Second hand gear- what to look for?

[Tantell]

Hi all,
I was looking at picking up some second hand gear with the view to potentially upgrading piece by piece in the future.

My question however, is what do I look for to ensure I'm not buying unfixable rubbish? I'm looking at a jacket style BCD and regs.

Cheers

Shaun

 

[AfterDark]

Hi all,
I was looking at picking up some second hand gear with the view to potentially upgrading piece by piece in the future.

My question however, is what do I look for to ensure I'm not buying unfixable rubbish? I'm looking at a jacket style BCD and regs.

Cheers

Shaun

Depends on what your attitude is towards old little used equipment. A few years ago I needed to add 3 regulators to my collection. I have great faith in the old Scubapro R109 2ndStages and the Mk5 or MK 10 1st stages. There are a lot of those on Ebay that have little to no wear and so probably little to no use. I've seen a few that were still unused in the box! I dived one of these regs for 40 years before it finally failed structurally the 2nd stage exhaust diagram support "crosshairs" corroded away. Never had a failure, some minor free flows that were "fixed" by turning the adjusting knob a turn or so counterclockwise this "de-tuned" it enough to stop the freeflow and still be usable for the rest of the dive. Theses regs are cheap in price but high in quality. There is a chance some shops will not work on these for their own selfish reasons, so keep that in mind. Keep in mind if you were to buy a new regulator that is the equivalent of one these regulators today you'd be spending no less, maybe more than $1000.00.

BCD Jackets; I'd look for bright colors or if black a solid non faded black. This would tend to indicate that the BCD was either not used much and /or not exposed to the sun much, a big plus. If you can see the hoses look for dry rot cracks and if it's hands on inflate it and BS with the seller for a while to stall and see if it holds air. Not much can go wrong with these that can't be fixed but if the bladder is leaking move on.

Finally get everything checked by someone that knows what they are doing and looking at; something you may want to arrange before spending any money on older gear. Remember fit and function is what matters not age.

Good luck

 

[Caveeagle]

First of all, I would get some perspective on brand and type of gear you are looking for. If you just pull in the first used set you find, you might end up disappointed with gear that does not meet your needs.

I would also find out what your favorite local shop is willing to service for you. It would stink to buy a set of 'Brand A' regs, only to find out the only shop who services 'Brand A' are 100 miles away and only open on every other Tuesday. ...or are jerks.

All 'jacket' BCs are not created equally. Some of the older styles are pretty outdated by today's standards. I would suggest something with a 'wing' style bladder, where the air bladder is on the back and not around the front like a Mae West jacket. I would avoid 'pull dumps' and Air-2 inflators. I would also look for something that is gently used and with as little mileage as possible. Fresh water use is a pluss.

Regs can get very tricky. There is a lot of junk out there for sale. I buy used regs, but only brands that I am very familiar with. So I know how to test and rebuild them. Even then, I have gotten burned a couple times with regs that were not repairable. Do you have dive buddies? Or a club that can steer you to a particular brand? I would say stick with a name brand where you can get service easily. I would also try to go with regs that have been used recently. You see a lot of used gear for sale that has not been in use for many years. Some brands are extinct and parts may not even be available.

You can also post up prospective deals here. I am sure people will chime in with opinions.

 

[TheHuth]

I have personally tossed allot of money away by buying used. You need to know what you are buying, or you will lose.

First and foremost, stay away from anyone that says they're not diving anymore, and clearing out their garage. Odds are good that the equipment is over 20 years old. Instead, go to your LDS and figure out exactly what you want. Then find someone selling that specifically.

I would avoid a jacket BCD. If you get serious about this sport, you'll likely need a BP/W. No point in tossing good money at a jacket BCD if you're just going to replace it in 6 months.

For tanks, you should be looking at steel. They're expensive for a reason. If you are looking to buy now, then spend more later, find someone with LP 72's. I got mine for $50 each, and they were already hydro and vis'd. Eventually you'll want HP steels, but that'll cost you a pretty penny. Even used, they're very expensive. If the Hydro and Vis is not current, get the seller to agree to give you your money back if they fail. Find a place that can do the Hydro/Vis for a good price. If you live in SoCal, I highly recommend Pacific Wilderness.

Get a good quality regulator. Since you're looking at used, you can probably get one that would normally cost $700+ for less than half that.

Go on Craigs list and look in the area where rich people live. Ideally you'll find someone who bought all new gear, and then decided they werent that interested in scuba. For me, that means looking in Orange County.

Best of luck.

 

[TMHeimer]

Most of my stuff I bought used 11 years ago. A lot has now been replaced (but very recently). BCD is crap now, but still functional. I guess you have to consider--Does it work (is it safe)?, does it fit comfortably?, and does it fit your purposes (ei, pockets big enough, enough D rings, etc.)?

 

[herman]

Depending on the reg, there is nothing at all wrong with 20 or even some 40 YO regs, a good SP MK-2,5 or 10 or USD/AL Conshelf is better than most current regs. They are still popular and with good reason. Either one of them properly serviced will still be going another 20 or 30 years from now. And there are plenty of other great regs that have been around for al long time, Al Titans or Apex to name a couple . Granted you have to know what to buy and what to avoid but to simply say older regs are not worth considering is incorrect.

There is nothing wrong with jacket style BCs, they have been around a long time and make up the majority of BC's used today. I have and do dive many different styles, the BP/wing is no better or worse than any other, which type is best is a matter of taste and the job at hand. Some people, myself included, can't dive a metal BP in some instances, even the aluminum ones over weight me in warm fresh water, a steel one would grossly overweight me ,even in warm saltwater. While I prefer a back inflate for diving, for training (I was an active DM for a number of years) I much preferred a jacket style, they work much better for me.

While steel tanks have their place, again they are not always the best option. Aluminum 80s are very common and as long as you avoid the older ones (pre 1990) they are often time a better option. Steels other than 72s tend to be expensive and like the metal BPs some can't use them due to their negative buoyancy. Unless you need the extra volume there is no good reason to go to steel tanks,there is a good reason the vast majority of rental tanks are aluminum.

 

[Shotmaster]

I agree that age on a design has no bearing. All of the old Scubapro MK5/R109s, MK2, MK10s still perform better than most of the newer regulators. The legendary G250 was just the R109 made with plastics. I am at the point of looking for several R109s to become primary 2nd stages for all of my rigs. I'm tired of dry mouth and the full metal body of the 109 that I used for 30 years was much better than the plastic body of my S600. I am going to upgrade the 109s to the "Balanced/Adjustable" internals of the 156. I'm going to add a swivel too, which was a nice innovation. I will keep my DIN MK25 1st Stages as they are a real upgrade in performance. I can't speak to the other brands as I never had a reason to change. I did recently buy an Atomics Aquatics B2 (former Scubapro engineers) and so far it has impressed me as being equal to Scubapro. My friend just bought a Scubapro MK25/S600 with R190 octo,pressure, depth, and compass for $600 and it had 10 dives on it that is about half price. The B2 I bought has the swivel, Sherwood octo, and a Cobra 3 console, I paid $350 for it. I have a good LDS that I use for service. With that being said, it seems about half the Scubapro dive shops are "A" holes, and I had run into some of them over the years. I would recommend finding a local dive shop that you know treats people well, then find out what they sell and can service. Like was mentioned you don't want to buy something and the closest shop is 100 miles away. I was stationed once where the LDS was a bunch of crooks and I had to go 90 miles to avoid doing business with them.

 

[TheHuth]

Sorry, I wasnt trying to appear as an expert. Was more offering my opinion based on my own recent experiences with the OP's question. The one thing I think everyone can agree upon is if you ask 10 different divers, you'll get 10 different answers. If you have the ability to, rent a few different types of gear and decide what works best for you.

 

[cmburch]

Green corrosion, white crystals, pitting on fittings, valves, etc. Sun damage, check marks on hoses. plastic housings, fittings. Write down info on what you want to buy from someone and research it. Is it still under warrantee. When was the last inspection. Meet at a dive shop when completing sale to see if they can get parts for Reg. Will it cost more to get used Reg to original specs (hoses, fittings, service parts kit) than a new Reg.

BC is easy to test by blowing up and checking all valves and hoses. Hook BC up to tank and check all valves. Check for leaks just like a bicycle tire in water (Bladder, hoses. valves, fittings no little air bubbles.) Reg can also be tested, but are parts available? If anything tastes like salt water BC/Reg then internal parts are suspect.

I have purchased backplate, bladder, fins, etc. on SCUBABoard. I knew what I wanted to buy. I have also sold items on SCUBABoard. The items I purchased were all in new condition. I would not buy items that are not in perfect condition unless you knew the person so can easily get your money back if it does not work out.

I do not agree. Age does matter. How easy are parts to obtain? How old are those hoses and fittings? A fitting breaks on 2nd dive on old BC (Parts available?) How many divers take proper care of their equipment. Will you be lucky enough to buy from a person that takes care of their equipment.

You really did not give enough information for a proper response to your question.

 

[snowdog61]

For BCs, check the elbow area where the inflator screws onto. A failure there is typically the death blow for the bladder. Be patient - there's sadly lots of people that get talked into buying a full set of gear by their LDS and then decide that diving just isn't all that they thought it would be. That comment about the affluent areas is spot on.