Next piece of gear - Dry suit or reg/octo?

[bbianchi]

I too bought a used on only 10 fresh water dives regular set from eBay and it was horribly encrusted with unrinsed salt and had seen far more than 10 dives, never seen a service, and was an bad bad shape. Its been properly serviced now and works like a champ, so always remember YMMV.

 

[pacificgal]

I have considered buying used, not so sure about fit though for the drysuit. For something that expensive I would want to be sure to get one that fits, and would prefer to have someone with me familiar with drysuits to look at me in it and say, "yeah, that fits you."
I think this diving Sunday will be good for me, my first dive in about a year and hopefully it'll be a weekend thing. At least until hockey season...

 

[pacificgal]

Ymmv?

 

[fobturbo]

Your miles may vary. i.e. your results will vary

Ymmv?

 

[pacificgal]

Thanks, lol.
I tried to work it out, thought it would be something like you get what you pay for

 

[cricfanSD]

You don't have to buy used. You can buy online if you want to save money. Scubatoys, divesports are all reputable stores.
Also you don't have to buy the most expensive regulator. The ease of breathing of all major brand regulators for recreational depths are very similar. The annual warranty maintenance is just peace of mind. You can destroy your regulator within one weekend's careless post dive routine and can easily keep your regulator in top shape for couple of years.

For drysuit look at the classifieds section. I bought one for a ridiculous price which fits me perfectly and was really few dives old. Just remember DUI is not the only brand that makes drysuit There are few other manufacturers who make perfectly good drysuit and have a very low used value on fleabay and the SB classifieds.

 

[pacificgal]

fob: I am going to try to make it to Dan's Club Wednesday, I have a prior engagement that is supposed to last from 5-7 downtown but it may end early. Hope to see you there!

 

[fobturbo]

This is a very good point. The only thing I'd have to add to this is that some brands (everything under the AquaLung family & Atomics Aquatics mainly) have a thing against having their products being sold online. Others, (i.e. Oceanic, Mares, etc) don't. If you buy something of the former online, you may have issues if it breaks during the warranty period.

If you do end up going the buy online route, the Hot deals section is a decent place to keep an eye on, also some of the online retailers will give scubaboard members a discount.

You don't have to buy used. You can buy online if you want to save money. Scubatoys, divesports are all reputable stores.
Also you don't have to buy the most expensive regulator. The ease of breathing of all major brand regulators for recreational depths are very similar. The annual warranty maintenance is just peace of mind. You can destroy your regulator within one weekend's careless post dive routine and can easily keep your regulator in top shape for couple of years.

For drysuit look at the classifieds section. I bought one for a ridiculous price which fits me perfectly and was really few dives old. Just remember DUI is not the only brand that makes drysuit There are few other manufacturers who make perfectly good drysuit and have a very low used value on fleabay and the SB classifieds.

 

[zf2nt]

... The ease of breathing of all major brand regulators for recreational depths are very similar. The annual warranty maintenance is just peace of mind...

As a regulator service technician, I strongly disagree. There is a world of difference in how a top performing regulator breathes and the way a cheap regulator breathes. You can measure it with a magnehelic gauge and you can feel the difference by simply breathing on it. While it is true that you can get used to anything, just taking a couple of breaths off a good regulator after you've been using an old piece of junk will make a believer of you.

And as far as service is concerned, that is more than just peace of mind. I've known several people who took that attitude all the way up to the day that their high pressure seat blew out when they were down deep and the reg suddenly put 3000 psi into all of the low pressure hoses, the BC inflator, and the second stages. That's not the kind of excitement you want to get out of diving.

Bruce

 

[MrSpock]

Going back to the original question....

You don't *need* to spend $600 on the regulator if you dive here in Monterey and warmer waters. With all due respect to Scubapro, there are alternatives. For example, I use Mares MR12/Proton Metal - pretty good performer according to Scubalab, and one of the most reliable designs of all time. Since this is a pretty old model (still in production) you can find it for $200 new (Mares MR12 Proton Metal Regulator reviews and discounts, Mares). Many stores will match the "parts for life" program as soon as you buy and service it thru them. You'll still need an octo though, which you can easily find for less than $100. Put another 60 for an SPG.

What you really *need* for Monterey is a drysuit IMO. That is definitely my next purchase after my Aqualang SolaFX expire.