Shave head or pull out hair?

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Hey Oxy, have'nt seen you here on the board for a while. I was going to ask how the ear thing was going, but I just read your post and see that diving is out and surfing will be your new hobby..surfing is fun and a good workout,too.How's that BIG sharktooth of yours doing? Take care.
 
Ear thing, huh? take a look at the Proear 2000. It's a little silly looking, but I've spoken to people who claim it put them back in the water after ear problems. I've never actually see one, but theoretically a good idea.
 
Nothing wrong with surfing at all. If you're ever around Maui, you HAVE to check out Lahaina, some great surfing! The fact that you're around California, if I remember reading that previously who knows..., you have some great surfing opportunities there also.

I'll have to agree with Beachlover, surfing is a great work out, especially for you upper body! Whatever you do, enjoy it!!
 
I'm not sure if the OP still wants/needs advice, but in case anyone else is reading I'm adding in my 2 shekels.

I bought this BC:

Tusa 2100 BCD, Black (BCJ-2100) from LeisurePro.com

For $125 about 8 months ago. It's one of the brands that someone listed as "not worth it" and it's "grey market" so it has no warranty and blah blah blah. It's got 15 dives on it right now, and so far I haven't had a single problem with it. If you assume a BC rental cost of $5/dive, it's 2/3 of the way to paying for itself. If you assume $10/dive, I've already saved myself money. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the BC I intend to use for the rest of my diving career, but for the cost of rentals for a small number of dives I have a BC that I know fits me well, that I can pre-clip all my add ons to (whistle, finger spool, safety sausage, etc), and that I am responsible for rinsing and maintaining, so I know it's been done right every time. Also, now, I'm in no rush to upgrade as I'm not seeing money slip through my fingers in rental fees with every dive.

I really can't see a downside to this approach. The only issue I've had at this point is the plastic D-rings that I can't use to clip a stage bottle to (this is a required skill for one of the dives for PADI's Deep Diver specialty) but if I really wanted to I could replace those for around $5 with stainless steel rings.

There's absolutely no reason to rush out and buy super expensive gear. You can buy inexpensive, reliable brands to start with, and upgrage as your budget allows.
 
Being a re-newed diver, I can see there is so much offered equipment out there from so MANY places. It is very confusing. I am in the period of purchasing equipment and it tough. I'm on a budget and so far have the smaller items. I do not dive allot but still want reliable and safe equipment.
So I thank you for all the info within this thread. It has helped but, its still tough to decide.
I stopped at a local dive shop that I used to deal with way back when and I came out with the feeling that I was just dealing with a sales person. I know that's true but, the feeling wasn't right. Oh well. I am sure I will have this figured out by time the Northeast season is over.
 
Hey all, I followed a link in the news letter back here and had to say HI! and thanks for all the support. I really wanted to dive and the danger ear wize may have been better than the body slam I got from an overhead wave. That was August it is now January and I am ready to try surfing again only on smaller waves. the water must go straight to my inner ear cause i get dizzy as soon as i get wet. I almost wish I had opted to risk diving but the thought of filling up on saltwater and not being able to surface and and and. the list of reasons the doctor gave was mostly worse case.
Oh and yes I still have the shark tooth BL, but I chipped it.
 
Whether a place is an "authorized" dealer would not affect my purchasing decision, one way or the other. I see this status as neither adding nor detracting any value to the purchase at hand.

If you assume a BC rental cost of $5/dive, it's 2/3 of the way to paying for itself. If you assume $10/dive, I've already saved myself money. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the BC I intend to use for the rest of my diving career, but for the cost of rentals for a small number of dives I have a BC that I know fits me well, that I can pre-clip all my add ons to (whistle, finger spool, safety sausage, etc), and that I am responsible for rinsing and maintaining, so I know it's been done right every time.
And that's just it. I'm looking to outfit my wife at the moment. Before making this effort, she already had mask, fins, snorkel, fin booties and wetsuit. It costs $20/day to rent the missing items from the place where are going to be diving (BC, regs, spg, computer). So, over 6 days, that's $120.

Assuming my deals work as planned, I have found some equipment on-line, for about $145. This gets her a BC (new old stock) and first stage regulator (like new). I can let her use one of my AI computers and voila - she is now diving with owned equipment for only a few dollars more than rented equipment. Even if she only uses this stuff for this trip and one more, we're already ahead of the rental game.
 
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Under $2K? and you have avoided ALL the products in my price range. And yes I still don't have a suit. In fact all I have is this tooth and an overwhelming desire to see what the tide didn't wash up.

If I'm reading your correctly then you aren't certified yet, correct?

I would advise you to take the course first and buy gear after that.

Also, it sounds like you're on a budget for your gear, which I can totally understand. You might want to consider buying some of your gear 2nd hand (off a site like ebay?) and save yourself a lot of money that way too.

R..
 
Indeed, go get certified first. And then buy your gear. Because, you will waste a lot of money when you first buy the gear and then maybe realize that diving isn't your thing. I know some people who were talking about diving, going pro and so on. But after hitting the water they found out that they were betting on the wrong horse...

Do the course, get some dives logged, talk with people about their stuff and get advice this way.
I did buy my own gear after I became a DM and got a really good deal out of it!
 
Also, note that you don't need a full dive locker right away.

It's a good idea to rent a variety of gear to see what works best for you. So purchase the minimum. With Sea'D'Sea (listed on your profile), that means boots, fins, gloves, mask and snorkel. Should set you back about 200 bucks.

I agree with Blackwood. Plus use the money you would spend and go diving. get time in the water first and get comfortable in the water.
 

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