New to diving here!.. Give me a hand!

[Michael_Lambert]

Hey everyone,

Some may have seen a couple of my other post before finding this forum!..

Very new.. infact i signed up for my SSI OW Through the Dive shop in Newmarket.. and will be doing that the first week of October!

My plans from there are to find some locals who are willing to help me out, would love to do a couple of controlled shallow dives build up some confidence.. then start learning some new goodies, hopeing for next sprint to go for the PADI Advanced diver.

As for my experience.. allways in the water, usally snorkeling even when you can't see anything, Just the fact of being underwater breathing is great to me!

Im a photographer and keep Marine aquariums.. ( www.myreef.ca ) and am a rather BIG Boy 6'1 340 pounds! .. Anyone konw of a local shop that rents LARGE BCD's .. looking for somthing in around XXL i guess, I am looking at purchasing the Zegal maybe when i get few dives in and decided that this will be added to my list of addictions!.. and have decided Zegal is about the best i can order the cumberband custom sized

Anyways,

Anyone eles local to me.. Show yourselfs Anyone eles get trainned at the Dive shop? Anyone want to take on a PET project ME!

Thanks
Michael

 

[Groundhog246]

You are confusing me (or trolling). You're talking SSI OW, then PADI AOW? Before you buy anything, get educated. For a BCD, you might want to have a look at a backplate and wing. Adjustable to almost any size.

 

[Michael_Lambert]

Sorry for the confusion,

I am going the first weekend of october for the SSI OW, If i can get in a couple of dives it would be great!.. if its not too late, Then in spring i want to take the Advanced dive course..

Yes im looking to get educated first, but due to my size i might need to buy a wetsuit and BCD, having issues with the local dive shops having equitment in for me to rent in mysize.

 

[Butch103]

Michael,

I think if you were wise, you would get certified OW and dive next summer and perhaps next fall get your Advanced. Get some shallow water dive experience.

 

[Michael_Lambert]

What difference would it being diving spring next year or diving this fall?

 

[Groundhog246]

I think what he means, is get some dives in and experience built up, before jumping into AOW. The shop where I trained recommends 20 to 25 OW dives before moving on to advanced. You'll get much more out of it if you have reacehed the point where you no longer thave to think about buoyancy control. Keeping to a compass course, for example, is much more difficult when you're still diving with the BCD inflator hose in your hand.

 

[smoritz0370]

Sorry for the confusion,

I am going the first weekend of october for the SSI OW, If i can get in a couple of dives it would be great!.. if its not too late, Then in spring i want to take the Advanced dive course..

Yes im looking to get educated first, but due to my size i might need to buy a wetsuit and BCD, having issues with the local dive shops having equitment in for me to rent in mysize.

I thought you had bought an all inclusive basic package from the Newmarket store.The only things you had to provide were personal items like mask, snorkel, fins and weightbelt (on the website they even say you can rent them for an additional fee). Do they have some loophole in a contract you signed that says they only provide it if you are within certain sizer parameters? Seems to me from the wording on the website if they don't have equipment to fit you they are obliged to obtain it. I would imagine that after your course your equipment would go into the general rental stock and you could rent it for further dives you plan to do. Am I missing something?

 

[Michael_Lambert]

I thought you had bought an all inclusive basic package from the Newmarket store.The only things you had to provide were personal items like mask, snorkel, fins and weightbelt (on the website they even say you can rent them for an additional fee). Do they have some loophole in a contract you signed that says they only provide it if you are within certain sizer parameters? Seems to me from the wording on the website if they don't have equipment to fit you they are obliged to obtain it. I would imagine that after your course your equipment would go into the general rental stock and you could rent it for further dives you plan to do. Am I missing something?

Well from what i have heard by talking to the store, they have stuff.. Such as the BCD with Cumberband extentions.. and XXL wetsuit that will fit and do its job but be really snug.. So seems like they will provide the equitment that is functional.. but may not be the most comfortable for me.. but i have been dealing with Norbert alot and we are ordering in a Wetsuit for me... and i think we are going to go with a Backplate wing setup.. this way as i lose weight i can just shorten the harness..

all in all, ofcourse i plan on doing alot of diving and having my own gear is a need.. i mean to concider rentals.. $100 per weekend dive what 12-15 weekends.. thats $1500 i could have bought my own gear!

 

[Groundhog246]

There's always a chance you might find diving is not for you and you'll end up having spent $$ you won't recover, so I wouldn't buy too much gear till you've completed your OW dives. Certainly a decent fitting suit is a must (too snug and you'll have trouble breathing). And it's hard to go wrong with a bp/wing. Have a good look at the Halcyon Pioneer 27 and 36 lbs wings. http://www.halcyon.net/mc/pioneer.shtml Great design makes dumping air a breeze (no place to trap air) and very streamlined design.

I would advise asking around and renting or borrowing an assortment of regs before you buy. Keep in mind they need annual (or more frequent) service, so buying locally can make sense. For Ontario diving a sealed first stage is better. I prefer a diaphram first stage (in my experience lower risk of free flow). Until you've aquired some experience, you really won't know what you're looking for in a reg (I speak from experience) and it's one place not too skimp. If you ask nicely at an LDS, they may let you try various rental regs, with some or all of the reg rental to be applied to the purchase of a new one.

 

[Butch103]

What I meant was exactly as Groundhog246 said. Alhough many cert orgs will do your advance almost immediately (if not immediately), after your OW cert. I can only give you my advice and share my experience with you. Get 20 -30 dives first before youdo your AOW. The water will still be there in the spring as will a diveshop to certify you.

Good luck