regs, bcd then drysuit?

[ghostbuster]

Wow thanks for all the great replies

(Scubaboard is heavily tilted toward BP/W, but we try to not jump on recommending it in a first post, but you did mention leaning that way.)
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I’ve read a bit about the pros and cons and the idea of a modular system that you can customize appeals to me, plus I’ve definitely done dives where an ill-fitting BC restricted my movement in a way that wasn’t comfortable. I’ve rented BP/Ws a few times and not found them any more difficult to use.

When you rent your gear, which piece do you hate the most? Start with that, then get comfortable with it, then move to the next-most-hated thing.

Covid notwithstanding, I would personally go for the boots and fins first, then the BP/W, then the drysuit, then the regs, then start thinking about tanks. The reason being that boots/fins are so cheap that you might as well start there. And renting different BC's and exposure gear every time will mess with your buoyancy/trim; keeping it consistent will facilitate your growth as a diver.

With covid, moving the regs up a notch or two does make some sense, although I'd expect your local dive shop to be doing a really super-duper extra good job of keeping their rental regs clean anyway. That one's a bit of a judgement call.

I’m sure they are cleaning it well, owning my own would more be for extra peace of mind. I quite like the idea of thinking of what rental gear bugs me the most and then buying that. I recently had a too-big hood that prevented my otherwise-excellent mask from sealing properly so I think a hood is on my short list too.

This is the NW. Drop out rate is something like 90%. Been diving around here 25+ years with a VERY active club, I know what it's like.
The big hurdles are expense and comfort. The drysuit is expensive, people aren't sure whether they'll keep up with the sport, so they focus on 'life support', the reg, and then buy a reg + computer that is damn near rivals a drysuit in cost. I consider that a mistake. I won't discourage a reg set, but do some serious reading here and consider buying a decent used reg.
Something like this would likely be excellent: For Sale - Mk20/g250
Same setup my wife has been using for 15 years. The MK20 and highly touted MK25 are almost the same reg.

If you are cold all the time, you are going to quit diving.....period. Seen this hoards of time.
Get the drysuit. You can also get those used and in great shape, BUT you DO have to know what to look for.

The other thing apart from cost holding me back from going for a drysuit first is that I don’t feel like I know which one I like best yet. When I rented the aqualung fusion it took fine several tries to put it on, and that was in my living room the night before. On my first dive the undergarments were all bunched up in places and not insulating evenly. My subsequent dives with that suit were better though.

 

[Marie13]

The other thing apart from cost holding me back from going for a drysuit first is that I don’t feel like I know which one I like best yet. When I rented the aqualung fusion it took fine several tries to put it on, and that was in my living room the night before. On my first dive the undergarments were all bunched up in places and not insulating evenly. My subsequent dives with that suit were better though.

The Fusion can be a bit fiddly. I dived one for two years.

Check with the shops in your area then to see what’s in their rental fleet and go from there.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Wow thanks for all the great replies



I’ve read a bit about the pros and cons and the idea of a modular system that you can customize appeals to me, plus I’ve definitely done dives where an ill-fitting BC restricted my movement in a way that wasn’t comfortable. I’ve rented BP/Ws a few times and not found them any more difficult to use.


I’m sure they are cleaning it well, owning my own would more be for extra peace of mind. I quite like the idea of thinking of what rental gear bugs me the most and then buying that. I recently had a too-big hood that prevented my otherwise-excellent mask from sealing properly so I think a hood is on my short list too.


The other thing apart from cost holding me back from going for a drysuit first is that I don’t feel like I know which one I like best yet. When I rented the aqualung fusion it took fine several tries to put it on, and that was in my living room the night before. On my first dive the undergarments were all bunched up in places and not insulating evenly. My subsequent dives with that suit were better though.

I’d reach out to John Nunes on FB. Join Whytecliff Wednesdays group on FB. You have a ton of good people up there.

 

[formernuke]

Check with the shops in your area then to see what’s in their rental fleet and go from there.

I'm going to agree with Marie if you can rent different ones do so.

 

[ghostbuster]

Totally agree with getting drysuit now. I’m in the Great Lakes region. If you want to keep diving, you dive dry. You’re a lot more comfortable.

I’m with @fmerkel . Comfort is key. If you enjoy diving, get a properly fitted one first and a good undergarment.

buy a K-01 hood at the same time. Warmest on the market.

Just to be clear, if I don't buy a drysuit then I'll be renting drysuits, not diving cold water in a wetsuit.

I'll look into that hood though.

 

[ChuckP]

I have sort of a different take on it - if you can rent a comfortable drysuit, do that for awhile, maybe buy your own under garments but if the rental works, do that for awhile.

A good drysuit is the most expensive item, make sure this is what you want to do, this is the way you are going to dive - that's the big if you can rent a comfortable one.

I'd buy mask, regs, computer, undergarments (including hood and gloves), bcd, fins then dry suit in that order - that all depends on being able to rent stuff that works for you. I'd also scan the used stuff posted on here before buying all new for some things - make sure this is what you want to do and how you want to do it.

 

[fmerkel]

Got an active club in the area? Join > go to meetings, go to dives even if you don't dive. Ask questions. Make friends. It really helps to get first hand information without a sales pitch attached. There will probably be people that can and will help with used purchases.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

A fellow Canadian cold water diver here. I would look at both https://abyssdivingsuits.com/tech-diving-suitor and Bare drysuits, both are made in Canada. Bare is made right there in British Columbia and they have the most stock sizes. Size Charts - BARE Sports I would go with a compressed neoprene drysuit, it will require a lot less underwear than a bag suit and won't compress at depth like a regular 7mm suit. For regs, I would look at a Mares Abyss. I like that there are no knobs or levers to adjust. Abyss 22 Navy II. For a bp/w, I would look at Sub Gravity, you can get a 6mm stainless steel backplate, that will take take weight off your weight belt. You can get an adjustable harness that is 2 simple stainless steel buckles. Paragon Single Tank Package - Subgravity

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Just to be clear, if I don't buy a drysuit then I'll be renting drysuits, not diving cold water in a wetsuit.

I'll look into that hood though.

I've never rented a dry suit in Vancouver. In this area, a lot of dry suits stay in the rental pool a bit too long. The only exception is 8 in Des Moines. They only rent quality dry suits.

Definitely rent a few places. I'd look also at having field replaceable seals, both neck and wrist. I'd also look into dry glove systems. Look what people have (join local dive clubs). You want to be careful about this purchase, but it is the most important one for you to keep diving. Especially with winter coming up. I also dive with a heated vest (Thermolution) that I love.

There are threads on dry glove systems. It will probably drive you nuts reading them. I'm going with a Rolocks system myself (need to get back to that, though I'm not diving anytime soon).

 

[KenGordon]

I'm a new-ish diver, about 20 dives with a mix of warm and cold water, but until flying to the tropics becomes an option again I'll be diving the beautiful cold (~10°C) waters off British Columbia. Just rec - not planning to do anything technical for the foreseeable future.

My plan is to build my kit out slowly, buying quality pieces and renting in the mean time. So far I've only got a mask and a computer (Zoop) and now considering my next piece of gear.

Conventional wisdom online seems to be to buy fins early on, along with the mask, but I'm not sure that makes sense if I don't know what boots/drysuit I'll be wearing. My LDS carries Apeks XTX50/DST (or DS4) and from what I've read, nobody seems to have complaints about it. I also like the idea of not sharing a rental regulator in the time of covid.

I am mostly looking for a sanity check that it makes sense to buy regs before a BCD, and save the drysuit for last, since it seems to be the most expensive single piece by far. I think I prefer BP/W to jacket-style, and I'm not really sure what drysuit I prefer (I've tried aqualung fusion, bare, and mobby).

Are there other regs to consider at the apeks price point? Is there any reason I should look at BCDs or even save for a drysuit before my own regs? thanks in advance for any input

You can always borrow or rent a suitable BC or regulator, drysuits are much more difficult. I have wasted many an hour as students try on several suits at inland sites, sometimes ending up too exhausted to dive.

If your water temperature is as high as 10C typically you probably do not need dry gloves unless you are unfortunate enough to have one of those nasty circulation issues. The extra hassle and cost of dry gloves or field replaceable seals may not be worth the minor advantages.