom and the Dimension comfortable, but the Axiom was a bit more comfortable. What would you do?
Question 2: (air source or regular inflator): I am debating between buying a Legend octopus or skipping the octopus altogether and getting an air source inflator. I don't know enough about the differences between these two things enough to make an informed decision. However, I was told that the air sourse inflator could be an issue with a buddy that needs air, because you have to give him your primary regulator while you breath from the air source inflator, but on the other hand you have one less thing floating around. The price of the AL air source is $105 and the Legend octopus is $156.
Computer: I am debating between the Suunto Zoop console (for $333) (not air-integrated) and the Suunto Cobra console (for $563) (air integrated and includes a compass). The Cobra is $200 more, which isn't that big of a deal considering it is air-integrated. But, do I really need it? Also, are there different Cobra's?
Many of you have seen my posts on the forum, and I have more questions - so I appreciate everyone's input. I am a new diver. I will be doing (1) reef dives from the beaches of Florida, (2) charter dives in Florida off the coast, and (3) traveling to the Caribbean and doing charter dives. I will not be going anywhere else with my setup, and I will not be going deeper than 130 feet. Ever.
Regulator: I am going a bit overboard and getting an Aqua Lung Legend LX (but getting it for $482)
Question: Should I buy DIN or Yoke? DIN has the benefit of being more secure (using your own o-ring in your first stage) but the negative is that every time I rent a tank, or go on a charter I have to worry about the availability of a DIN tank or I have to lug around an adapter which I really don't want to do. My sales guy made me think that Yoke is just not as good, but it has been around forever! Also, I am concerned with ease of breathing, and apparently the DIN will be better for this because it has a larger hole (true?). Considering my uses, what wold you do?
BC: I am going back and forth on the Aqua Lung Axiom (non I3) (for $403) and the Aqua Lung Dimension (i3) (for $417)
Question 1 (to I3 or not I3): Many, many sales people have told me to stay away from an I3 because they are over-engineered. But friends with the I3 systems say that they love them. The pro of the I3 system for me is that I have difficulty deflating my BC when descending because I always want to stay horizontal (which apparently you can do with the Dimension I3, but not the Axiom non I3). I dove today with another back-inflate, the Balance, which I hated because it put too much pressure on my back. I find both the Axiom and the Dimension comfortable, but the Axiom was a bit more comfortable. What would you do?
Question 2: (air source or regular inflator): I am debating between buying a Legend octopus or skipping the octopus altogether and getting an air source inflator. I don't know enough about the differences between these two things enough to make an informed decision. However, I was told that the air sourse inflator could be an issue with a buddy that needs air, because you have to give him your primary regulator while you breath from the air source inflator, but on the other hand you have one less thing floating around. The price of the AL air source is $105 and the Legend octopus is $156.
Computer: I am debating between the Suunto Zoop console (for $333) (not air-integrated) and the Suunto Cobra console (for $563) (air integrated and includes a compass). The Cobra is $200 more, which isn't that big of a deal considering it is air-integrated. But, do I really need it? Also, are there different Cobra's?
Last edited: