Monterey divers - what gear do you use?

[ae3753]

Agree with Chuck on renting before buying. In all the excitement, it's quite easy to buy something that might not be the best for you. And the only way to know something will work is to dive with it, and more than one time. It's great that you're asking about personal stats, cause what works well for one person, may not be so good for you.

Male, 30, 5'7", 125#s

Exposure: DUI CLX450. Factory second via ebay. About 10 dives so far but very happy with the purchase. Undergarment is Bare T100 (2004), doesn't offer full range of motion in the shoulder (even while not wearing drysuit), but can reach everything I need. Too thin for me, and need an extra fleece for warmth. Hood is Bare Zippered Cold Water and works for me. Gloves are Henderson 7mm Hyperstretch. Easy to don and warm enough.

Regs: Zeagle DS-IV. Great regs, performed well in all conditions I've been in, and would recommend these without reservation.

BC: For Monterey, I use a Hammerhead backplate (bp) and Dive Rite Trek wing. I like the bp since it's 12#s that I don't have to carry on my waist. The Trek wing is ok, but I have found that it takes more active management than a donut shape wing.

Fins: Jet Fins. Drysuit boots gave me an excuse to buy new fins so I picked up some Jet Fins. Good fins with strong propulsion, but I had Avanti Planas and were happy with those too.

Computer: Cressi Archimedes. Easy to use and nice large numbers. And for the price, a very good purchase.

Best of luck on your OW course! You'll have a lot of fun.

 

[CALI68]

Man, I love talkin' gear!

Double PST E7100's (Halcyon Manifold)
2 Scubapro MK 25's w/ S600 Second Stages
7cf Argon bottle with Halcyon mounting straps
Halcyon Helios 9 18 W HID Light (with the new head & upgrades).
2 Halcyon Scouts
Cave Cut DUI TLS 350 w/ red CLX style overlay, double belows pockets, Turbo Soles and DC Dry Gloves.
DC TPS Stretch Extreme Undersuit
Suunto Stinger
Suunto SK7 Compass
Scubapro Jets w/ Halcyon Spring Straps
Halcyon AL BP w/ 40lb Explorer Wing
Scubapro Frameless Mask
DUI Hood
Halcyon SMB w/ 100' spool
X notes
Back up Scubapro mask
150' back up spool

and one VERY sweet X Scooter short body.

For single tank (shore) divng everything is the same except I use a Halcyon Eclipse 40lb wing, a 6lb BP and single PST E7 80's.

That's pretty much it!

Funny, I have several friends with nearly the exact same rig.
-Chris

 

[Shasta_man]

Your dive club link won't let me in without being a member?

The more experienced divers tend to have set of regular buddies
they dive with. They don't necessarily run from newbies, but don't
actively seek them out much. Some organize club dives that are
a good way for a newb to get some experience.

There's a pretty good list of northern california dive clubs at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ba_diving/links

Dive Gear:
Diving Concepts 2mm crushed neoprene drysuit
Diving Concepts middle weight undies.
REI Expedition Weight wool socks
Diving Concepts Hood
SeaSoft TiPro 1.5/3mm gloves.

Halcyon backplate with 32(?) pound wing
Atomic B1T2 reg, primary on long hose, back up on short hose
and necklace.
Oceanic DataMax ProPlus Computer and compass on HP hose
Oceanic VersaPro Computer on wrist
Dunno who made the mask
Apollo Fins with spring heels. NOT split
19 pound weight belt
No snorkle
No knife
DiveAlert horn
Acme Thunderer whistle
Safety sausage
Ikelite PCa light as emergency backup only.
Ikelite miniC light as primary light.
Camera (I'll ignore the details)
17' Boston Whaler dive boat.

3 mm suit won't cut it in Monterey.

BC fit is particularly important for women. Be sure to do a
couple of weekends in the BC you select BEFORE you buy. Don't
do a "you can bring it back if you don't like it" deal.

Male, 6'5", 205, 55.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Frack! Yahoogroups has changed things again. The links pages used to be publically
accessible. Give me a couple of days to copy things outside. *#$@@%!! porn groups.
They keep making yahoogroups tighten things up, which is a pain for the rest of us.

AH, here's a quick hack. Try this:

http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/ba_diving/links/clubs.html

 

[LuvDaOcean]

No, no, no...I was just kidding about the 3mil shorty!! LOL! I tend to forget that written words don't always come across as intended.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I have to admit that I don't have a clue what the majority of gear is that you've all listed. I'll have to do some heavy-duty research to figure it all out.

No worries, though. I've got plenty of time since the doc has grounded me from the water for a month or so. Ugh.

I went down to Breakwater last weekend and just sat on the wall for quite a while eye-balling everyone's gear, asking questions, etc.. Really nice people (divers) down there, that's for sure. Everyone I talked to was really helpful and seemed more than happy to explain to me what they were wearing and why they liked, or disliked, their gear.

I'm really looking forward to joining you all someday. Hopefully before the summer's over if my infections are gone by then!

Thanks again to you all. I'll be back to look over this thread many, many times in the future, I'm sure.

Happy diving!

 

[nkw5]

I think the gear is whatever you can afford and/or find at the moment, and will vary greatly from person to person (unless you go the DIR route, huh CALI68? ). Given any piece of gear, you will find people who love it and hate it. Therefore, LDO, go rent or borrow a lot of different stuff before you buy and continue to talk to all kinds of divers. Almost all of us like to talk about our toys, as your thread makes apparent.

Cold water is pretty much "it" for me, too. But I like it. We have access to some of the best diving to be had. Just make sure to be as warm as possible, esp. during surface intervals.

I have met the best people here at SB. None of them ran when I was a newbie.

Good to see people with similar profiles as mine: female, 45, 5'2", 112#

Hi fellow NorCal'ers

I'm currently taking my ow cert class which is probably going to be delayed a bit 'cuz I have a cold...ugh! So, as I sit here pouting and waiting to get better, I figured I might as well start asking questions related to local diving (i.e., Monterey).

Of course, the first questions that pop into my mind are: What gear (from head-to-toe) do you all wear down there? And are you comfortable in that gear or do you feel restricted? Also, how do you go about finding dive buddies especially if you're a 'noob'? In general, do the more experienced divers run in the opposite direction when they see a newbie coming?

Gear-wise, knowing that I'm not rich, cold water is going to be 'it' for me if I want to get a decent amount of experience around here, so I need to start figuring out what sort of set-up I'll need. For starters, I'd like to wear a 3mil hyperstretch shorty...think that would be a good starting point?

Seriously, I'd appreciate knowing what you all wear and if you're happy with your set-up. Also, since I've been told that these factors play into what gear might be needed for cold water, if it doesn't bother you could you include your gender, height, weight, and age? I'm female, 5'4", 140lbs, and 47yrs old.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[melfox26]

My gear:

See Chris' (Cali68) post above.


...............minus the scooter (my wife nixed that idea, something about our kids having to eat :06: )




Mel

 

[CALI68]

My gear:

See Chris' (Cali68) post above.


...............minus the scooter (my wife nixed that idea, something about our kids having to eat :06: )




Mel

LOL!

 

[DivingDreamer]

As you've seen - lots of different things. When I took up diving a few years ago I was just laid off, so I didn't buy a lot of equipment. Then I got a job but ending up gaining weight (something about working 10-12 hour days and having non-stop food around) so I've put off buying until I have more time and less weight.

That said, I've been diving in Monterey in a 7mm farmer john and shortie. I'm not a cold person, but can sometimes get a little cold towards the end of the second dive. I wear a separate hood and the gloves and booties. I tend to feel a little restricted around the neck but I think that's just me.

I'm 29 (soon to be 30!), 5'9" and 180lbs.