Should I get a package deal or not?

[The Laconic]

It will probably be a little overwhelming, but it should show you that there is no wrong answer.

Oh, I bet with a little effort we could come up with a wrong answer.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

PADI is a training agency. It should have no business giving advice on how to buy gear. I am also a cold water diver, (ice certified) and here is what I would NEVER buy though PADI shop would recommend them highly.

1. SNORKEL (burn it)
2. Split fins
3. Unsealed Piston regulators. (Some of these sell for very high price but are not the best for ice).
4. Plastic paddle fins
5. Jacket style BCD

Here is what I would buy instead:

1. Sealed Diaphram regulator (Like Hog D1)
2. Rubber paddle fins (Scubapro Jets or Hog Tech 2)
3. Steel Backplate and Wing

There are a lot of retailers and dive instructors here who will give you a discount on the above items if purchased together.

The only catastrophic event I've personally experienced with any piece of gear was inhaling water, after a thorough purge, on a HOG D1. (This is documented at length in a thread elsewhere on SB.)

I hated my HOG paddle fins so much I gave them away - but they didn't fail.

Meanwhile the split fins I bought when doing my OW in Puget Sound are still performing as perfectly and as new, over a decade later.

Back to the OP - Buy what you need to dive, and dive dive dive.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[FinnMom]

I gave away my first fins. They were terribly long and floaty (positively bouyant), felt like a fisherman was pulling me up from a hook caught in a fin! They also had plastic buckles that would fail to work well if there was sand or tiny gravel bits in the buckle. The buckles could also break, esp if they got coarse sand or gravel inside the buckle.
Mares fin buckles work well, spring straps or bungee cords straps are simply wonderful.

I would select eash item to be a selection you really like. I would NOT buy a package. I'm afraid the writer of your book is in partnership with all dive shops, many of whom have a limited selection and what you to select only from what they can sell you.

 

[phoenix31tt]

I sell a fair amount of new gear to customers all over the world. Literally. I have sent regs and BPW's to Scotland, Germany, Spain, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. My two biggest customer bases after the US are Okinawa/South Pacific and Western Canada.

The reason for this it seems is because I take the time to listen to what my customers want, need, think they may need in the future, and what they can actually afford. When I first got into diving the shop I went through did not bother to ask me any of those questions. The owner more or less "told me" what I should buy. He also made sure I understood that if I really wanted to be safe I'd spend as much as I was willing to on those items.

There is a huge difference in what someone can afford and what they are willing to spend. Many times you don't find that out until it comes time to pay the bill as it comes in each month. Had I been more aware of this and not been seduced by shiny d rings and flashy words the results would have been much different in terms of what I bought. I dropped probably close to 3 grand on gear in the first 6 months. Most of it ended up sold within a year as it did not meet my needs and interests. When those changed and the requirements did not meet the shops needs for profit and items carried the support dropped and I had to find other avenues to acquire what I needed. That shop's refusal to get the items I wanted cost them probably 15,000 in lost sales and training from me.

It also resulted in my now being a competitor of theirs in terms of gear and training. I know for a fact I have benefited from them continuing to operate in the way they did with me.


I'll match any other dealers prices most times on the items I carry and stand behind those products. I have two regs in for service now that I just pool tested the other night and they are on their way back to Idaho shortly.

When someone contacts me about gear it often results in several phone calls and numerous emails to make sure they are getting what they need, want, and can afford. I don't push a $400 reg on someone when a $250 will work for them. I've also talked people out of BPW's when they didn't really need them. I've been asked about an accessory I carry and advised them not buy it because a less expensive one would be more suited to them.

If they want a package deal that's no problem. It's just that we will assemble the package to meet their needs, not mine.

You forgot trinidad and tobago in that list lol... i can second what Jim is saying here though...

I bought two package deals when i just started diving, one for me one or the wife. What do i have remaining from those packages? The regs, a computer and spg (although i cut out the computer from the console to wrist mount it and the spg is also out of the console used as a backup), even the hoses on my regs have been changed.

Nothing is wrong with a package as long as it's customized to fit your real needs, but to determine your real needs you probably need to dive and learn a little more, research, seek advice from others etc, it also helps ALOT when you get into contact with someone who isn't just trying to push their stuff on you without a conversation or two at least to start with... most packages imo are designed to make people cough out big chunk of money by appealing to the enthusiasm of being a new diver

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Yeah, sorry bout that. One of my best customers as well. Need to figure out a way to come visit.

 

[knotical]

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