I am interested in learning to Dive, but I am landlocked and I have physical disabilities

[diversteve]

If they're colored silicon I doubt it changes much. I was referring to clear silicon which turns a little browner with age. All masks stiffen slightly after exposure to sun/water over time.

Parts for Life sounds like a good deal but parts are maybe 20% of the service cost - it's the labor.. It's marketing hype to get you to buy all your gear from them - and get locked into the required service intervals to maintain the coverage.

If you plan to buy all Scubapro anyway and maintain it at mfr. recommended service intervals anyway - might as well buy the package.

Scubapro does not have any options for BC inflatores besides standard ones so make sure Sis can push the buttons. Do it with the BC installed on a tank with a regulator as they're harder to press when powered up.

An example - my recent reg service - of the $90+ total - $17 was parts. The rest labor.

Myself - all of my gear is from different mfr's. So buying a package wouldn't work for me.

My point about Reg-Tech is they're one day away via UPS. Although so is just about anyone via Fedex. You wouldn't want to drive there - it's just a shop, not a store.

My old shop sometimes took 2-3 weeks to get my reg. back - one tech and pretty busy. So shipping it to a repair facility would be faster. My new shop takes a week typically. Some shops take your reg in for repair then send it out anyway so check.

 

[Pettyfan45]

Service Here is The Playground's service prices, I think $75 might be a bit much for a battery replacement but that is just me

After the Discover SCUBA thing I will try and see if I can get a hold of any shops in the area. Computer, gages, and maybe Regs we could get online if we really wanted, but our first BC, mask, fins, boots, and wetsuit I would like to try and get them from a local shop just so I make sure they fit right and not deal with having to keep returning stuff till I find something that fits online. Once we have an idea on how things should fit properly if we want to upgrade we can see about getting stuff online if we have no other local options.

My sister's left side is perfectly fine so she should be able to operate a power inflater on the left fine, the only issue might be with her reg on left too accidentally puling her reg out when she points the inflater up to let air out.

Do you foot the bill for shipping to Reg-Tech or do they send you a prepaid label?

 

[diversteve]

I don't understand your 2nd paragraph - I encouraged you to buy that gear locally so it fits.
And any other Scubapro gear from the Playground as you won't find it cheaper anywhere else except for the tax. Scubapro and some other mfr's set a Mfr's Suggested Price and don't generally let dealers go much below that.

Your sis really won't have a problem with both inflator and primary on the left. The reg hose will actaully loop in around her jaw area over the shoulder pretty stiffly and the inflator comes up from her chest.

Plus you only have to get it above parallel to vent - the air wants to rush out. My BC has a inflator retaining strap about 6" down from my shoulder - I never undo it during a dive.Some dives once I establish neutral buoyancy at the dive depth, I don't touch it again till I surface. Often I have my video housing in my left hand during a dive.

When you certify, they'll probably weight you slightly heavy as they don't want you bouncing around during class but you can fine tune it later.

Many BC's have an inflator pull dump integrated at the shoulder so all you do is pull on the inflator end to dump air. And if you're horizontal you'll be using the bottom dumps anyway - it's why they have a cord.

Since she has full use of her left side, an Aqualung BC with an I3 is an expense you don't need.

You'll probably train in jacket BC's Some people like the feel and buy a better one. I prefer back inflate as the wing doesn't squeeze me in front - or get in the way. My DM buddy dives a jacket happily - she can afford anything.

After you've been diving for a while - you learn to get neutrally buoyant and control minor depth changes with your breathing alone. If you keep hitting the power inflator to make small depth changes - you're doing it wrong.

I generally swim up to my safety stop then surface. Then I hit the power inflator button to stay there without effort.

I don't think it will be an issue. Even on descents she can just hold the inflator high and off to the left of the primary hose if she's descending feet first. .

It's something to sort out on the Discover Dive.

I have no experience with Reg-Tech or their shipping policies. I doubt they send a pre-paid label though. It's going to be an issue in 2-3 years after purchase - assuming you don['t just drop them off at the Playground. If you use UPS to ship them - it's only shipper prepaid afaik.

 

[diversteve]

Many computers have user changeable batteries. Mos current models need no special tools. They overcharge for the kit - it's a watch battery and an o-ring but at least you get the right o-ring. IIRC - under $20. It's generally not a yearly item anyway - mine go about 5 years. It warns you when the battery is getting low.

Or the battery model# will be listed in the computer manual and o-rings are like 5 cents from a industrial supplier. You just have to be sure to get the right size and hardness. A lot of them are listed here on SB or post the model and someone will know.

You can find almost all the shops in your area by using a website locator. Here's two of the more popular ones:

PADI | The Way the World Learns to Dive®
my.DiveSSI.com

Also every gear mfr. has one - here's Scubapro - https://www.scubapro.com/where-to-buy

 

[diversteve]

At some point it's cheaper to get a new computer than pay $75 for a battery change. A Mares Puck Pro retails under $200 new regularly. Used by a lot of rec. divers.

When my last - expensive computer needed a battery - an older Scubapro/Uqatec with a required factory service - I dumped it and bought a Suunto Gekko which I still use.

 

[Pettyfan45]

Many computers have user changeable batteries. Mos current models need no special tools. They overcharge for the kit - it's a watch battery and an o-ring but at least you get the right o-ring. IIRC - under $20. It's generally not a yearly item anyway - mine go about 5 years. It warns you when the battery is getting low.

Or the battery model# will be listed in the computer manual and o-rings are like 5 cents from a industrial supplier. You just have to be sure to get the right size and hardness. A lot of them are listed here on SB or post the model and someone will know.

You can find almost all the shops in your area by using a website locator. Here's two of the more popular ones:

PADI | The Way the World Learns to Dive®
my.DiveSSI.com

Also every gear mfr. has one - here's Scubapro - https://www.scubapro.com/where-to-buy

At some point it's cheaper to get a new computer than pay $75 for a battery change. A Mares Puck Pro retails under $200 new regularly. Used by a lot of rec. divers.

When my last - expensive computer needed a battery - an older Scubapro/Uqatec with a required factory service - I dumped it and bought a Suunto Gekko which I still use.

Yeah if i recall most modern computers don't need to be recalibrated if you just change the battery, at worst you might just need to change your depth setting back and you might lose whatever logs were on it. I showed my sister the Mares Puck Pro and she said she is not a fan of large watches on her wrist, recommendations on something smaller or not on the wrist?

I saw a couple new shop that are kinda in my area I might look into them after the Discovery SCUBA thing.

 

[diversteve]

Most computers retain the data for the an interval of time while you change the battery.There is no recalibration required - or even possible on newer models. If you bought a metric-based model you would have to set it back to imperial but why would you?
Many of them are downloadable to some sort of dive log program - usually that costs up to $100 more for the proprietary download cable. Some Scubapro models use an Infrared transmitter/receiver (IRDA) instead.

My Gekko does not so I manually enter my dives after each trip into my online logbook. I kind of enjoy reliving each dive and I enter more about them such as conditions, things I've seen etc. than any computer captures.

A Puck Pro is one of the smaller wrist computers. Smaller than that would be one of the Suunto D series - Suunto watch-sized dive computers - at 3-4X the price. The Suunto Zoop is bigger than a Puck and the Cressi Leonardo about the same size

Sis might like the D4 Novo in Pink... https://www.suunto.com/globalassets...d4i-novo-pink-dive-depth-metric.png?width=270

There are several affordable puck compiters - not Mares Puck - the term refers to a standard sized model that goes in a standard console

Some are air integrated so they get tank pressure from the hose - how to tell is if the other gauge is a pressure gauge then they're not.

Here's the Scubapro lineup. Some are pretty pricey as they get smaller. https://ww2.scubapro.com/en-GB/FRA/instruments/computers.aspx

Some less expensive Sherwood models - Welcome to Sherwood Scuba!

Sherwodd has been around longer than Scubapro just not as well marketed.

One point to consider is smaller computers use a smaller font - they still have to cram 3-4 different settings onto the face. Or require you to hit a button to change screens. Harder to read underwater.

 

[Pettyfan45]

Most computers retain the data for the an interval of time while you change the battery.There is no recalibration required - or even possible on newer models. If you bought a metric-based model you would have to set it back to imperial but why would you?
Many of them are downloadable to some sort of dive log program - usually that costs up to $100 more for the proprietary download cable. Some Scubapro models use an Infrared transmitter/receiver (IRDA) instead.

My Gekko does not so I manually enter my dives after each trip into my online logbook. I kind of enjoy reliving each dive and I enter more about them such as conditions, things I've seen etc. than any computer captures.

A Puck Pro is one of the smaller wrist computers. Smaller than that would be one of the Suunto D series - Suunto watch-sized dive computers - at 3-4X the price. The Suunto Zoop is bigger than a Puck and the Cressi Leonardo about the same size

Sis might like the D4 Novo in Pink... https://www.suunto.com/globalassets...d4i-novo-pink-dive-depth-metric.png?width=270

There are several affordable puck compiters - not Mares Puck - the term refers to a standard sized model that goes in a standard console

Some are air integrated so they get tank pressure from the hose - how to tell is if the other gauge is a pressure gauge then they're not.

Here's the Scubapro lineup. Some are pretty pricey as they get smaller. https://ww2.scubapro.com/en-GB/FRA/instruments/computers.aspx

Some less expensive Sherwood models - Welcome to Sherwood Scuba!

Sherwodd has been around longer than Scubapro just not as well marketed.

One point to consider is smaller computers use a smaller font - they still have to cram 3-4 different settings onto the face. Or require you to hit a button to change screens. Harder to read underwater.

Scubapro Aladin SPORT 3-G In-L Imp. N Computers & InstrumentsRegulators, BCD, Wetsuit, Mask Fins Snorkel, Scubapro, Hydros Pro, Mk25, Mk17, Seawing Novas, Scubapro regs, Scubapro BC's, Mares, Oceanic, Atomic Regulator if this comes with the compass and gauges this might not be too bad

 

[diversteve]

It does include the compass, it's just not air integrated which is why the pressure gauge is at the bottom near the hose.

The computer - middle gauge - will tell you depth, dive time, safety stop time and any deco needed (not likely unless you totally mess up) Plus log your dives. Probably other things also - IDK that model.

It's really not a bad deal for the price.

It's a single gas which is fine for the diving you'll be doing. Usually that means you can pick air or nitrox b4 each dive and there's a default setting for the one you normally use.

I personally only dive air, my regular buddy only nitrox. We still surface about the same time but he says he feels better. Most dive boats/shops supply either.

If you get it buy a retractor to keep from scuffing it on the reef. The reef will appreciate it also. I use a locking one from Cetacea - it allows me to position the gauges exactly where I can glance down and see it. Since there's 3000psi in that hose, it doesn't move much.

 

[Pettyfan45]

It does include the compass, it's just not air integrated which is why the pressure gauge is at the bottom near the hose.

The computer - middle gauge - will tell you depth, dive time, safety stop time and any deco needed (not likely unless you totally mess up) Plus log your dives. Probably other things also - IDK that model.

It's really not a bad deal for the price.

It's a single gas which is fine for the diving you'll be doing. Usually that means you can pick air or nitrox b4 each dive and there's a default setting for the one you normally use.

I personally only dive air, my regular buddy only nitrox. We still surface about the same time but he says he feels better. Most dive boats/shops supply either.

If you get it buy a retractor to keep from scuffing it on the reef. The reef will appreciate it also. I use a locking one from Cetacea - it allows me to position the gauges exactly where I can glance down and see it. Since there's 3000psi in that hose, it doesn't move much.

Yeah I am thinking this might be a decent starting point, they have one without a compass but at the same time it is never a bad idea to have a compass available just in case.

Right now I am not too interested in Nitrox, so this computer not having settings for it is no big loss for me.

Do you have a link for the retractor thing?