How many Open Water divers buy gear?

[bradymsu]

In my area (Michigan, USA) it all depends on the type of diving intended. All of our students buy masks, fins, boots. The majority getting certified here tend to be vacation divers who rent wetsuits, tanks, weights, and regulators when they get to the tropics. A lot of them will buy their own dive computer. The minority who intend to dive in the Great Lakes region are the more frequent divers who get their own gear.

 

[oly5050user]

Here in westchester NY I have to say some never buy some do. Those that never buy drop out of diving it seems. Those that buy stay in diving. We offer a deal here that if they purchase a bcd regulator dive computer we credit back $ 300 (cost of group weekend schedule class) towards cost of gear. So this way the course is free, except for the eLearning fee.

 

[Centrals]

I did my OW in Philippines and everything is included in the package. This is quite common in many places in SE Asia. This could be due to the fact that many tourists have nothing to do beside getting sun burnt or partying in the evening. So they give the sport a try and quite a lot resorts also have in house dive operator.
Mask was the only thing I bought before OW and I did not owe any others even after AOW. Money was not an issue but I was NOT sure if I would pursue the sport any further.
It was a very slippery slope all the way to trimix!!!!
Met plenty of very nice peoples as well as few that I do not want to meet again. That is life!
NO regret whatsoever.


One thing I really disagree in HK is the practice of kick back from the dive operator to the instructor who bring student to purchase equipment!!!!!!

 

[Ayisha]

I bought all of my equipment except tanks and weights before I did my o/w course.

I had done SNUBA and Discover dives and already knew that I loved it.

 

[divinh]

I was certified on Koh Tao, Thailand, which trains about 10% of the diivers worldwide, from what I heard. Koh Tao is a big backpacker destination, so to make it easy for backpackers to get interested/certified, all rental gear is included. It seemed like only people who stayed to move onto DM would start buying gear; otherwise I imagine it would be discouraging people from getting certified.

I didn't buy my own gear until around 50-60 dives, when I started to dive locations where gear rental would add about $30-50/day. I tend to dive 7-20 days in a row, so it adds up and buying made sense. Of course, it's gotten out of hand... hahah...

 

[Centrals]

You have to be in Koh Tao to realize the number of OW students attaching to so many operators in the summer. And they still have energy and time to attend the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. Incredible.

 

[Wathdoc]

Most of the people I trained with in BSAC bought their own kit either during basic training or just after. Those that did not tended to leave diving.

 

[VikingDives]

Age and disposable income certainly is a factor. I'd say 20-25% buy mask, snorkel, fins and boots during OW.

Bucket list divers tend to be younger and tend to rent. 30+ divers, tend to be more of the stick to it crowd, so they purchase more.

 

[Doctorfish]

In addition to mask, fins, snorkel,I bought a reg, gauges, octopus and BC after my basic certification on the recommendation of my instructor who coincidentally owned the dive shop. The gear turned out to be crap. At the time, I was naive and did not realize that the dive shop/instructor axis was a marketing tool.

Now I research every potential piece of gear carefully and rely much more on independent reviews, this forum, and my dive buddies before making a major purchase.

 

[Cdncoldwater]

I bought everything except a tank prior to finishing my OW. I upgraded to drysuit bought a tank but switched to SM as my main set up but kept all my BM gear and semidry wetsuit. My son used my BM regs and wetsuit for his course and we bought him most of his own gear (mostly used but in new condition) and two used tanks. the hassle of renting and the cost was what drove me to buy my gear and our son's.