Newbie buying his first gear

[Stefos]

Hello fellow divers,
Last year I did the open water diver course from SSI. I didn't dive for almost a year and I started again last week. If everything goes as expected I will be diving every Sunday from now on plus whenever I am on vacation.
For now the plan is to do as many dives as possible and do different things such as deep dive, wreck, cavern etc. I 'm thinking of buying my own gear and this is where the fun begins.
After talking to a friend I made the decision to go for BCD Wing, one that can take 2 tanks for later , with Hogarthian setup. The reasons behind this decision is firstly not to waste money on buying again and again the same things and secondly not to waste time and learn again "how to dive" with different BCD and setup. Pretty much just to be future proof.

Because I don't know which regulators are good or not or which BCD is good I would like some suggestions for regulator set and BCD. Water temperature where i am living is relatively cold. I'm located in Greece so I would prefer stores anywhere in Europe and budget not to expensive but not the cheapest as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Marie13]

You do not want to use a doubles wing for single tank diving. The wing will taco around the tank, you may have issues venting air, and all around not good.

As for reg brands, which brands do the shops near you service? ScubaPro and Apeks are both popular in Europe. Apeks XTX50 with DST first stage and fifth port on end of first stage are affordable and good choices for tech later on. Get two sets exactly the same which will serve you for doubles later. The other folks here can elaborate on this.

 

[David Novo]

Hello fellow divers,
Last year I did the open water diver course from SSI. I didn't dive for almost a year and I started again last week. If everything goes as expected I will be diving every Sunday from now on plus whenever I am on vacation.
For now the plan is to do as many dives as possible and do different things such as deep dive, wreck, cavern etc. I 'm thinking of buying my own gear and this is where the fun begins.
After talking to a friend I made the decision to go for BCD Wing, one that can take 2 tanks for later , with Hogarthian setup. The reasons behind this decision is firstly not to waste money on buying again and again the same things and secondly not to waste time and learn again "how to dive" with different BCD and setup. Pretty much just to be future proof.

Because I don't know which regulators are good or not or which BCD is good I would like some suggestions for regulator set and BCD. Water temperature where i am living is relatively cold. I'm located in Greece so I would prefer stores anywhere in Europe and budget not to expensive but not the cheapest as well.

Thanks in advance!

You do not want to use a doubles wing for single tank diving. The wing will taco around the tank, you may have issues venting air, and all around not good.

As for reg brands, which brands do the shops near you service? ScubaPro and Apeks are both popular in Europe. Apeks XTX50 with DST first stage and fifth port on end of first stage are affordable and good choices for tech later on. Get two sets exactly the same which will serve you for doubles later. The other folks here can elaborate on this.

I second the Apeks XTX 50 recommendation, with DST or FSR (depending on your preferences).

Regarding wings and as you are in Europe, I am happy with my Tecline purchase.

Just don't use a doubles wing for single tank diving. You can have the same backplate and harness and two wings depending on whether you are diving doubles or single tank.

 

[Stefos]

You do not want to use a doubles wing for single tank diving. The wing will taco around the tank, you may have issues venting air, and all around not good.

As for reg brands, which brands do the shops near you service? ScubaPro and Apeks are both popular in Europe. Apeks XTX50 with DST first stage and fifth port on end of first stage are affordable and good choices for tech later on. Get two sets exactly the same which will serve you for doubles later. The other folks here can elaborate on this.

Thanks for your quick reply. Regarding the BCD of what I have read there are some Wing BCD that can accommodate one or two tanks, you just need a twin tank band or maybe just the backplate? Maybe I understood incorrectly.

ScubaPro, Apeks, Cressi for sure and couple more that I can't remember now

 

[Stefos]

This should be fine I guess.
Apeks XTX50 / XTX40 Stage 3 Set

PS: If is prohibited to post a link tell me to remove it

 

[Marie13]

Thanks for your quick reply. Regarding the BCD of what I have read there are some Wing BCD that can accommodate one or two tanks, you just need a twin tank band or maybe just the backplate? Maybe I understood incorrectly.

ScubaPro, Apeks, Cressi for sure and couple more that I can't remember now

Just a note on proper terminology

It’s a BP/W (backplate/wing). Not wing BC and definitely not wings! It’s a modular system of backplate with harness attached with the wing. It’s all bolted together. For doubles, there are twin steel bands on the tanks with long bolts to attach BP/W.

For single tank, you either thread both cambands through wing and plate, if wing has camband slots, or use what’s called a single tank adapter that carries the cam bands and bolts to BP/W.

All backplates can be used with either single tank or doubles.

I don’t know about Cressi in Europe, but in the US, you don’t find tech divers using them. Buy once, cry once is the motto. Buy cheapo crap now and you’ll have to replace it when the time comes for tech. Apeks and ScuaPro also seem to retain their value for reseale later.

 

[parzdiver]

That is a great reg set.

Regarding the wing, for a doubles wing, the bladder has to have a lot of space in the middle to accommodate the tanks. I have seen one or two "solutions" that use elastic bands to pull it close, but it does not really fix the problem. You will wind up with problems dumping gas. Go with a single tank wing, and if you upgrade to doubles, get the doubles wing.

 

[Marie13]

This should be fine I guess.
Apeks XTX50 / XTX40 Stage 3 Set

PS: If is prohibited to post a link tell me to remove it

No, you don’t want the octo. You want both second stages to be the same. Might as well buy the XTX50/DST doubles set and be done with it.

 

[lexvil]

Thanks for your quick reply. Regarding the BCD of what I have read there are some Wing BCD that can accommodate one or two tanks, you just need a twin tank band or maybe just the backplate? Maybe I understood incorrectly.

ScubaPro, Apeks, Cressi for sure and couple more that I can't remember now

Backplate and harness are not very expensive, the wing is the major cost so if doubles are something for the future start with a proper wing for single tank diving. If and when you decide you need more gas get another backplate and harness and doubles wing, or look at side mount.

 

[formernuke]

The BPW can use single or double, you just switch the wing out. Switching wings is easy.

For regs look at what's close to you for services.

I'm a fan of the xtx 50 with dst but that's just me.