New diver from London

[Isawien]

Hi,

I'm new to diving and after reading some interesting threads I thought I'd sign up and be more proactive. In October on a holiday in Tenerife I signed up for a discover scuba diving session and I was hooked. Once back in the UK I did my Padi OW, diving in the UK in November is cold! I was so hooked to diving that I went to Malta in December and got my Padi AOW. My next dive trip will be a liveaboard in the Red Sea, I'm so looking forward to diving again.

I already purchased some basic dive gear - DC, fins, boots, mask - now I'm looking to invest in a wetsuit, BCD and regulator, so I'd be extremely happy to get some insight from fellow more experienced divers. I have to following questions:

- I'm planning to buy a 7mm wetsuit, I'm planning to do most of my diving in the UK and the rest of Europe. I also want to use during my liveaboard trip in April. I get cold very easily, certainly after a few dives in a row. I do not want to spend too much money on my wetsuit, but I also do not feel like renting one either. Anything I should keep in mind, I was thinking about buying an Aqualung dive.
- For a regulator I had the Aqualung Supreme Core in mind, I used that regulator during my OW dives and I preferred this one to the one I've tried during my confined dives and my AOW dives. Plus it's also a good one for cold water dives.
- The Bcd seems to be trickier, I have two in mind the Aqualung Pearl or the Scubapro Bella. It seems a lot of women prefer BP/W, I only dived with a jacket style bcd and I do not really feel confident in making the switch to bp/w. I know that trying the fit is extremely important, but it would be could to know what I should keep in mind before purchase.

Would you even recommend me to buy gear at this point or would it be better to wait till I have more experience and logged some more dives?

It's a long thread, so thanks for reading and replying!

Cheers

 

[Marie13]

Welcome from the Chicago area!

I just got certified in early October. I had pretty much all my own gear before I did my own OW dives, including a drysuit (did my OW dives in it - got drysuit cert at the same time). Diving Midwestern quarries (and the Great Lakes this year) tends to be on the cold side. I had a BP/W from the beginning. I was in a jacket style BC for my DSD and then first OW pool dive. I hated the way it squeezed me. BP/W is so much more comfortable to me.

I'm fortunate in that my dive shop sells a lot of BP/W, both in the store and online, so I had help in the shop adjusting it, plus instructors used to them, so no problem there.

I have an AquaLung Legend LX Supreme. I wanted something for cold water - I dove 38F/3C water yesterday (even though dive was very short). I went with a regulator of my own very early as I've got a very strong gag reflex and the rental reg mouthpieces were too large for my mouth and tended to hit the spot to make me start gagging.

You might want to consider a semi-dry wetsuit, if you get cold easy. I have a number of friends who dive pretty cold water in them and don't get cold.

Having your own gear means you get familiar with it, rather than rental gear. Everything is in the same place, all the time.

What about a computer?

 

[iamrushman]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida USA...congratulation for taking the plunge into the underwater world...the advise from Marie13 above seems sound and on point.....enjoy your new adventurous sport and good luck with your plans.

 

[Edward3c]

Hi and welcome to the great underwater world.

Any reg you buy in the U.K. has to be cold water certified. At this point in your diving you won't know what type of diving you will be doing in 5 years time. Therefore, just buy a bulk standard one.

To enjoy you diving in the UK you're better off in a dry suit.

If you want to dive in the UK then concider joining a club, it will be cheaper than paying a dive operator for each dive. See BSAC find if tool, here.

 

[rivers]

Hello! Few things:

A) Get a drysuit. Don't waste your money on a wetsuit, especially if you will continue to dive in the UK. Drysuit and a good undersuit will be much better (especially if you get cold!), and will keep you happier in the long run.

B) Before you buy a BCD, try a BP/W. If you ever find yourself down in the west country and fancy a dive at Vobster, let me know. I'm happy to lend you my single tank wing set-up for you to have a go.

C) Regs wise: Look at Apeks. A DS-4 first stage and 2x ATX-40 second stages will be all you ever need. Cold water rated, serviceable pretty much anywhere in the UK.
Apeks ATX40 Regulator with Octopus & Double Console

 

[Phillipus2005]

Re BCDs, why not pop along to a dive store and try a few on? Mike's dive store in Chiswick usually has a pretty good selection though you can usually pick stuff up cheaper ordering online (I usually check Mikes, Simply scuba (has an app that makes it waaaay too easy to buy kit), and deep blue dive, up in Newcastle)

I would recommend thinking a couple of years ahead and buy gear tailored for that rather than for where you are now.

 

[KenGordon]

A 7mm suit is not very useful. Too thick and buoyant for blue water holidays, to cold and still buoyant for most of the time in the UK.

Join a club. People there will probably let you borrow kit to try out. The club will have training kit too which ought to enable a few UK dive to see how cold a wetsuit can be

Where are you in London? My club is based is Bermondsey, there are several other large ones which meet and use pools in central London.

 

[Isawien]

Welcome from the Chicago area!

I just got certified in early October. I had pretty much all my own gear before I did my own OW dives, including a drysuit (did my OW dives in it - got drysuit cert at the same time). Diving Midwestern quarries (and the Great Lakes this year) tends to be on the cold side. I had a BP/W from the beginning. I was in a jacket style BC for my DSD and then first OW pool dive. I hated the way it squeezed me. BP/W is so much more comfortable to me.

I'm fortunate in that my dive shop sells a lot of BP/W, both in the store and online, so I had help in the shop adjusting it, plus instructors used to them, so no problem there.

I have an AquaLung Legend LX Supreme. I wanted something for cold water - I dove 38F/3C water yesterday (even though dive was very short). I went with a regulator of my own very early as I've got a very strong gag reflex and the rental reg mouthpieces were too large for my mouth and tended to hit the spot to make me start gagging.

You might want to consider a semi-dry wetsuit, if you get cold easy. I have a number of friends who dive pretty cold water in them and don't get cold.

Having your own gear means you get familiar with it, rather than rental gear. Everything is in the same place, all the time.

What about a computer?

Thanks Marie! I bought my DC before doing my AOW, I went for the Suunto Zoop Novo and I'm really happy with it.

 

[Isawien]

howdy and welcome from southeast florida USA...congratulation for taking the plunge into the underwater world...the advise from Marie13 above seems sound and on point.....enjoy your new adventurous sport and good luck with your plans.

Thanks

 

[Isawien]

Hi and welcome to the great underwater world.

Any reg you buy in the U.K. has to be cold water certified. At this point in your diving you won't know what type of diving you will be doing in 5 years time. Therefore, just buy a bulk standard one.

To enjoy you diving in the UK you're better off in a dry suit.

If you want to dive in the UK then concider joining a club, it will be cheaper than paying a dive operator for each dive. See BSAC find if tool, here.

Thanks! I think that's really good advice.