BCscubadive
Registered
Hi, Im a beginning diver and I am interested in purchasing my own dive equipment, or at least the bare minimum. I have a budget of about $1000, and yes i know that isnt much, but your help is greatly appreciated xD
How much to get started?
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ScubaFeenD
Contributor
I am in a similar boat. I will probably end up spending slightly over 1300 dollars, and that isn't for a full setup. What I did was look around the net for some really low prices based on tons of comparisons. Also, it really helps for you to refine what you are looking to buy. This depends on both what you have liked through use, and what you will need based on the type of diving you want to do.
I would look at getting your own personal gear (which is usually required for anyone taking an OW class). Then I would recommend buying gear that is a little more familiarity to enjoy it. For instance, having your own BC will allow you to have more comfort with your buoyancy and allow you to have a much more comfortable dive. Also, having your own wrist mounted computer that you can become familiar with might also be handy. I will personally be buying regs last due to costs and the ability to rent maintained regs anywhere you go.
Can you be more specific about what kind of gear you are looking at and where you want to go with your diving. That will prob allow others here to help guide you better. Also, have you spoken with you local dive shop and instructor?
Matt S.
Contributor
You're in BC which means cold water, which makes things more expensive. It also means you must answer the drysuit/wetsuit question.
If I were you... I might do it this way.
If I were you... I might do it this way.
- Get my own regulator set. You can get a good reg setup for less than $350 new (for example: Edge Gear Epic Regulator Set w/Octopus - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL) Hmm, that may need a cold water kit added, not sure.
- Instruments: a depth gauge and SPG on the reg set, and a compass. You can get this all jammed into one console "wrecking ball" for about $200, maybe less. There are many, many options here!
- Get my own buoyancy control device. This is what you "drive" when you dive and having your own will be much better for you than renting varying models. I prefer a backplate/wing system but there are many options. Do a search and you will find endless arguments! Depending on what you get, and new or used, you are looking at $250-500. Let's say $400 for now, just to have a number.
- Mask & fins--this will push you just over $1000, depending on what you get.
- Get my own exposure protection... But we are out of money now. You may have to rent a wetsuit when you rent tanks. Later you can decide if you will buy a wetsuit or drysuit.
cwhitpan
Contributor
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One of the best pieces of advice I got when sorting out my kit was to take my time. It is easy to get caught up in spend spend spend, but a little time and research will help ensure you don't have to rebuy anything.
I started with exposure and got a pair of wetsuits, 3mil shorty, and a 5m full for the quarry.
A computer was next for checkouts, and to so both it and I started on Dive 1 (Cressi Archimedes 2)
I then concentrated on trying different BC's for fit and comfort (I am 6'5") and wanted to make sure this would be a long time purchase (I ended up with a Zeagle Stiletto)
Then it was on to the life support and some regs. This is where you have to take time to try them out. Breathing feel and what you expect from a reg can only be sampled in the water. My shop let me try several out in the pool and my wife and I got the same ones (Cressi Ellipse 7)
After that the odds and ends fill it in, and my kit set us back about 1200 but it meets MY needs. IT travels well (Pretty light), it is a back inflate, rip cord (I like) and will last as my diving advances, the computer is not the flashiest, but is solid, and can download. The regs are solid and very nice to breath.
Aside from a few nods to Cressi, it is not a "brand" list. I spent about 2 months sorting it out, and it is solid. Aside from an extra 3m full suit I don't think I bought anything I regret, which says a lot. (And went TOTALLY against my nature!)
Good Luck with whatever you choose! And Enjoy the new obsession!
I started with exposure and got a pair of wetsuits, 3mil shorty, and a 5m full for the quarry.
A computer was next for checkouts, and to so both it and I started on Dive 1 (Cressi Archimedes 2)
I then concentrated on trying different BC's for fit and comfort (I am 6'5") and wanted to make sure this would be a long time purchase (I ended up with a Zeagle Stiletto)
Then it was on to the life support and some regs. This is where you have to take time to try them out. Breathing feel and what you expect from a reg can only be sampled in the water. My shop let me try several out in the pool and my wife and I got the same ones (Cressi Ellipse 7)
After that the odds and ends fill it in, and my kit set us back about 1200 but it meets MY needs. IT travels well (Pretty light), it is a back inflate, rip cord (I like) and will last as my diving advances, the computer is not the flashiest, but is solid, and can download. The regs are solid and very nice to breath.
Aside from a few nods to Cressi, it is not a "brand" list. I spent about 2 months sorting it out, and it is solid. Aside from an extra 3m full suit I don't think I bought anything I regret, which says a lot. (And went TOTALLY against my nature!)
Good Luck with whatever you choose! And Enjoy the new obsession!
Do yourself a favor and figure out exactly what you want/need. If its not in the budget rent one till it is. I hear a lot of people unhappy with their first set of gear and having to upgrade in a year or two. I rented most of my stuff the first season till I found a reg I liked that would keep up with my diving. It takes patients and time but in the end you will end up with gear that does exactly what you need it to and it will cost less in the long run. Buying gear and then upgrading in a couple of years costs more than doing it right the first time. Good luck and have fun.
ScubaFeenD
Contributor
scubafanatic
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...that's quite an assumption you're making there......the VAST majority of rental regs are very low-end (cheapo) low performance units.......very well used (and abused)...and I've lost track of the number of posts/reports I've read here on Scubaboard as well as elsewhere over the years about rental gear horror stories!
I can sympathize with 'budget' challenges, and if ya gotta rent for a while, ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess, but get away from rental gear as soon as $ permits.
Here's a few simple suggestions:
Apollo Bio fins with stainless steel spring straps $ 200 (Scubatoys)
Atomic Aquatics mask $ 110
Mares Abyss Voltrex with MR22T 1st-stage $ 280 (Scubatoys)
Octopus $ 100
Zeagle Brigade BC $ 400 (Scubatoys)
Aeris XR 1 NX Nitrox Console ( $ 225 now @ Scubatoys, regular price $ 390 )
total: $ 1315
subtract your Scubaboard membership 10% from Scubatoys (free shipping/no sales tax) grand total = $ 1175
(I won't worry about the wetsuit here, I'll let you shop for that, especially if it involves a drysuit, which will be big $ and you will need to rent for a while.)
diver 85
Contributor
Need a list of the 'items' you are interested in buying up front.......For a thousand, you should be able to 'get there' if you go the used route--which is not a bad way to go IMO if you know what you're looking @ etc etc....
Mike Boswell
Contributor
Hi BCscubadive. I don't know about your area, but here in San Diego you can usually get a complete set of almost new, hardly-used scuba gear for about half price on Craigslist.
aikiguy
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We Just did this 3 weeks ago for and with a friend!
If you go new you are going to be giving a lot of money to the people that run the dive store, that is their job, and you are going to pay to have them do it. This can be good or bad depending on the LDS that you are going to.
I have found it generally bad, because they are in business to make money and not to help me get the correct gear. Generally the reason that everyone has to buy their gear twice is because of the LDS selling them the wrong stuff to begin with! (So far there are only two exceptions to this, one in Tahiti of all places, and the other here in Oakland.) So buying new to me is a double whammy, you have to buy everything twice, and at twice or more of the cost. However your mileage may vary.
However Most people dive less than 2 dives a year. Then after a few years they clean out the sports closet and move on to the next thing. Generally Hover Golf, because that is the only sport more gear intensive than scuba diving! (My apologies to Aldus Huxley)
To give you a real life example of gear recently purchased for a friend:
Purchase #1 for friend Used off of craigslist $400
Previous Owner had a whopping 18 dives on this stuff Saw his Log.
> Large Akona Diving Bag for all of the purchase #1 .
> Ranger LTD BCD
> 3mm Wet suit one piece (Henderson Gold) Never Worn Fit Perfectly
> 7mm wet suit 2 piece (Henderson Gold) Fit Perfectly
> Oceanic Balanced Piston Reg, with 2 Second stages (No Gauges or Computer)
> Diving Skin (Lycra Suit) Fit Perfectly
> Bunch Of weights (Not quite enough but close)
> Gloves (One Torn, making the pair useless)
> Hood, (Too Small to fit him)
> One Set of Boots (Didn't fit any of us) Gave to another friend.
Purchase Number 2 New Dive Store $140
> Got talked into the same fins that I was talked into. $99.00 Plus Springs Taxes etc
>> Still not sure if we like the fins....
Purchase Number 3 Dive Store, Very Expensive Place: $70.00
>Booties $40.00
>Gloves $30.00
Two Aluminum 80's Craigslist then Hydro etc: $120
>$25.00 each for the tanks,
> $35 For the Hydro Eddie Current Etc
Set of Gauges on Ebay Like New: $75
Mask and Snorkel... (HE pilfered one of my spares... :depressed: However it did fit him better than either of us.)
Not counting the above pilfering from me:
$400 + $140 + $70.00 + $110.00 +$75.00 = $795
$795 Lets call it about $800.00 for the setup.
Yeah he needs a computer (He has been borrowing my spare so far). But as he pointed out on our last Monterey dive, I could dive the tables here and it would make no difference.
So you can do really well if you don't want to have the pay the instant depreciation of buying new gear. This is all top of the line stuff.
Also note that we were in a hurry and did all of this in ONE day on Craigslist so that he could dive the next day. ( He dove one of my spare regs till we went over his New to him Reg Set, and received the gauges).
If you are not in a hurry, then you could do even better. We have a friend that was patient and managed to get everything but her computer for $300.00 total... Dived with that for 2 years until she had money then bought her next setup.
Or if you are brand new to this, it might be wise to rent for your first 20 divers. At $65.00 (The cost for a complete kit in Monterey CA) you would be out $1300.00. Since the largest majority of people entering SCUBA diving do not complete 20 dives in their first 10 years of diving this would be money in the bank.
Guy
If you go new you are going to be giving a lot of money to the people that run the dive store, that is their job, and you are going to pay to have them do it. This can be good or bad depending on the LDS that you are going to.
I have found it generally bad, because they are in business to make money and not to help me get the correct gear. Generally the reason that everyone has to buy their gear twice is because of the LDS selling them the wrong stuff to begin with! (So far there are only two exceptions to this, one in Tahiti of all places, and the other here in Oakland.) So buying new to me is a double whammy, you have to buy everything twice, and at twice or more of the cost. However your mileage may vary.
However Most people dive less than 2 dives a year. Then after a few years they clean out the sports closet and move on to the next thing. Generally Hover Golf, because that is the only sport more gear intensive than scuba diving! (My apologies to Aldus Huxley)
To give you a real life example of gear recently purchased for a friend:
Purchase #1 for friend Used off of craigslist $400
Previous Owner had a whopping 18 dives on this stuff Saw his Log.
> Large Akona Diving Bag for all of the purchase #1 .
> Ranger LTD BCD
> 3mm Wet suit one piece (Henderson Gold) Never Worn Fit Perfectly
> 7mm wet suit 2 piece (Henderson Gold) Fit Perfectly
> Oceanic Balanced Piston Reg, with 2 Second stages (No Gauges or Computer)
> Diving Skin (Lycra Suit) Fit Perfectly
> Bunch Of weights (Not quite enough but close)
> Gloves (One Torn, making the pair useless)
> Hood, (Too Small to fit him)
> One Set of Boots (Didn't fit any of us) Gave to another friend.
Purchase Number 2 New Dive Store $140
> Got talked into the same fins that I was talked into. $99.00 Plus Springs Taxes etc
>> Still not sure if we like the fins....
Purchase Number 3 Dive Store, Very Expensive Place: $70.00
>Booties $40.00
>Gloves $30.00
Two Aluminum 80's Craigslist then Hydro etc: $120
>$25.00 each for the tanks,
> $35 For the Hydro Eddie Current Etc
Set of Gauges on Ebay Like New: $75
Mask and Snorkel... (HE pilfered one of my spares... :depressed: However it did fit him better than either of us.)
Not counting the above pilfering from me:
$400 + $140 + $70.00 + $110.00 +$75.00 = $795
$795 Lets call it about $800.00 for the setup.
Yeah he needs a computer (He has been borrowing my spare so far). But as he pointed out on our last Monterey dive, I could dive the tables here and it would make no difference.
So you can do really well if you don't want to have the pay the instant depreciation of buying new gear. This is all top of the line stuff.
Also note that we were in a hurry and did all of this in ONE day on Craigslist so that he could dive the next day. ( He dove one of my spare regs till we went over his New to him Reg Set, and received the gauges).
If you are not in a hurry, then you could do even better. We have a friend that was patient and managed to get everything but her computer for $300.00 total... Dived with that for 2 years until she had money then bought her next setup.
Or if you are brand new to this, it might be wise to rent for your first 20 divers. At $65.00 (The cost for a complete kit in Monterey CA) you would be out $1300.00. Since the largest majority of people entering SCUBA diving do not complete 20 dives in their first 10 years of diving this would be money in the bank.
Guy
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