Looking for some imput

[formernuke]

i have heard that i should stay away from leisurepro.com (from a guy i know on a car forum who dives) but havent heard anything about scubastore.com. i ask b/c the aqualung calypso/titan is $78.29 from scubastore.com

Welcome, if you are anything like me soon you spend way to much money and be playing underwater when you should be doing other stuff. I will not say whether or not to buy from LP/scubastore.com for aqualung or scubapro because I have not done so but if you look around this site you will find a lot of threads discussing this issue.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-divers-those-considering-diving/281974-leisure-pro-pricing.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/265741-buying-leisure-pro-vs-local-dive-shop.html

It should be noted that since you got the reg second hand you probably won't get the warrenty on it, so if warrenty is the only thing your worried about it's a moot point.

What I will recomend is that you wait to buy a BC until after certifaction and several dives in various conditions. I didn't do this a found myself getting a new BC shortly after to better match my diving conditions.

As for listening to a master Chief it depends, I had a COB/CMC that didn't know his *^$hole from his mouth and couldn't do a thing, but a couple of master chiefs who where decent.

 

[Curious Monkey]

^i read and called scubastore.com and found out that they are infact an authorized aqualung dealer.

Yeah they get away with selling some brands online because they're in Spain... Europe plays by different rules.

My whole rig (Reg, octo, computer) are aqualung/suunto and I love 'em.

 

[halocline]

can i paint the tanks? mine are a light blue, and im not crazy about the color. i was hoping to paint them either yellow with a black stripe towards the bottom, or black with a yellow stripe. if it cant be done its no big, it would just be more my style.

It's tough to paint tanks, especially AL tanks, and make them look even close to decent, plus as soon as you use them they'll start getting dinged up. You can, however, remove the paint that's on them fairly easily. There are a million threads about that. Use paint remover that's AL safe; the active ingredient is likely to be methylene chloride. (something like that) After you're done, you can use very light sand paper (I used 400 wet/dry on mine) to remove the inevitable scratches from scraping off the paint. I guess you could also get some very light media blasting done, but that's starting to get iffy as far removing metal. The important things are, don't get them hot, don't use any sort of acid, and don't remove any significant metal through abrasives.

Do a search, you'll find all sorts of info.

 

[fnfalman]

Get rid of the aluminum tanks. Trade them in for a decent steel tank and you'll be the more better off in the future.

 

[skimphish]

^how so? what are the benefits of steel tanks over aluminum tanks?

 

[garyd54220]

Primariy advantages are in weight and better buoyancy characteristics. For more information see: How to Select a SCUBA Tank - Dive Gear Express
Gary

 

[Ragnar]

Primariy advantages are in weight and better buoyancy characteristics. For more information see: How to Select a SCUBA Tank - Dive Gear Express
Gary

Not when diving with a thin wetsuit or none at all, in that case the AL80 IS the weapon of choice. I wear little or no weight, my light and other gear is plenty, and normally use just a rash-guard. If using a steel tank I would be heavier than needed at the start of the dive.

The Al 80 is perfect for warm water ocean diving, and also what you'll be using on dive boats and traveling so your rig will already be set up for it and you'll be used to it. Keep'em

 

[skimphish]

just found out that my tanks were made in 82....not 92 like i thought. so, im trying to figure out what to do now. the MC certifying me says that if i give him the tanks (he has his own compressor, so he will have no problem filling them) he will charge alot less for the cert. so, i gotta figure this out now. or maybe i can trade him for one of his steel tanks. thoughts?

 

[halocline]

If you can unload AL tanks made in 1982, and get a discount on your OW certification, do it. Save the tank buying for later, after you've learned enough to choose the best possible tanks for yourself.

 

[Ragnar]

just found out that my tanks were made in 82....not 92 like i thought. so, im trying to figure out what to do now. the MC certifying me says that if i give him the tanks (he has his own compressor, so he will have no problem filling them) he will charge alot less for the cert. so, i gotta figure this out now. or maybe i can trade him for one of his steel tanks. thoughts?

In that case I'd trade'em for the Cert. And if you'll be diving in the Gulf with a thin or no wetsuit, stick with Aluminum.