How long did you wait before ...

[NancyLynn]

I rented from when I got certified in the summer of 2004 until my trip to Cozumel earlier this month (around 30 dives later).

Renting is very expensive. It doesn't take many rentals for it to be cheaper to buy your own gear ($50-$80 a day, in my experience). The gear I just purchased (or received from Santa) cost about $750 (computer, regs, BC, 3/2 wetsuit, tanks). That's about 10 days of diving gear rental.

I did get some benefit from renting - I adapt very quickly to changes in environment or equipment setup, since I've had lots of practice. (I was always diving with new equipment, and my diving locations were quite varied. Water temperature from 40 degrees to low 80s. Vis from less than 5 feet to more than 100. Virtually no risk of entanglement to kelp forests.) I was able to dive on the spur of the moment when I was sent on a business trip to a location near water - much easier to pack mask, fins, and snorkel than a full bag of dive gear.

I am looking forward to diving with the same basic gear every time - and not having to take into account the cost of rental gear when I calculate the cost of a quick dip.

Why did I take so long? I didn't know what I wanted, I was going through a period of inconsistent weight which made fitting challenging, didn't have a local dive shop and/or wanted different equipment than my local shop carried. In the end, I just decided it was time, bought equipment that is sturdy without many frills, some of it second hand from my LDS rental stock, and if I need to I'll upgrade one or more pieces/parts in in a few years.

 

[fisheater]

I didn't.

I bit the bullet and bought my gear before the OW class.

Probably not a good idea for most people, but I'm pretty headstrong and goal oriented.

 

[spectrum]

Against what has come to be my standard suggestion my wife and I both certified entirely in our own gear including our 1st pair of cylinders. We had spent a year frequently skin-diving locally so we had a fair idea what we were getting into.

While she was still a little tentative I was hooked before I started and I figured that if she didn't stick with it a lot of the stuff would be come back-up for me. As we close in on 3 years we're both hooked.

As things were playing out here in Maine we completed certification on June 25 and I did not want to loose much of our prime summer season finalizing gear choices so we took a chance and it payed off. At that point I have been a ScubaBoard junkie for a year and knew enough to be a fairly informed consumer.

Owning your your gear is the key to becoming a frequent, proficient and safe diver. I generally suggest buying whatever is most difficult for your to rent first. Don't buy anything until you understand the alternatives and can make an informed decision on your own.

Pete

 

[ScubaAddictedLisa]

Lisa it is great to hear about your continuing dive gear collection. My wife and I shared the same experience with rental gear but were hesitant to make the initial investiment before we knew scuba was for us! After the 1st open water dive we went to Divers Supply in Indy and the rest is history. From that point on there have been numerous purchases and continued diving education which has led me to this conclusion, " Diving is a very expensive hobby! ". What diving was and has become for me is a way of life! Sounds crazy I know that is what I thought when I started my journey. It is different for everyone but personally for me it was the continuation of my diving education and in particular the mentoring relationship with my instructor. I found that diving was the one thing in life I needed bad enough to get serious and commit time and $$ to evolve into a better person. Best advice I ever got was don't sweet the small stuff just dive every chance you can! If gear is a problem find a dive club that promotes new divers and get involved. I would gladly loan gear to new divers and dive with them. It means alot to me to see new people find the life that took me 38 years to discover. It is the reason I am a divemaster candidate with hopes of one day being a instructor. For all starting divers the cost of gear can be a obstacle to overcome but take heart and don't give up! There are other gear-a-holics out there that share a passion for seeing new divers evolve! I am one that believes! Sorry for the ramblings, dive and dive some more find a awesome mentor! Good luck and if your in my neck of the woods, " Lets go dive!" CamG Keep diving....keep training....keep learning!

CamG,

What a great post!!! What a nice, welcoming person you are!! I definitely understand your feelings of ... well, addiction to diving! I too feel that I can't believe I waiting this long to try this!!!!

I will definitely take you up on diving together with you and your wife if we're ever in the same locale! And same goes for you!!

I can't wait to get my Advanced Open Water in April. Although the night dive is a bit scary to me. But that's a whole other story!!!

 

[ScubaAddictedLisa]

I started investigating what I wanted right after my discovery scuba dive. (Bora Bora)Except for a 7.6.5 hyperstretch wetsuit I purchased just before my OW cert dives, I used rental gear through m first 2 dives after my open water certification.
My first 2 dives after cert were in Aruba and during the first dive the inflator hose broke away from the inflator assembly and the release valve cable came apart from the inflator the only thing that kept the inflator from getting lost was the low pressure hose. This was at 42' and thankfully I was able to safely abort the dive. At the surface I got lucky and came up within easy reach of another boat that helped me aboard. Since the hose wasn't connected I had no way to establish bouyancy.
After returning from that vacation I spent about another 3 weeks researching and then purchased my own equipment. Before making another dive. My next dives were with my new gear during my advanced OW dives. By the time my weekend was over I logged 6 dives all boat dives, a night dive, a nav dive, a deep dive and 2 digital underwater photography dives for my Advanced.
After that trip I was comfortable with my gear and much more comfortable as a diver.
The reason I got my own gear was to feel safer in the fact that my gear will be well maintained. The result of that is you get more familiar with the gear and can be a more relaxed diver. Being more relaxed should have a significant effect on your air consumption and possibly allow you more bottom time.

Ok, after this, and all the other wonderful, informative posts ... next thing I'm purchasing is my reg. After that ... the BC.

 

[ScubaTexan]

I got my first reg, BCD and tank within a year of getting certified. I've since gotten a newer reg, BCD and two more tanks.

 

[paddler3d]

Thanks! I love blogging. I have a few of them, the one for diving, one for my "everyday" life, and one that encompasses both things that happen in my life, and my observations of things.

And thanks for the reply regarding trying different types of items before buying. Let me ask you this ... when you tried the different kinds of BCs, did you purposely rent different ones from your LDS?

I called my various LDS and rented different BCs and different regulators. I was very deliberate about this. I didn't try as many BCs as I did regulators. I rented the ScubaPro R190, G250, Aqualung Leged, Aqualung Titan, Apex ATX 50 and Apex ATX 200. I also tried some less expensive Cressi's as well.

One regulator that I recently took on a test drive was the Dive Rite RG3000. I put it on my pony bottle, took it to 85 ft in 38 degree water and tried to make it freeflow. It started to freeflow, but I was able to stop it by adjusting the cracking pressure on the 2nd stage. My buddy took a Cressi regulator, meant for cold water, and it went into freeflow nearly instantly and the only way he could get it to stop was to turn off the tank.

That Dive Rite preformed just as well as my Apex ATX 100 and my ScubaPro G250.

One way to try various gear is to check with your LDS and see if they offer play time in local pools. I've found they are more than happy to let you try different stuff.

Another way to try gear is to get hold of the product reps and find out if they are going to be in the area.

I have a new LDS, who is actually one of my diving buddies, and they are having their grand opening today. The Dive Rite rep is going to be there with a size run of their 905 dry suits. I'm going to go and try them on and figure out what size I am.

If it hasn't been mentioned ScubaBoard is a pretty good resource. Be wary, you'll find that everyone has an opinion. Some are unjust and misguided, but some are real useful.

One thing I would suggest, is buy the best equipment which suits your needs that you can afford.

There is a lot of stuff out there! Good luck!

Chris

 

[lmorin]

Right after certification, my wife and I bought wetsuits. Then we rented for about 20 dives. The last in the series was with poorly maintained equipment. The regs leaked and there was no place to tuck/hook/attach the octopus on the BC without folding the hose in a crimp and forcefully jamming it up into a narrow opening in the BC fabric. That did it. We started looking for our own gear, eventually putting together a good package of a low end Apeks reg, Aqualung octo, Seaquest BC (Balance for me; Diva for my wife), and Oceanic Veo250 computer. Purchased this from the LDS, paying cash, and saved about 33% of the price of buying each separately. No regrets with any of the purchases.

We made one mistake while renting, however. We did not keep a notebook documenting the pros and cons of each of the items we rented. So, when it came time to buy, we really had no clue about what we liked or didn't. Maybe it didn't really matter. Internet research gave us a lot of info about the computer specifics. The Seaquest felt so much better than any BC I had ever worn, there really was no going back to a full jacket BC. Similarly, my wife liked the feel of a BC cut for a woman. We also researched the breathability test results for a large number of regulators. This is what directed us toward Aqualung and Apeks products.

 

[paddler3d]

I rented from when I got certified in the summer of 2004 until my trip to Cozumel earlier this month (around 30 dives later).

Renting is very expensive. It doesn't take many rentals for it to be cheaper to buy your own gear ($50-$80 a day, in my experience). The gear I just purchased (or received from Santa) cost about $750 (computer, regs, BC, 3/2 wetsuit, tanks). That's about 10 days of diving gear rental.

I did get some benefit from renting - I adapt very quickly to changes in environment or equipment setup, since I've had lots of practice. (I was always diving with new equipment, and my diving locations were quite varied. Water temperature from 40 degrees to low 80s. Vis from less than 5 feet to more than 100. Virtually no risk of entanglement to kelp forests.) I was able to dive on the spur of the moment when I was sent on a business trip to a location near water - much easier to pack mask, fins, and snorkel than a full bag of dive gear.

I am looking forward to diving with the same basic gear every time - and not having to take into account the cost of rental gear when I calculate the cost of a quick dip.

Why did I take so long? I didn't know what I wanted, I was going through a period of inconsistent weight which made fitting challenging, didn't have a local dive shop and/or wanted different equipment than my local shop carried. In the end, I just decided it was time, bought equipment that is sturdy without many frills, some of it second hand from my LDS rental stock, and if I need to I'll upgrade one or more pieces/parts in in a few years.

Nancy here has a good point about the cost of renting.

If money is an issue, and for most it is, renting everything can get costly.

With that said look at the gear you are interested in.

Nancy got her entire set up for $750...

My first regulator, Apex ATX 100 with ATX 40 Octopus, alone cost around $750. For me it was more valuable to spend the money and rent various set ups. Right now, I really don't see getting a new regulator for a few years.

My second reg, ScubaPro, cost $500. I probably spent $1350 on my regs. Was a few hundred dollars worth the money? Absolutely.

Nancy also has a great point about renting and that is the ability to adapt to your gear cause it is always changing.

It is nice thought to get your own gear and tweak it to your own needs. You get your weight better managed, you get your trim nailed down, you know the nuances and the ins and outs of your set up. That is nice.

Also don't hesitate to ask your buddies to switch gear with you. I got to dive my 1st set of doubles last weekend!

 

[AndyM]

Great blog!!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one in this conundrum.

Like most of the other posters, I had to buy my personal gear for OW (mask, fins, boots, snorkel). I decided to bite the bullet and buy my own BC a few months after OW classes. I was borrowing one that was high quality (SP knighthawk), but it was slightly too big and didn't fit that well. I have found that having a BC that fits makes a HUGE difference in being comfortable underwater. Mine isn't as nice as the one I was borrowing, but having a good fit that you don't have to adjust every time you use it makes a big difference.

I'm still renting regs, and have had some good and some bad experiences with that. When I get the $$ saved up I plan to take that plunge.