New Diver - what's the right gear for me?

[bottlediger]

Hey all this is my first post. Im new to diving and looking for some gear. A little info about me. Live in Pa will be doing most of my diving here in the local rivers and some lakes. Dont really plan on going Salt water at lest for now. I really got into diving to look for old antique bottles which I collect. Anway so im guessing doing river dives my gear might get a little skanky so I dont want real high end equipment that will just need replaced down the road. Also I dont plan on diving deep, maybe 50 ft or less.

Anyway
I was looking at this package from LeisurePro
Mares Package #3
Cant post links yet need 5 posts so ill post it later


Looks like some pretty desent stuff but would like your opinons.

Also have no idea what to pick out for wetsuites. Water around here is ppretty cold up until the summer. I dont want to go with a drysuit but a real nice affordble wetsuit.

Will also need a desent underwater light - murky water in these rivers. Any opionons on a good one

Well thanks in advance, im sure ill have more questions

 

[neruaL]

Do you have any actual dive areas in mind? Do you know what the water temperatures are seasonally? If you don't want a dry suit you'll probably be pretty limited in your dive season in the northeast.

 

[bottlediger]

Yes I do have dive areas in mind, april temps probly mid 50s.60s summer. I will probably be just diving in the spring/summer around here

 

[bottlediger]

Opps should work this time

Mares package 3 - Mares Package #3

 

[TMHeimer]

Bottledigger, You should be OK at 50-60 degrees with the 7 mil farmer john wetsuit, hood, fingered gloves. I find it comfortable enough to get in 2 dives in down to 43F, if it's a warm day. I can manage 15-20 mins. down to 33F, but it's cold. Consider weight integrated BC & maybe shoulder harness or suspenders if you tend to lose the weight belt. Bio Tank lock (Apollo) secures my tank forever, but you may be OK with the usual BC straps (especially if it has two). steel 120 tanks hold a lot of air but are heavy walking with. Good luck. Oh, I put notes in bottles in case you happen to see any floating around.

 

[rstofer]

Also have no idea what to pick out for wetsuites. Water around here is ppretty cold up until the summer. I dont want to go with a drysuit but a real nice affordble wetsuit.

I don't think you can use 'real nice' and 'affordable' in the same sentence.

There are at least 3 classes of 7 mm wetsuits:

Cheap:
Edge Men's 7mm Monterey Wetsuit

Not too bad:
Henderson 7mm Thermoprene 2-Piece Wetsuit

Pretty good (semi-dry):
SolAfx Wetsuits $375 at LeisurePro, $500 at my LDS

Richard

 

[rstofer]

.

Will also need a desent underwater light - murky water in these rivers. Any opionons on a good one

The price for dive lights is all over the map. You can easily spend more than a thousand dollars with a little effort. In the not totally unreasonable range: Dive Lights

I have the Underwater Kinetcs C8 Dive Light as a reasonable compromise. I also have the UK SL4 Crevice Light.

Richard

 

[bottlediger]

all great info keep it comin! Any comments on that mares package?

Thank you!

 

[eponym]

If you're going to dive wet you can at least stay dry . . . scubapro semi-dry.

I'm not joking. Last year my assistant instructor wore this on an OWD checkout weekend. When he pulled it off after the dives he was dry over most of his body.

YMMV,
Bryan

PS. Remember that even a quality wetsuit will lose themal protection with age and use. After a hundred hours of bottom time a 7-mil might feel more like a 5-mil. A shell drysuit, however, doesn't lose efficiency. My drysuit's still serving me well after seven years.

 

[rstofer]

all great info keep it comin! Any comments on that mares package?

Thank you!

I suspect most folks are being polite. There may be nothing wrong with Mares but I doubt it is a brand that a majority of divers would choose.

Why don't you use the Search facility; this question comes up every week.

My preferences:
regulators: Oceanic, Dive Rite, ScubaPro
flotation: Deep Sea Supply BP/W
fins and mask: ScubaPro
wetsuit: AquaLung Sola FX

All of this stuff is overpriced. You can benefit from doing a Search on LeisurePro or LP. This argument (and all online purchasing) comes up weekly.

Good luck!

Richard