So I'm about to go on my second dive trip and have started thinking about buying my own equipment. So many options to choose from. I'm not going to ask for ads on specific brands or models but how about some general pointers on what to look for when choosing equipment for the first time? I have the mask, snorkel, fins, booties and gloves from my OW cert and would like to start investing in a regulator and BCD next.
How to choose equipment
- Thread starter jejton
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ScubaStan81
Registered
Hey, I always recommend renting few different types of equipment first. Say a regular BCD and Back Plate- see what you more comfortable with before you buy. It decide what type of diving you will be doing. Back plate is usually more customizable and cost about the same. Same with suit(although one is never enough) and regs.
Plus when you start diving with a regular buddy or a club it's always good to have similar equipment in case of anything. Speak to few experienced divers you diving with and see what they have.
I just did the same. Rented few different places and knew what I liked after few dives and bought it.
Ended up with a plate and wing and love it.
Good luck and keep a leash on that credit card
Plus when you start diving with a regular buddy or a club it's always good to have similar equipment in case of anything. Speak to few experienced divers you diving with and see what they have.
I just did the same. Rented few different places and knew what I liked after few dives and bought it.
Ended up with a plate and wing and love it.
Good luck and keep a leash on that credit card
grantwiscour
Contributor
+1 to Stan's post. Rent, borrow, use, etc. different BCs and see what you like and don't like about each one. You may end up with a BP/W or a hybrid BC after trying different configurations.
If you are going to dive locally, go to some local dive sites and walk around and look at what people are using, and ask them about their gear. We all love to talk about gear!
If you are only going to dive on trips, try renting equipment a few times. You'll get a sense for what you like.
The important factors is that things that need to fit, need to fit RIGHT -- that means masks, BCs, exposure protection and fins. Sloppy gear makes diving more challenging, and a novice doesn't need that. Things which are complicated to work are good to own -- that means computers, where the displays and alarms and logging functions can be quite a ways from intuitive.
There is a LOT of good information here in the equipment threads -- spend some time poking around there and see what people who do the same kind of diving you want to do are recommending or giving positive reviews.
If you are only going to dive on trips, try renting equipment a few times. You'll get a sense for what you like.
The important factors is that things that need to fit, need to fit RIGHT -- that means masks, BCs, exposure protection and fins. Sloppy gear makes diving more challenging, and a novice doesn't need that. Things which are complicated to work are good to own -- that means computers, where the displays and alarms and logging functions can be quite a ways from intuitive.
There is a LOT of good information here in the equipment threads -- spend some time poking around there and see what people who do the same kind of diving you want to do are recommending or giving positive reviews.
TONY CHANEY
Contributor
Know where you diving is going, i.e. side mount, tech, deep. rebreather etc., and buy gear that will take you there. Don't buy again and again.
jetton,
Lot's off good advice but you need to filter it to your own situation.
First off I hope you are planning to be an active local diver. Unless you have a killer travel budget and a lot of discretionary time it is the only real way to become a proficient and safe diver.
If that is the case and being in NY your regulator choice wants to go direct to cold water rated products. They cost just a little more and there's no downside when diving in warm water. If you make the rounds with local divers and see what shops are selling it should be easy to see what can be serviced locally. This can be one of the easiest purchases and it's a nice item to know the history of.
The advice is to rent is good but you have already done your OW course dives and a some sort of first trip. In most cases the BCs you can rent are not the same current well featured products most want to buy so the benefit of renting endlessly is minimal and expensive. Start by thinking features, this old post may give you some stuff to consider. Then see what your options are, especially at shops that will let you get products wet, at least in a pool and see what shakes out. If you are going to dive locally take the varying dive suit thickness into account. Getting into your own BC will do a lot to let you begin to define your own style and skill. There is always a risk that you will make a less than perfect choice but you are not married to the stuff. If you decide after X amount of dives just flip it for something else. relative to a stack of rent receipts you are probably still ahead of the game.
A wetsuit sounds like the next opportunity. Here's my long answer to that.
A dive computer is also in your future. Lot's of options there. Be sure it's nitrox capable even if you have not taken the class yet. Skip integration. All of the integration you need is between your ears and you don't want to be counting on electrons to tell how much air is in your cylinder. Get a console puck or wrist model. Some can be popped into either mount should you change preference along the way.
Above and beyond do as much seat time studying here as you can. The forum archives hold a ton of information such as searching for a brand/model to read issues and comments. There are few absolutes in this matter so you need to understand options and make choices.
Pete
Lot's off good advice but you need to filter it to your own situation.
First off I hope you are planning to be an active local diver. Unless you have a killer travel budget and a lot of discretionary time it is the only real way to become a proficient and safe diver.
If that is the case and being in NY your regulator choice wants to go direct to cold water rated products. They cost just a little more and there's no downside when diving in warm water. If you make the rounds with local divers and see what shops are selling it should be easy to see what can be serviced locally. This can be one of the easiest purchases and it's a nice item to know the history of.
The advice is to rent is good but you have already done your OW course dives and a some sort of first trip. In most cases the BCs you can rent are not the same current well featured products most want to buy so the benefit of renting endlessly is minimal and expensive. Start by thinking features, this old post may give you some stuff to consider. Then see what your options are, especially at shops that will let you get products wet, at least in a pool and see what shakes out. If you are going to dive locally take the varying dive suit thickness into account. Getting into your own BC will do a lot to let you begin to define your own style and skill. There is always a risk that you will make a less than perfect choice but you are not married to the stuff. If you decide after X amount of dives just flip it for something else. relative to a stack of rent receipts you are probably still ahead of the game.
A wetsuit sounds like the next opportunity. Here's my long answer to that.
A dive computer is also in your future. Lot's of options there. Be sure it's nitrox capable even if you have not taken the class yet. Skip integration. All of the integration you need is between your ears and you don't want to be counting on electrons to tell how much air is in your cylinder. Get a console puck or wrist model. Some can be popped into either mount should you change preference along the way.
Above and beyond do as much seat time studying here as you can. The forum archives hold a ton of information such as searching for a brand/model to read issues and comments. There are few absolutes in this matter so you need to understand options and make choices.
Pete
1. I agree with much off what has been said, about renting, borrowing, trying. To the extent you can, try multiple different rigs before buying anything.
2. You asked primarily about regs and BCDs, and have received some good advice. My comments about buying gear are a little more general.
3. I also very much agree with the advice about observing local divers, seeing what they use, and asking them why they use what they use. You don’t have to drink their Kool Aid, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
4. Just the basic list of questions may seem daunting:
What to buy? (BCD, regulator, exposure suit, computer, cylinder, etc, etc) - you are concentrating on a couple of these now.
What style to buy? (BCD: jacket, vs. back-inflate (soft), vs back-inflate (hard – BP); Weight system: weight belt, weight pockets, integrated weights, etc.; Regulator: environmentally sealed for cold water, or not; standard recreational hose set-up, vs modified - long primary hose, and bungeed necklace alternate, vs integrated octo-inflator)
What order to buy? (Reg first? or BCD first? or computer first? or something lese first)
Where to buy (LDS vs online, vs used)
What brand to buy?
What level’ to buy” (Entry level, vs mid-range, vs high end ?)
How much to pay?
5. Some general thoughts (some of which may differ from the advice you have already received).
a. For most of the questions there really isn’t a single right answer. You can buy in whatever order (you can even buy a Diver Propulsion Vehicle first), you can buy new or used, you can buy local or online, you can buy Halcyon, HOG, Zeagle, Apeks or Dive Rite). You can choose a variety of options, and still end up very happy, or miserable.
b. Buy SIMPLE – buy gear that is easy to learn how to use, is easy to maintain, has a minimum number of bells and whistles (e.g., padding in a scuba rig is usually appealing on the surface, but is of little / no value underwater, and may actually add to the amount of lead you have to strap on to descend; a few D-rings on a BCD are nice, but a scuba unit is not intended to be a Christmas tree). If you buy simple, then decide to buy something different in the future, your first investment is modest, and the simplicity may add to the re-sellability.
c. Most (simple) gear is ‘safe’. The brand, model and style won’t make a lot of difference. A jacket BCD and a BP/W are equally safe, equally appropriate for a new diver, and depending on brand and model can be equally expensive (or inexpensive).
d. Buy what you need to dive (would you rather buy a BCD and reg, which you NEED to dive, and rent a computer, or buy the shiny computer, which you don’t need to dive, but which consumes the resources needed to buy the BCD and reg, which you then have to rent)
e. Don’t worry about buying twice. Despite the fact that many of us try to suggest things that allow you to buy (only) once, that really isn’t realistic for the most part. If you enjoy diving, if you become enamored with it, if you continue to dive, you will continue to tweak your equipment. Things you like at first may become things you don’t like later, and maybe even then become things you like (again) much later. My first BCD was a Ranger, I loved it, I stopped diving it when I moved to a BP/W, I recently pulled the Ranger out and dove it again after 8 years, I love it (but, I still prefer my BP/W)
f. Don’t angst over purchasing decisions. At some point in buying equipment you have to ‘take the plunge’. You can spend hours, days, weeks, even years, trying to select the exact right equipment. And, as soon as you select it, buy it and use it, you find it wasn’t the ideal, just (hopefully) close to it. It reminds me of how people used to deliberate over buying a PC – was it the latest, fastest, most powerful, best graphics, etc, etc., etc? People would wait to buy a PC, so they would get the latest and greatest, and a week after purchasing find that a faster chip, better video card, whatever was just introduced. Don’t waste too much time in detailed research and product reviews (few, if any, are entirely objective). Do some research on the big issues, make a choice, and move on. The fate of civilization does not depend on whether a diver chooses a jacket BCD or a BP/W as their first BCD, or a standard primary / octo reg, vs an integrated octo / inflator for their first regulator.
Tsele Deesh
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Hello all! Found an intersting article regarding choosing which regulator to buy ... it is slightly technical but not a lot. anyone care to make it simpler and comment on its reliability?!
deep diving regulators
deep diving regulators
I doubt that a lot of the info presented will be of much use to most divers. The fact they have pic of a mares reg and a crossed out apeks ds4 reg kidda made me lose interest in all that mumbo jumbo.
Tech divers have been using the ds4 to depths >100m with no issues whatsoever. I posted a video of the hunt for the Coelacanth and you can see a ds4 being used to 120m and in another episode they were using it to greater then 150m.
If however, you have to have the ultimate deep/cold reg, get a Poseidon. However, funky breathing, expensive to buy, difficulties in servicing and tuning are all part of owning this bad boy. But its the ultimate deep/cold reg.
For the most of us, a ds4/xtx50, mk17/g250 or legend lx is pretty much all you really need.
There is a tendency to over science this stuff. Problem there is that as a beginner, garbage in equals garbage out.
Renting gear sounds good and it is a generic forum answer, however, rarely will you find it possible to rent anything but beginner/mid level equipment most of which will be maladjusted and poorly kept and therefore basing decisions on that data point alone is faulty.
If you go on a trip and look at what other divers have at first you will think, wow, everything is so different and then if you step back and take in the big picture you will see that everybody, about 96% of them, is diving a standard, weight integrated BC with a traditional "yellow" type octopus second regulator set and some thermoplastic fins and a clear skirt mask. You will NEVER see a BP/wing but very rarely.
Now, at some local dive sites you might see a BP/wing with a long hose regulator but even there it will be rare.
But on scubaboard it is flip flopped. Nearly all of the people who have answered thus far dive what is called a Hogarthian (Hog) rig which consists of a back plate and wing (BP/wing) and a long hose primary (five to seven foot) regulator set. Nearly every Hog rig also uses a traditional weight belt, by definition. Why is scubaboard flip flopped, well, people here then to be enthusiast divers be they newbie or old salt.
So, do you want a BP/wing which is a bit more techie or do you want a more traditional weight integrated rig similar to what you probably learned with?
If you travel a lot look at travel friendly equipment such as from Aqua Lung and Scuba Pro but realize that travel gear is meant to be light and that equates also to light duty.
Avoid the "package" gear trap.
Also after you buy your "package" gear set avoid posting on scubaboard the typical "this is the package I just bought and ain't it great" thread because people (sometimes including me) will chew it all up and you will run away with your tail tucked feeling like a schmuck.
Oh, if you visit every shop in New York they will probably try and sell you what they sell as being the best. Of course they do because that is why they sell it, right?
You look, listen, learn and then YOU decide.
Me, I use a BP/wing and even have among my vast selection of equipment a long hose regulator rig somewhere. I essentially dive a Hog rig though I am not a fan of the long hose for open water diving. I prefer the traditional octopus regulator set. My wife dives a weight integrated BC, she has two, one is a back inflate travel unit (AL Zuma) and a heavier jacket type weight integrated Dacor Elle. She likes a clear mask, me, I like both clear and black and would die for a yellow or blue one.
Whatever you get, use it up, wear it out and learn. Somethings you will like, other things you will grow to hate. After about three sets of gear down the road, you might be tuning in on what you really like until you discover you like something better.
Simple, sturdy, mid range gear from a major manufacturer (AL, Scuba Pro, Mares etc) is hard to go completely wrong with.
Jet Fins, the one, the only, the real deal, heavy weight champion.
N
Renting gear sounds good and it is a generic forum answer, however, rarely will you find it possible to rent anything but beginner/mid level equipment most of which will be maladjusted and poorly kept and therefore basing decisions on that data point alone is faulty.
If you go on a trip and look at what other divers have at first you will think, wow, everything is so different and then if you step back and take in the big picture you will see that everybody, about 96% of them, is diving a standard, weight integrated BC with a traditional "yellow" type octopus second regulator set and some thermoplastic fins and a clear skirt mask. You will NEVER see a BP/wing but very rarely.
Now, at some local dive sites you might see a BP/wing with a long hose regulator but even there it will be rare.
But on scubaboard it is flip flopped. Nearly all of the people who have answered thus far dive what is called a Hogarthian (Hog) rig which consists of a back plate and wing (BP/wing) and a long hose primary (five to seven foot) regulator set. Nearly every Hog rig also uses a traditional weight belt, by definition. Why is scubaboard flip flopped, well, people here then to be enthusiast divers be they newbie or old salt.
So, do you want a BP/wing which is a bit more techie or do you want a more traditional weight integrated rig similar to what you probably learned with?
If you travel a lot look at travel friendly equipment such as from Aqua Lung and Scuba Pro but realize that travel gear is meant to be light and that equates also to light duty.
Avoid the "package" gear trap.
Also after you buy your "package" gear set avoid posting on scubaboard the typical "this is the package I just bought and ain't it great" thread because people (sometimes including me) will chew it all up and you will run away with your tail tucked feeling like a schmuck.
Oh, if you visit every shop in New York they will probably try and sell you what they sell as being the best. Of course they do because that is why they sell it, right?
You look, listen, learn and then YOU decide.
Me, I use a BP/wing and even have among my vast selection of equipment a long hose regulator rig somewhere. I essentially dive a Hog rig though I am not a fan of the long hose for open water diving. I prefer the traditional octopus regulator set. My wife dives a weight integrated BC, she has two, one is a back inflate travel unit (AL Zuma) and a heavier jacket type weight integrated Dacor Elle. She likes a clear mask, me, I like both clear and black and would die for a yellow or blue one.
Whatever you get, use it up, wear it out and learn. Somethings you will like, other things you will grow to hate. After about three sets of gear down the road, you might be tuning in on what you really like until you discover you like something better.
Simple, sturdy, mid range gear from a major manufacturer (AL, Scuba Pro, Mares etc) is hard to go completely wrong with.
Jet Fins, the one, the only, the real deal, heavy weight champion.
N
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