New diver regs and BP/W setup!!!! Looking for advice and recommendation

[JBFG]

I would go for both second stage to be the same and drop the STA. follow the advise above on hose length. that's a great pkg other wise.

---------- Post added December 17th, 2015 at 06:47 PM ----------

BTW, which shop in Canada gave you that quote?

 

[babycover]

thank you for all the advices guys. help me a lots. i will try all the suggestion and see what suit me. i think will go with shorter octo and long primary.
@Jim : i received your quote, was mean to response. Apologies for that

i'm in Australia so no Canada shop here

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Greeting all fellow divers, i am on my way to get my first set of gear. I got 1 of the shop gave me a quote for a package of BP/W and regs. Could you all please drop some comends/suggestion/criticism for my final setup. That would be greatly appriciated. Thank you very much
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I have looked at your 13 posts and know nothing about you, other than what you have posted... Can you tell me why you have chosen a HOG rig as your first setup (only for my knowledge before I make any suggestion whatsoever)
Thanks

 

[babycover]

I have been doing a bit of research in the forum, 1 of my dive buddy also recommend either HOG or Apeks. Apeks is too expensive for my budget.
based on my future goal ( 50m deep, double tank, wreck, cave diving - occasionally, shore, boat - mainly), i dont have to sell it all and start from scratch - if i change my goal and go tech, side mount,etc
thus came to conclusion that: HOG is a inexpensive reg, provide a compatible performance ( with Apeks),last for a long time and suit my purposed.

there also 1 thing come to my mind: is 32lb wing too big for me? there a guy recommend 23lb wing.
my build: 100kg, 100 for 3 sizes ( i love 100 - lmao), wear a 7mm semi dry and at the moment i wear 10kg weight to make me sink (last time i try 8kg and at the end of the dive - when the tank empty(50 left), i accented uncontrollably, lucky it was only 4 meter deep shore dive) and im sure that my hired BCD is empty in the middle of the dive.

 

[JBFG]

Oops I thought the total in the end was CAD not AUD

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

babycover,
While I can certainly appreciate and commend the amount of research you have done, and understand the cost of Apeks, vs HOG, I would be derelict in my personal dive experience not to say, "Learn what type of diver you want to become based on your early experiences and your learning from true life diving..."

From experience (my own), there are a lot of different types of diving, and I have learned not to distinguish divers by the gear they dive (thank you TsandM!). I learned from a number of divers, not associated with this forum but, I learned a lot more from people on this board...

The key was taking advantage of (for lack of a better term) "Scuba Testing". Until I made a decision about what I wanted to dive, I used shop "experience days" and vendor "preview dives" which allowed me to dive the gear and make my selection based on my own experiences with the gear

Based on my own experiences, I dive a mix of gear "I even have an Apeks 65' Double wing" (which I have "dive'd" once during my 1000+ career). I have everything from A-Z in the garage... But, my standard rig includes (What I dive in open water):

DiveRite Travel Wing (Cevlar - Lifetime warranty)
SS backplate (7 lbs. negative)
MK 25 First Stage
ScubaPro S600 2nd Stage (Love So. Florida) 7' hose
ScubaPro S600 Octo (Student gear buy from local dive shop year end sale) 26" hose
This rig allows for your envisioned "Tech Rig" and an average "Sport Rig" for most dives above 32 F

The only other thing I would state is that it appears you have not demonstrated that you have used a "jacket" BC, that adds air in the front as well as the back. This is a very comfortable solution for many sport divers!

 

[babycover]

thank you, i understand your point completely and totally agree. i did gather some shop review, 1-2 experience dive buddy and also i usually make quick decision, tend to not change them half way so as long as no bad issue with my setup here ( aside from the hose length) , i definitely go for it.
Sorry for not mention all the information but i assume all OW course use these jacket type to teach students, so it unavoidable.
I did try all kind of BCD that the shop have ( including the one the instructors using) which include a jacket type - which i dont like, wing which i really like ( much easier to adjust my buoyancy, and no hugging feeling)

can you please have a look at the wing lift and advice whether a 23 or 32 is enough ?

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

can you please have a look at the wing lift and advice whether a 23 or 32 is enough ?

No, because this will change as you learn about buoyancy and compensation. This is the crux of your question, and requires diving "experiences" to answer for each individual ...

I, as an experienced diver, who dives with no weights in my wing/bc (no dive wetsuit)... the SS backplate offers 7 lbs. negative weight , and my steel tank gives me -one lbs. empty buoyancy based on my past 100 dives or so... When I dive Aluminum, I take 4 lbs. (1.8 Kg), which I convert to 2.00 K Internationally (because I bring my dive gear with me)... (For the record... I have only ever been able to float in salt water)

Each person has their own buoyancy rate, and even at my current weight of 315 lbs.(143) Kilos, experience makes a much greater difference

All this means that my 315 lbs. (143 Kg) needs no more than this to sink to the bottom, or rise to the top based on my breathing alone.'

Dive time, experiences, trim and, again, experiences with practice lead to better diving and better divers over better equipment.

To rely on equipment is to invite disaster because one relies on equipment rather than one's own abilities! (one caveat, even the best equipment and the best training doesn't guarantee survival, but experience increases your chances of survival in most situations)

 

[CuzzA]

Babycover,

This calculator should help to determine how much lift you would need from a wing. http://www.scubatechphilippines.com/wing-lift-calculator.xls

Remember though you should be able to swim your rig up without the assistance of your BC.

 

[tbone1004]

the dive rite wings aren't kevlar btw, they use superfabric, which is very different, and much better, albeit much more expensive to produce. Also, your plate isn't 7lbs negative unless it is a custom plate, "standard" plates are usually just under 6lbs, and around 6lbs once you add the harness to them.

and yes, we can answer that question really easily. 23lb is far too small for a 7mm semi-dry. You need the 32lb for diving that wetsuit safely, especially if you are going past about 20m or so. Even diving a standard AL80, you lose 6lbs right off the bat due to the gas in the tank, so you are now down to 17lbs. Odds are in a 7mm semi-dry you are going to need every bit of that 17lbs and likely a bit more to sink in salt water. Experience is irrelevant, weighting is weight, experience will only dictate how comfortable you are when diving truly neutral or underweighted, which is irrelevant in that thick of a wetsuit because the compression will make you overweighted quite quickly.