New diver looking for gear advice

[Arik434]

Hello,

I am a new diver getting ready to start the 'advaned diver' certification. Although I am rather new to the sport, I do know that I really enjoy it and plan to continue diving for many years to come. I am at a point where I dont really want to keep renting gear for every dive (BC, tank and regulator). Unfortunately I can't spend a fortune, but it seems like it may make sense to me to maybe even try to find some good used equipment so that I can get something I am comfortable with and keep using the same gear on each dive. Then, when I get more experience I'd know more about what to get for new gear.

Just looking for any tips or suggestions? It seems that there may be some good deals on eBay and craigslist. Also, I've seen some good deals on non air-intergrated dive computers....should I even bother with one of these or save up for an air integrated type system?

Thanks again,
Arik

 

[nikwho]

you can find plenty of good, inexpensive dive gear. You can find a used weight integrated BC for a couple hundred, Used 1st stage, 2nd stage plus octo for a couple hundred. I personally dont use an air-integrated computer and i'm happy with it. You can get decent gear at first and keep it as a back-up when you eventually replace it as you get more experienced and know what you want to replace it with. Just start cruising through the classifieds until you find what you like. good luck!

 

[AndyM]

I bought my BC on ebay - it was a model from a few years ago but still new with tags. Saved a lot of money and it has worked flawlessly. I have not personally used Craigslist yet, but I do surf it for SCUBA gear and will probably eventually buy something. Just be sure to figure in the cost of inspection when buying used. It can still be a deal but you will be dropping $50 for a dive shop to look at it.

I just bought my first computer and went non-air integrated. As I talked to people many didn't like the air integrated and some really liked it, so it seemed to be personal preference. I dove both and didn't really care in the end so I decided to save the $200.

 

[ivobj]

About the computer my advice is not to go for air integrated, IMHO it is not worth the price and it is a potential failure point. In my case I not even use a computer, I use just a botton timer and depth gauge and plan my dive, but nothing agaisnt computer, just my choice (and luckly, although not usual, this is a much cheaper option...). For your reference I use the Uwatec digital botton timer.

If you plan to advance later to doubles, or even for singles, you may try bapckplate/wing setup, it is modular and let you adjust your trim, remove a lot (or all) weight from the belt, and help adjust your trim, try to borrow one to see if you fell confortable with.

 

[lord.harshil]

To me, it really depends on a few factors ;

1) How often you dive. If you don't dive more than once or twice a year, stick to rental.
2) Budget. Its not point in buying all your gear for a very cheap price if its gonna fail on you.
3) Maintenance costs especially for the regulator and certain dive computers.

If you dive often enough, want your own gear for the comfort and familiarity (added safety if you know your gear well) and can afford decent second hand stuff, then get your own gear. If not, its probably cheaper to rent your gear and let the dive operators worry about the servicing and whatnot.

Dive computer, you can live without. Many people still use tables. I recently bought my dive com and for my first 50 dives, I was using the PADI tables, a $15 casio watch with timer and my depth gauge. A cheaper alternative to hundreds or even thousand dollar computers.

Buy your own wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins. They're cheap and very comfy. BCD and reg need good cleaning ups after dives and the reg needs annual servicing which can be rather pricey so don't forget to factor this in as well.

Also, if you do get a dive com, take note that recent models of Suunto like the D4, D6, D9 and some of the older models like the Stinger dont allow users to change their own batteries as you need certain tools. Each time you replace the batteries at your LDS, they will charge a lot. In singapore they charge $50 to change the battery and pressure test the watch. I read on this forum somewhere, some dude paid 50 GBP to get his changed! So either get a dive com that allows users to change their own batteries (like my UWATEC Aladin Tec 2G ) or stick to casio watches as timers or get a higher paying job to afford Suunto.

Hope this helps!

 

[krulle]

Hi


First of all, make sure that you know what is in the market. Visit more than one shop, bucause there is a lot of good stuff for sale, and most stores focus on a few brands. (to limit their stock-costs). Maybe also take a look my site. It will provide you some basic knowledge about scuba gear.

I would start with a wet-suit, mask, fins, gloves and boots. This has to fit your body very well, so it is easier to try it once, renting it is a pain in the ***

The second thing to buy is a good BCD. This also needs some fine-tuning to your body. So it is easier to have it adjusted once. Some BCD's come with an integrated weight belt. With most BCD's you need a seperate weight belt. If so, I would buy it as the 3rd thing.

Meanwhile you can try (rent) some regulators and computers. Buy doing this, you will learn what you like the most. Bad gear doesn't exist on the market. But everyone loves other details.

Eventually you can buy a regulator and computer.

What the tank concerns. This depends if you dive in a good club or not. In good clubs, it is somethimes cheaper to rent a tank than to buy one. But if you buy one, don't do this in your first 10 dives. It will take you a while to learn to know how much air you consume.

What air-integrated computers concerns, their advantage is not that big. They are nice to have, but a normal gauge is more reliable.

 

[herman]

You have a lot of options. Used gear is often a better choice when cost is a factor however be careful on Ebay. There are some great deals and some not so great ones as well. For the new diver I suggest you avoid Ebay until you really understand the gear. Buying used off of Craigslist or out of the local papers can be a great source of good used gear if you understand what you are buying.

First off, stick with the better know brands- Scubapro, Aqualung, Apex, Sherwood and Zeagle to name a few, that is no where near a complete list but my point is avoid names that you do not hear much about- Dacor for example- a great brand in it's day but parts and service are very hard if not impossible to get these days. Any of the major brands will be easily servicable, something you really need to consider because whatever you buy, used or new it will need to be serviced. Servicing is going to cost you somewhere in the range of $25-35 per stage ($75-105) plus parts. A new reg will likely come with a warrenty so the parts are "free" but you still pay the labor, a used reg will cost you the same amount of labor plus parts which are in the $20-50 range. Obviously a new reg will not need servicing the first year but if you buy a used reg plan on having it serviced soon so add another $150 into your cost calculations.

I personally do not like air intergrated computers. They are one more thing to put batteries in and that can fail. I prefer to use a regular computer and a mechanical air pressure gauge. Pressure gauges are very reliable and you can always drop back to tables and a timer as long as your gauges work, lose the AI computer and you are done diving. AI computer or not I will always have a SPG, lets face it, how much air you have is the only really critical bit of information you need, decompression sickness is treatable, death isn't. In either case, spend the extra for a computer that does nitrox, the extra cost is minimual and it's likely you will want the option in the future, plus it is a selling feature if you decide to sell it later.

The one thing I would suggest you still rent is tanks. Unless you dive a lot, the cost of purchase and maintance fairly quickly outweighs the benefit of owning them. This is esp true if most of your diving is done while traveling, taking tanks on planes is a costly option, an AL 80 is an AL80 so why carry yours. If you dive a lot then tanks may be worthwile but make that your last purchase.

 

[Arik434]

Thanks for all of the great responses! There seems to be a general consensus that I definitely dont need to worry about an air integrated computer right now. It seems to be one of those gadgets that can be nice to have, but are not completely necessary.

I currently own my mask/snorkle/fins/weightbelt and a 3mm wetsuit already. I know that I'm going to need a heavier wetsuit once the temps start to drop a bit though. I considered the wetsuit necessary as I really did not want to wear a rental once. I am looking at a used Oceanic Probe LX online that has only had 8-10 dives on it (from a dive shop). This looks like it might be a good first BC and is over 300 off of the original price...

I am definitely starting to notice a difference in regulators already though. I'll probably hold off on buying for now unless I find some deal that I cannot pass up.

Good call on the tanks as well. That definitely seems like its the last thing that I should purchase.

Thanks for all of the info....

 

[Scubadam]

For your regulator, I definetely recommend the Aqualund Titan (Yoke Valve), their DIN valve has been recalled. The Titan is the only regulator I have ever used and it is great, I love it. With that, I also use Aqualung's Octopus as my alternate air source. I also, believe it or not use Aqualung fins. Aqualung has great prices, and I think they might also have packages, which include your BCD, reg., octo, and sometimes even your gauges. Hope this helps, and good luck on your journey to becoming advanced open water certified.

 

[Fairfax22032]

I am more or less at your level with nearly 20 dives over the past 3 years...not super active, but I get in the water whenever possible. I purchased my BC from eBay...while it was a 2007 model, it was still brand new with tags and has worked flawlessly and I saved nearly $200. My regulator, an Aqualung Titan with octo, came from eBay which cost me $150. I knew that there was some risk in this, but I had my LDS to a full service for $125 and it has served me well on 10+ dives.

Still waiting on a computer and wetsuit, but will probably go with something basic like a Suunto Gekko, but might spend and extra $150-200 for a model with some additional features. Wetsuit is the big gray area for me...I have lost 40 pounds since January and am trying to lose another 30 pounds which would put me at 225. While size is a bit of an issue, thickness is what is really keeping me from making a purchase. A 3mm would probably work 60-70% of the time, but a 5mm might be better across the board. In the meantime, I will rent these until I know better where and when I am going to be diving.