Need Dive Gear Help - New 2 Diving

[yoda4x4]

I've recently gone to my LDS and here's what they recommended I get:

Scubapro MK25/S600
Suunto Cobra
Seaquest Raider

What do you think about these products? Positives and negative opinions are welcome as I don't know what's better than what.

Thanks,
David
=-)

 

[BlueWaterDiving]

It really depends on your diving. What kindof diving are you going to do? From what I see you can't go wrong with the scubapro reg. or the cobra computor. The Raider is a bit much if you are going with the seaquest I would go with a black diamond. I have one a love it. It is my spearfishing BC. This is my 2-cents.

 

[MechDiver]

Scubapro and Suunto are both excellent. As far as the Raider, if it fits your style of diving, use it. There are better alternatives IMO

PHil

 

[WJL]

Even though your enthusiasm is high when you first get going, don't rush out and buy a bunch of gear without doing a little research first. Lot's of people soon become unhappy with the first gear they purchased.

Before you buy anything, spend some time reading lots of the threads on this board. I was glad I did when I started dive training a year ago. Everybody has opinions, but at least you'll get something more than the one recommendation of your LDS, who don't carry every line and may not know all there is to consider. For my own part, I learned that such a thing as DIR gear configuration standards existed, which had a big impact both on my training and equipment choices.

 

[SDAnderson]

Scubapro MK25/S600
Great regulator, if pricy. It's one of the best performing regulators available and, if properly maintained, will last a lifetime. Close to my first choice, especially if price is not a concern.

Suunto Cobra
Great computer, although maybe overkill - I think air integration is a potentially dangerous solution looking for a problem. It's one of the most popular computers available and comes from a company reknowned for innovation and reliability. Handles nitrox and provides all the information you'll need for any level of recreational diving. The only downside to this is that divers tend to become dependent upon the device and lose/never learn the ability to cope if it fails or if they encounter a situation outside its limits. You won't let that happen, though, will you?

Seaquest Raider
The Sea Quest line is highly respected and the Raider is one of their top-of-the-line pseudo-tec BCD's. It's definitely more jacket than you'll ever need for recreational diving, but it won't kill you, either. I'd take a look at the ScubaPro or Zeagle pseudo-tec BCD's before I committed.

When you consider how ugly most scuba gear is, you wouldn't think that fashion was much of a consideration in the sport. You'd be very wrong, however. So many divers are more concerned with having the latest/most expensive/most popular/most technical gear, sometimes you'd think they were picking out something to wear to the prom. Be careful of the "I have a XXX and I love it." recommendations so common on the board - some writers willl have too much ego wrapped up in validating their own selections to be objective or knowledgable.

The two most important concepts to remember when selecting gear are borrowed from architecture:

1. Function before form. This is life support gear. Pretty is a pretty poor excuse for a reason to select a piece of gear.
2. Less is more.Everything you drag into the water with you is heavy, expensive, will break and makes the dive more complex. If you don't need it, don't take it with you.
   [/list=1]
   
   Welcome to the rest of the world.
   
   Steven

 

[Diver0001]

yoda4x4 once bubbled...
I've recently gone to my LDS and here's what they recommended I get:

Scubapro MK25/S600
Suunto Cobra
Seaquest Raider

What do you think about these products? Positives and negative opinions are welcome as I don't know what's better than what.

Thanks,
David
=-)

The reg is one of the best on the market these days. The Aqualung Legend LX (supreme) is (for more or less the same money) as good or better and easier to maintain if you do these things yourself.

The computer is AI--a nice to have that comes with a hefty price tag--and console mounted, which is a strike against if you ask me. You might consider a cheaper computer with the same functionality. Have you looked at the Vyper?

I personally like Seaquest BCD's but YYMV. Try it out first.

R..

 

[Tekkie]

Just like what BlueWaterDiving said,

Your gear configuration depends on what type of diving you will be doing.

Regulator- Scuabpro and Apeks are both great brands of regulators. I personaly choose the Mk25/G250HP setup because I didn't want to spend the extra $50.00 for a smaller second stage. (I'm pretty sure that the S600 and the G250HP have same internal parts, the G250 is just a little bigger.) (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

Computer- Personaly I've only read good things about the Suunto Cobra. It's an all around great computer. Now if later on you want to get into technical diving I would go with the Suunto Viper because it is cheeper, not air intergrated (If your batteries run out with the Cobra you don't know how much air you have left.), it's wrist mounted and you can use it in gauage mode (I'm pretty sure the Cobra has gauage mode too). There is quite a big coast differance though between the Cobra and the Viper.
Cobra is around $500.00 and the Viper is around $300.00. If your not going to be getting into technical diving by all means get the Cobra, but if you do want to later on go into technical diving I would re-think your purchase.

If you want to go into technical diving I would get a Backplate and Harness setup. You can also use them in recreational diving too. The Backplate and Harness setup consist of a Weebing Harness attached to a Steel or Aluminum Backplate attached to buoyancy wings. If you don't like the BC squeezing you and you want to go into technical diving get one of these. Also remember that you really want to buy the highest quality BC you can afford because a BC is one of your main pieces of gear and it will be with you for a long time.

Choose wisely.

Tekkie :bonk:

 

[yknot]

yoda- cynic that I am I have to ask- how did you find a LDS that sells both Aqualung and Scubapro? Before you feel any gratitude towards your LDS for their suggestions- while their recommendations are all good stuff- it is also near the top end for the product lines you mentioned.

And just FYI, online: MK25/S600=$325 (didn't check octo)
Raider=$500 Cobra=$400,$450 w/compass.

Apparently the Seaquest line of BC's is one that Aqualung doesn't discount much- they are expensive everywhere.

 

[PnL]

I have to agree with WJL. Rent some equipment and try out the different configurations before you spend so much money. If you ask which regulator is best (and there are many such posts!) you'll find a number of them that perform very well, backed up by personal experiences of the poster ... i.e., there is some subjectivity involved and is not purely a mechanical performance issue. Same with most of the gear. Try them and see which ones suit you best.

 

[yoda4x4]

To answer your questions:

I would like to get into tech diving eventually. However, being a realistic person, I know that's not in the near future. The LDS recommended the Raider because it's a hybrid rec and tech BC. Plus, I can eventually use it to attach a backplate and twin tanks. Is there another BC that's a good hybrid? As for the Scubapro reg, they simply stated that it's one of the best regs on the market and is capable of being a reg for tech diving. As for the Cobra, I've been told from the LDS that it is a tech capable computer. Plus, since I wear a watch on my left hand, I'm not a big fan of having a wrist mounted computer on my right. This may be something to reconsider. Can you recommend another computer capable of tech diving but not wrist mounted?

Thank you all for your input. If I haven't answered one of your questions, please let me know and I'll provide any info I can.

David