New to Diving... have an itch to buy some gear... REG and BC.

[Kevmo]

so last year... i finally check off a small box off my bucket list, get my open water... now.. i'm kind of hooked... and to make things worse, my new coworkers are all into diving as well... so it's time for me to buy some personal gear outside of fins/mask/snorkel/boots/gloves.

this is what i currently have
Fins - Scubapro Seawing Nova Open Heel Fins
Boots - Deep See 5mm Men's Manta Boot
Mask - Cressi Big Eyes Evolution Mask with Black Skirt (only complaint i had was fogging... which on my next order will get some anti fog).. i did the whole toothpaste thing already
Snorkel - Oceanic Ultradry Snorkel (yea yea joke about this all you want )
Boots - Pinnacle 4mm Kevlar Titanium Karbonflex Velcro Diving Gloves GL11UBK16 with reviews at scuba.com


I tend to like to cry once on buying gear, meaning not buying something cheap that won't last and then later having to buy something better.. i figure I don't need anything TOO CRAZY... but i would like decent/good gear...

I'm currently looking for a reg, 1st and 2nd... i came across a deal for a scubapro MK25/A700 new for 600... is this a good deal? what other regs combos do you guys recommend around the 450-650 range? plus an extra 150 for the octo i guess.....

and i know this isn't a the section for this.. but i'm in the market for a BC as well.... thoughts? i don't really have a price range for this.. but anything around 400-600? i'm 5' 8" 150lbs... so according to the charts.. i'm between a small or a medium.... thanks for your help guys!!!

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Here you go

BC DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

Reg set HOG Gear D1 Singles Regulator Package w/ SPG - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

Good gear and comes in under budget.

 

[halocline]

Don't buy a DIN reg if you're diving with yoke tanks. Really this is one of the few actual mistakes you can make buying a regulator, as they all do the job quite well. The HOG regs have a terrific quality-for-price reputation, but until they offer a native yoke fitting, they're only a good idea for those divers who primarily use DIN tanks. Spending $600 on a MK25/A700 is great if what you want to do is spend money, but there are MANY much less expensive alternatives and you'll never tell the difference in the water.

Don't buy a BC until you have some diving experience and can appreciate the difference between a jacket BC and a rigid backplate/wing set up. Make sure you try a BP/W before you invest any money in a BC.

Sorry, I've mostly told you what not to do, instead of what you should do....how about borrow or rent some gear and take the $1K you were going to spend on gear and put it towards a trip to Cozumel or Bonaire. That's a lot more fun than buying stuff in a dive shop.

 

[ajduplessis]

Be carefull of itches, before you know it you have spend $20K and the itching is still there

 

[TSandM]

kevmo, what kind of diving do you see yourself doing? Warm water vacation diving only, or cold water diving, local diving? This can affect your choice of regulator. For example, the MK25 is a piston reg, and they are generally not felt to be as reliable in very cold water as diaphragm regs and those environmentally sealed are. (Although I have dived my MK25s in Puget Sound for five years or so without incident.)

If you are going to do a great deal of travel, considering a major brand that is likely to have outlets (and therefore parts and service) in lots of places worldwide may be a reasonable concern.

The point about DIN vs yoke is a good one, and that also depends somewhat on where you are going to travel. The only warm water places we've been where DIN tanks were common were the Red Sea and the South Pacific.

My husband and I bought Aqualung Titans as our first regs. They were middle of the road in price and have served us extremely well, with no problems, in cold and warm water. The only reason we are not longer using them is that we decided to standardize our entire stable of (nineteen!) regulators on one brand, and one I could service.

As far as BCs go, the one linked above is an awfully good buy, but you will need to add some kind of pockets, either to the rig itself or to your wetsuit, if you want to store any small items. You will also need a weight belt. I am a big backplate and wing fan, and that's a great price, and DRIS is a very solid outfit with which to deal.

 

[Kevmo]

kevmo, what kind of diving do you see yourself doing? Warm water vacation diving only, or cold water diving, local diving? This can affect your choice of regulator. For example, the MK25 is a piston reg, and they are generally not felt to be as reliable in very cold water as diaphragm regs and those environmentally sealed are. (Although I have dived my MK25s in Puget Sound for five years or so without incident.)

If you are going to do a great deal of travel, considering a major brand that is likely to have outlets (and therefore parts and service) in lots of places worldwide may be a reasonable concern.

The point about DIN vs yoke is a good one, and that also depends somewhat on where you are going to travel. The only warm water places we've been where DIN tanks were common were the Red Sea and the South Pacific.

My husband and I bought Aqualung Titans as our first regs. They were middle of the road in price and have served us extremely well, with no problems, in cold and warm water. The only reason we are not longer using them is that we decided to standardize our entire stable of (nineteen!) regulators on one brand, and one I could service.

As far as BCs go, the one linked above is an awfully good buy, but you will need to add some kind of pockets, either to the rig itself or to your wetsuit, if you want to store any small items. You will also need a weight belt. I am a big backplate and wing fan, and that's a great price, and DRIS is a very solid outfit with which to deal.

TSandM, most of the diving that i'm going to do is warm water vacation diving, but i'm located in Maryland... so a little colder quarry dives is probably in my future... i don't plan on doing any COLD COLD dives.

good point on the major brand.... i had a long discussion with Superlyte (peter) about this... i'm likely going to buy a yoke, as a majority of the places that i want to go is yoke (from what i know)

Peter also mentioned to me getting a harness/backplate wing BC.... and i'm leaning towards that... even though i'm a new diver, i plan on doing alot more diving in the years to come so i want somethign that i can grow into.. not something that i need to replace anytime soon.

 

[garydemos]

I know the itch - and I just succumbed to it. I like to support local so I bought a set of Oceanic gear from my LDS and took advantage of Oceanic's current special - $399 of gear free if you buy certain equipment. I got the EOS reg w/swivel & matching Octo, Atom 3.1 computer w/integrated air, Biolite BC (seemed to be the closest thing to BP/W) and I like it pretty much. I got $275 off retail from my LDS plus a free Oceanic carry-on and 3mm wetsuit. I'm happy and now want to start building up my experience. This is SO addictive!!

 

[Kevmo]

wow... nice gary... that's a lot money for a one purchase itch lol

 

[garydemos]

Ha - yeah! Now I can use it to provide my wife with the reason that I must dive more to get my money's worth out of all the equipment. Think that will work???

 

[k ellis]

Zeagle Ranger LTD for your BCD You cant go wrong with it as its extremely durable and versatile