My Apologies - Another Gear Thread...

[Jimmer]

I was one of those poor souls that ended up replacing damn near everything. I started off with a Poseidon reg, since I had it in my mind that they were the best, I also bought a Dacor Rig II "tech" BC. Well I ended up selling the BC cuz it couldn't do anything I wanted it to do properly, and it had a 75 pound bladder for single tanks. I dumped the Poseidon after realizing I didn't really like how it breathed, and the cost to maintain it nearly made me choke. There were some other dumb moves along the way as well, but those were the two big ones.

I ended up in a BP/W with a Zeagle DSV reg for single tank, and that's where I wish I had started the journey. SS backplate with a nice singles wing, and one good reg that I liked. After I got to that point, I then added a doubles wing when I got double tanks, an Aluminum BP, first I got 2 more Zeagle Flathead VI's on a huge sale through my dive shop, and made them dedicated doubles regs, then another used DSV, and the 2 DSV's will be pony/stage/deco regs for my Tech 1 class. This way, everything was an "add on" to the simple BP, wing, and Zeagle reg that I wish I had started with, and everything is interchangable, compatible, and useful.

Judging from what you are starting with, it looks like you are pretty close to where I wish I had started, I think you'll be happy you did, and it will make growing your gear to your future needs very easy.

Good luck to you, and if you ever find yourself up around the Great Lakes in Canada, PM me and let's go for a dive. (that goes for everyone else too!)

Jim

 

[CuriousRambler]

I'm diving wet for now...We're getting predeployment leave around Christmas, so I'm going to get in touch with the owner of the shop back home and see if he has any interest in doing a double drysuit/ice diving class while I'm home so I can spend some of my tax-free deployment earnings on a nice drysuit when I get home.

The major reason I'm considering selling the Oceanics is my buddy doesn't have any gear of his own and since I got them brand new for a steal, I can sell them at a considerable profit and still give him a good deal, which will more than pay for the Salvos I want to pick up, like I said, it's all about financial management balanced with as much diving as I can figure out at this point

I was going to throw some money at a Nitek Duo here soon, but a friend reminded me I've got to buy a flight home for leave, so that was squashed. One question that came up while I was browsing some sites - I noticed you can get modular valves and later pull a plug out and throw on an isolation crossbar between your left and right handed valves. I've seen such hugely varying prices on iso manifolds that it was hard to really ascertain if the 'assemble it yourself' route would be an intelligent alternative, not only on a cost basis but also performance wise. Does anyone have experience there? Also, since I have no experience with manifolds, what makes one superior to another? I'm assuming there's something, because I've seen pretty formidable price variations..

I'm sure I've got more questions, but I'll keep it at this for now.

 

[Jimmer]

I was going to throw some money at a Nitek Duo here soon, but a friend reminded me I've got to buy a flight home for leave, so that was squashed. One question that came up while I was browsing some sites - I noticed you can get modular valves and later pull a plug out and throw on an isolation crossbar between your left and right handed valves. I've seen such hugely varying prices on iso manifolds that it was hard to really ascertain if the 'assemble it yourself' route would be an intelligent alternative, not only on a cost basis but also performance wise. Does anyone have experience there? Also, since I have no experience with manifolds, what makes one superior to another? I'm assuming there's something, because I've seen pretty formidable price variations..

If you want to setup some tanks with left and right valve, I would think the most cost effective way, would be to purchase the manifold and the left and right plugs, and just put the isolator in your closet for the time being. I haven't seen prices lately, but the last time I looked, buying the 3 parts one at a time was definetly more money than buying a manifold.

 

[CuriousRambler]

If you want to setup some tanks with left and right valve, I would think the most cost effective way, would be to purchase the manifold and the left and right plugs, and just put the isolator in your closet for the time being. I haven't seen prices lately, but the last time I looked, buying the 3 parts one at a time was definetly more money than buying a manifold.

That's what it looked like to me, too. I'll admit I didn't research that thought too in depth before I asked the question. The only reason I was really interested is because I could piece it together, spend a little now...a little later...and eventually have a manifold. If I'm going to buy a manifold I'll just keep it together all at once..

 

[Ben_ca]

I was going to throw some money at a Nitek Duo here soon....

Don't waste money on a computer... get a bottom timer or a cheaper air computer that will go into gauge mode... That will save you some money and help you exercise your primary dive computer (Your brain!)

Also for you next assignment make sure your dream sheet has Hawaii Okinawa or Florida in there... that should set you up a little closer to diveable water

 

[CuriousRambler]

Yeah...I came in thinking 'Ok, the Marines have bases (for infantry) in Okinawa, Hawaii, (on the coast) in California, and the east coast. I'm set for diving!' Lo and behold, I go to the one base that didn't cross my mind and is conveniently located in the middle of the Mojave desert. Awesome.

I doubt I'll re-enlist, but I am considering doing a two year extension and playing the system to get out of this duty station about a year early to do three years or so somewhere else. If I do that I'll be gunning for Oki or Hawaii first. Florida depending if I do a move into a different job field.

I like the Nitek Duo because it logs dives and has the gauge mode, as well as operating as a computer for doing shallow open water dives if I so choose to use it in that setting (thought I haven't heard a single report of anyone going the tech route using a gauge-mode capable computer in computer mode ever again...)

 

[rjack321]

That's what it looked like to me, too. I'll admit I didn't research that thought too in depth before I asked the question. The only reason I was really interested is because I could piece it together, spend a little now...a little later...and eventually have a manifold. If I'm going to buy a manifold I'll just keep it together all at once..

Buying a manifold peicemeal is generally more expensive. You can typically find a whole manifold for ~$150 on sale. Individual peices are harder to find on sale if at all, esp the isolator.

I would go easy on tanks since they going to be a pain to ship from 29 Palms to an ocean duty station. Do get yourself a manifold and some 7.25" bands. Those will cover al80s, hp100s and even though not specifically designed for lp85s those will work too. This way you are gonna be able to set up a set of doubles in the most common sizes anywhere. All 3 of those tanks are workable in the beginning tech realm (100 to 160ft range). The steels being much better in cold water than the al80s which require alot of lead once you add in the thick exposure protection.

The only drawback to a single tank with manifold plug is that one valve will operate "backwards"

 

[Flightlead]

I saw the Starter Tech Gear thread and got excited, but it's not quite the same question set I've got :depressed:

I've got the beginnings to "tech" gear, but I'm looking at the more expensive stuff and beyond the basic required gear for diving, like a BC and wetsuit for instance. My downfall is that I've got a pretty limited income that I know several of you on the board can attest to - the military doesn't enjoy giving you money. Because of this I definitely will not be able to just outright buy almost anything else for dive gear without saving a little bit of at least a few paychecks to make it work, and even then I'll be piecing things together.

The point of the thread is to ask your experiences in purchasing tech gear and how smoothly that went with your transition from 'rec' to 'tech' - i.e. did you have to replace high-price items of your rec rig to work with tec gear? In retrospect, would you have purchased different equipment, or purchased equipment in a different order? What worked for each of you and what would you do differently if you had a second run at acquiring your rig from the ground up?

I'm thinking about piecing together some Al80 doubles for diving wet so I can get a feel for doubles on the shallower recreational dives I'm doing now, and later break them down into stage/deco bottles, re-use the manifold and, if possible, the bands as well. Basically I'm looking for the most cost-effective way to get a start on tech gear, while realizing that tech gear is inherently expensive...

generally, piece for piece tech gear is cheaper than rec gear.

note, I said piece for piece. you need more of it for tech diving, but you can rec dive on your tech gear (except in mexico ).

so, buy the tech gear piece by piece as you need it rather than buying rec then replacing it.

 

[Anti-Hero]

I'm another person who bought uneducated first, now I've almost completely replaced my gear at a significant cost.