Help me choose my gear please

[Atomic_Diver]

My gear set up is: Atomic Aquatics T2 primary, Z2 Redundant, Dive Rite Transpac + Classic Wing, Scuba Pro Scout mask, Dive Rite 10w HID slimline canister light, 2 Halycon Back up lights, 2 Green Cylum sticks, Double LP 108's O2 Clean, "Turtle" fins, Dive Rite Primary reel #24, Dive Rite Saftey reel #24, SMB, Dive Rite Spool, Dive Rite Nitek Plus computer, AL 80 O2 clean, AL 40 O2 Clean, Dive Rite Regulator for AL 40 or 80, Dive Rite Line Arrows, Genesis SPG, Bare 5mm Wetsuit, Scuba Max 2mm Gloves, 5mm Boots.......

 

[Scott L]

Oh Devon the mighty, as usual, we are expected to genuflect in your presence.

You are such a sage, a font of wisdom - oh ye of two million dives. How dare we common mortals offer advice when you can offer pearls of wisdom. Your ongoing posts about just how great you are and how everyone else sucks is making me sick. The only post that gives meaning to how much you are really worth is the puny pay that you tell us that you deservedly get for your giant ego.

I hereby defer to your greatness and retract my comment. Please enlighten everyone with your illuminating and brilliant advice. Then go back under the water where you can no longer be heard.

(Oh yes, I've used that BC and reg many times and it's fine. But please ignore my worthless rant and heed only advice from his majestic diver, Devon the Great).

Can you give a rationale for your oversized ego and constant need to belittle others?

Quite the work of a wordsmith but wholly unjustified IMO. I have never viewed his posts in that manner. I would imagine he is held in very high rergard by the adminstration of this forum. I beleive you are confusing his extreme love of the sport as an opportunity to vent an ego...

 

[Scott L]

My equipment selection for a new diver would be - Scuba Pro MK25/S600 second stage/G250V oct. Dive Rite BCD (perhaps used), Nitek Duo (perhaps used) wrist computer & Dive Rite SPG.

P.S. I also dive with a Back plate wing set-up but the harness adjustments to be made are too much to ask of a new diver generally.

 

[Colliam7]

I have been researching gear for over a week now and I keep comming back to this package I found on amazon.com ... Amazon Oceanic Ocean Pro BCD, Alpha 8 Sport DVT Reg, Veo 100nx 3Gauge Computer, Slimline Octo ... I like that it comes with a dive computer, and the regulator has good reviews. it also has DVT which friends told me is a good feature of newer gear. And I like the BCD a lot because it doesn't look as bulky as the other models I've seen, which is something I want. also, I think this set just looks cooler than the other ones. I don't have a huge budget (about $800) so I want to get the neccessairy stuff first, the rest I can burrow or rent for now. what are your opinions about this set, ...

The equipment (Oceanic) is good. The package price is quite good! The bigger question is, 'What do you want?' The BCD is a jacket style, weight-integrated model. Is that what you want? If you want a less bulky unit, you should at least try a BP/W (inane comments regarding bleating' about BP/W rigs are just that - inane comments). If you are purchasing new, first time gear you should consider a spectrum of options, including back-inflate units. Personally, I prefer a weight belt, having started with a weight-integrated back-inflate BCD, which was fine, but eventually migrating back to the simplicity of a belt, that I can use with my jacket BCD, or my BP. Have you tried one (Ocean Pro) on to be sure you are comfortable with the way it fits? I know you are looking online, but have you seen one locally and tried the fit? The regulator is a balanced piston. Is that what you want? It is a competent unit, although balanced diaphragms are more common. In warm FL waters it probably won't make any difference. The computer is simple, readable display, provides the information a recreational diver uses, and is nitrox-capable. It is a console rather than a wrist unit, and is not air-integrated. Is that what you want? Personally, I prefer a wrist unit. However, although you asked for opinions about the set, what I may personally prefer is not necessarily relevant, compared to what YOU personally prefer. By asking if each of these items is what YOU want, I am NOT suggesting you should get something else. The package includes good gear, and the price is attractive. Rather, I am asking if you have evaluated the gear on the basis of what it actually provides to you.

A bigger question - where will you have your gear serviced? Is there an Oceanic dealer near where you live?

 

[The Chairman]

I have been researching gear for over a week now and I keep comming back to this package I found on amazon.com

Amazon Oceanic Ocean Pro BCD, Alpha 8 Sport DVT Reg, Veo 100nx 3Gauge Computer, Slimline Octo

Perfect for South Florida as a beginning set up. You might reconsider and go with a Veo 250 in case you want to use NitrOx.

 

[hannesz1]

tlt

I do live in florida and yes (wow you seem to know me!) I do want to get into cave diving (I want to go through the florida aquaduct ever since I saw something about it on tv). Before I do that though, I want to get a lot of dives under my belly. I want to dive as often as I can, so possibly every weekend. when I got certified I was burrowing from friends and dove about twice a week. Another thing, don't know if gear is important for it, but I want to try out spear fishing too. Are there things that are better or worse for those uses?

oldnsalty

I picked the gear because it is nitrox compatible (the computer and reg) and I want to use nitrox. the reg has dvt, which is a feature I want because it extends the lifetime of the reg. I picked the bcd because it is very streamlined which I guess would be good for wreck diving. also, the important components are colored yellow to make it easy to see. no I'm not picking for price alone, I had looked at some sets that were just $400 but decided I wanted something else. one thing I don't like about the oceanpro is that it does not have a ball-pull purge (for lack of a better term lol) is there anything else I should be looking at?


Damselfish

for the first question, from my research I found that I wanted 1: a streamlined, not bulky bcd. 2: DVT in my reg. 3: yellow color for instruments 4: Nitrox Compatibility 5: dive computer (nitrox)
this set stood out to me cause it seems to have all those critearia I was looking for.
I have looked at some other BCD's, the Mares Vector Origin Scuba BCD and the Oceanic Excursion BCD . the excursion is very expensive. the vector origin seemed cheap to me for some reason. oceanpro kinda fell in the middle so I chose it and then searched for sets. yea, I'm sceptical about where this bcd is comming from too. I've been to two stores so far and I want to go to this huge diver direct store but haven't got around to it, its kind of far.

I'd like any suggestions about what else might be good... maybe from personal experience from your own gears. so far this is all I have come up with.
thank you everybody for taking an interest.

 

[DevonDiver]

Oh Devon the mighty, as usual, we are expected to genuflect in your presence.....You are such a sage, a font of wisdom - oh ye of two million dives. How dare we common mortals offer advice when you can offer pearls of wisdom. Your ongoing posts about just how great you are and how everyone else sucks is making me sick....I hereby defer to your greatness and retract my comment.

Jeez, that's a bit harsh....I only asked you some questions?!?

Can you give a rationale for this?

You have considerable in-water experience of these items?

What are their strengths and weaknesses compared to other alternatives on the market?

You have considerable in-water experience of BP/W set-ups?

You can explain the pros and cons of this configuration....and how it may or may not be suited to the long-term diving goals of the student?

Can you give a rationale for your oversized ego and constant need to belittle others?

I fail to see the 'ego' behind asking you some very simple questions, that I hoped would clarify your viewpoint for the benefit of the OP.

I didn't even disagree with you??!!??

If answering those questions somehow insults or belittles you, I apologise.... I thought they were quite reasonable.

 

[The Chairman]

If I may throw in a hybrid as a solution to your BC issue: The Zeagle Express Tech. Incredibly streamlined and versatile you just can't beat it for price, form or function. Heck, I used it for hunting bugs two weeks ago, doing a cavern dive over this past weekend and hunting fossil shark teeth this past Monday. I think it lists out at about $250 which is an excellent price. I wrote about my first experiences with it here: Zeagle's Express Tech: The first and last BC most will ever need (or want)

 

[powerofslack]

One of the details I'd take issue with (or suggest a change in) that's outside of the large amount of advice you'll end up getting on BC choice is this: many "compact" or "slim" octos suck. I certainly haven't tried them all and I'm sure there are exceptions, but all of the ones I've gotten my hands on are much more likely to breathe wet, and breathe hard than a full-sized octo second stage. In an actual freak out / out of air situation, little things like that turn into a really big deal. You can get a full-sized Cressi octo second stage for about $70 online that's nicer than any of the compact ones I've seen and well worth the little extra, although the very latest models may be nicer than the ones I've messed with. Just my 2 cents.

 

[OldNSalty]

Well, the OP said he wants to do cave and wreck diving. I have nothing against a traditional BC (diving one now) becasue I think there is no one size fits all but in your case the BP/W set up might be the way to go

Go tech early and save