Need help with choosing equipment

[lloyd18]

Hi All,

I am completely new to Scuba diving, only qualified on Sunday, I am however now looking at purchasing equipment for myself and my girlfriend, the problem is there is so much to choose from and to get some good sound advice is difficult.

I was wondering if anyone might shed some light on what would possibly be the best brand/ models to go for, i must just point out that I want something that is going to last and not have topurchase again in 2 -3 Years.

Some of the brands I have looked at are, Aqua-lung, Scubapro, Oceanic, Tusa, Mares.

Could anyone give me some advice here, I need to get one full kit for myself and one full kit for my girlfriend.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[SDiggy]

Hi Lloyd,

This same type of question seems to pop up all over the place on SB, and the answer is a pretty universal one. There are a lot of very experienced, highly knowledgeable people here, and they all say the same thing: "It depends". There are a lot of factors associated with chosing dive gear, including how frequently you plan on diving, water temperature, depth, budget, etc. The most important factor, however, is comfort and fit. For each piece of gear, see if you can try it out.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Welcome to the board! You should hold off on buying gear for awhile (despite what your LDS might tell you). Try renting for the first year to try out different things and see what you like.

There are a lot of things to consider when buying new gear, some stuff you probably won’t know right away. (These are rhetorical questions)

Which are you going to prefer (have you tried them all out): Vest inflate BCD vs Rear inflate BCD vs BP/W. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backplate_and_wing) (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/148587-bcd-vs-bp-w.html)

If you like the BP/W are you going to be mostly traveling to warm water diving (might want a lighter backplate) or cold water diving, potentially with a drysuit (you might want a heavier backplate).

Are you going to be a vacation diver that just dives in warm water a couple times a year? If so you may want to stick to renting and just buy a 3 mm wetsuit.

Do you live in a warm-water location? If so you don't need to spend the extra $ to get a cold-water reg.

Are you going to stay recreational, or go the tech/cave or DIR route and want to get the long hose setup. (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/148587-bcd-vs-bp-w.html)

Are you going to dive in cold water? Then you'll want to get a 7 mm wetsuit or drysuit.

You really need to discover a lot about your diving style/preferences that you won't know until you have some experience. A great resource are demo days. Find out if there are any in your area and try out lots of different stuff.

It also seems like a lot of people that buy a full set of equipment based on the LDS recommendations before they are certified, end up buying all new gear once they know what they are looking for. (myself partially included) (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/114279-what-did-you-buy-you-regret.html)

If you discover you have been bitten by the scuba diving bug, the first things I would recommend buying (first things I bought) are a wetsuit and dive computer. People pee in wetsuits...so it's best to have your own. A dive computer will help you (as a new diver) from doing certain things such as ascending too quickly, etc. Well it won't keep you from doing it, but it will alert you of what you're doing wrong. Some old-timers and DIR dives might say you don’t need a computer, or don’t need one right away…it’s a personal preference and I’m glad its one of the first things I got.

When you are ready to actually buy gear (after renting for a bit) do some research in the appropriate forums below. Also it really helps to find an honest LDS that cares more about getting you good gear than making a sale, although these are getting harder to find. Try to find one who’s prices aren’t well above prices you can find online (my LDS actually has lower prices than the Internet), and who carries many different brands.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/q-scuba-manufacturers/

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/buoyancy-compensators-bc-s-weight-systems/

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/computers-gauges-watches-analyzers/

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/exposure-suits/

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/


And a final note, when you are searching for info on SB…use the “search” feature. The advanced search with “title” option is especially helpful. If you are in the advanced search area…where it says “Search by Key Word.” In the drop down menu it currently has “search entire posts” but you can change that to “search titles only.” Most questions you will have, have probably been asked already.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/search.php

Good luck and see you around the board!