To buy or not to buy....

[RussR]

I am recently certified and am considering purchasing some equipment. I already have Mask/Fins/Snorkel and am considering buying the BCD/Reg/Gauge's for my trip in February.

Do you think its too soon to buy equipment? or is it a good idea rather than renting? I have been doing alot of reviewing of equipment, and am considering the Genesis Tropic BC and the Sea Air Tri-Metal Regulator - Both seem to have gotten good reviews on the board and in Scuba Diving mag and also fit my budget.

I haven't reasearched the wetsuits yet but am thinking of getting a 3mm full suit for 70deg water temps or this I may just rent since most of my diving will be either warm water vacation or cold water NE so a 7mm down the road might be a better investment. Im not sure how much diffreence brand makes in a wetsuit but will buy for fit and comfort.

So any advice on buying or waiting and any advice on the particular set up I am thinking of would be appreciated

thanks

 

[RICHinNC]

Welcome to the board !!

There are probably as many thoughts on this topic as there are people reading it.

Some would say go out and buy immediately that owning your own gear is much better than renting. Considering some rental gear I have seen, it does have some validity.

Others would say try as many diff bcd's and other items before laying down the big money.

Then there are those that would say.....save yourself a lot of time and just go get a decent bp and wing and be happy. (I fall into that group by the way.)

But seriously, it isnt a bad idea to try different styles of gear. See what works for you and get what you like....not what others say works for them.

good luck !!!

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

If you're strictly going to be diving on vacations in the immediate future, I'd say rent a while and see how much diving you really end up doing. You'll learn a lot about what you want from your equipment in your first few dives.

If you're going to start trying to dive near home with any regularity, then you probably want to buy pretty soon, if only for convenience. Renting gear is such a pain. But, if you're like me, you'll end up making changes in your gear after first buying it and that can be expensive buying things twice. I bought my first BC a little over a year ago and have since moved to a BP/W. I swore I'd never become one of the BP/W pushers, so I won't, but a lot of folks do seem to end up there on way or another.

If you'll be doing like 10 tropical dives a year, don't bother. You'll be much more able to choose something you really like if you try some different stuff and get some dives in.

 

[TSandM]

I agree -- if you are going to dive around home, you're going to do better with your own gear. Renting seems so financially painful, when you have to cough up money each time you dive, and seems inconvenient, when you have to go to the shop to pick up all the gear, and then clean and return it after. (We won't mention that, until you buy your own tanks, you're going to have to make a trip to the shop before and after anyway.) I know I did a lot more diving right after certification because all I had to do was throw my gear in the car and go.

On the other hand, there ARE a lot of choices in gear, no matter what you are thinking about. And it's hard to make the right choices at the beginning, because you don't know much about the gear, and you don't know what kind of diving you are going to do, or how much of it. I had friends warn me not to buy equipment immediately, because I wouldn't make the right decisions, and they were right. I replaced much of what I bought within six months. But I don't regret having bought gear right away, even if it was not the financially efficient way to do things, because I DOVE.

Then there are those that would say.....save yourself a lot of time and just go get a decent bp and wing and be happy. (I fall into that group by the way.)

Me too.

 

[Diveral]

I would say use a mixture of purchased and rental gear. If you are diving on vacation then it makes sense to rent the bulk of your gear. However there are a few things I would rather own than rent and regulators, computers, and wetsuits are those items and other than the wetsuit they are not bulky and easy to transport (of course you will also prefer to use your own mask, snorkel, and fins.)

Most of the divers are right in that you don't want to buy before you know what you want. I am on my third BC and am not truly happy with it. One option is to purchase a good basic set of used equipment. It is very economical and you can evaluate your gear and upgrade a piece at a time and sell off the older gear or maintain a spare. Many shops sell used rental gear that while worn is still serviceable although I prefer buying used gear off of individuals. They normally sell barely used gear that they bought brand new and weren't satisfied with.

A tank is a tank is a tank

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I believe owning your own gear is a safety issue, or at least a factor in safety. I know the general view is to rent if you only dive sporadically, and purchase if you dive a lot. Frankly, I believe this to be faulty logic (no offense intended here).

Think about it for a moment.

Your gear, especially your BC and regulator, are critical life support systems. Forget for the moment that a lot of rental gear is not maintained very well; just having a consistent configuration can be very important. When you own your gear, even if you haven't dived for a long time, you can pull it out in advance and refresh your memory on its configuration. It also allows for an advanced gear check.

Isn't that better than donning rental gear for the first time on the boat or shore, and not having a good sense of where everything is?

I think nearly everyone who has used rental gear has wound up with something that did not fit or function correctly. Sadly, and perhaps tragically, you often don't find out about that until you are at depth. (For me it was a weight belt that buckled fine on the surfact but came off when I was on the bottom due to a faulty buckle...I went out and bought a weight integrated BCD the next day.)

This is a side note, but someone with a great deal of diving experience can probably use unfamiliar gear far more safely than someone with less experience. A veteran diver will be less prone to panic if a piece of equipment is not in the expected location. Not that it makes financial sense for someone how dives a lot to rent gear.

This is all a bit anti-intuitive, but so many things are.

Jeff

 

[Kevfin]

Everyone above has given really good advice and they speak from experience. How do I know, because I am in the same boat (pun intended).

A lot has to do with what you can afford.

If you like diving, then having your own gear is a must. There is a lot to be said about calling up a buddy spur of the moment or seeing something scheduled here on ScubaBoard and just going. With your own equipment you will definitely be able to dive more. You will also know that you were the last one to use it, how it was cleaned, and what kind of shape it is in.

The big problem arises in gear changing and upgrading (so to speak). As your needs change, you become more experienced, and you see all the different type of gear out there (not just at your local dive shop -LDS) you will have a better idea of what you want.

If you can afford it, buy some basic stuff now that can get you out and diving... changing stuff as you go along and your needs change.

If money is an issue, I would rent for a while, and acquire stuff slowly.

For me, as I move towards more technical diving, I see my recreational gear not suiting my needs. A lot like TSandM, but a hell of a lot slower...

Whatever you do, happy diving...

 

[Darnold9999]

Good advice so far. I would rent gear until you know a bit better what it is that you want. The exception for me would be my wetsuit. I have a 2/1 mil shorty that travels with me everywhere warm. I am not so interested in getting into someone elses wetsuit - and I know mine fits perfectly. Something a rental rarely does. You will hear the same thing re reg's as well, but for some reason did not bother me. Most rental gear in vacation spots is reasonable quality. As you get off the beaten track or go with sketchy operators you may get sub standard gear but I have yet to run into it.

If you are going to dive locally in the NE the wetsuit you have for tropical is just not going to cut it. I would buy my wetsuit for the place I would be doing most of my diving.

Re everything else wait for a while. I thought integrated weights were a good idea until I tried to lift 35# of lead and a tank on to my back diving a neoprene dry suit the first time. Was a good idea in Hawaii, not so good here in BC.

Used is a really good idea. In my student days bought everything used. Had lots of time not so much money. You can get good quality barely used gear if you are willing to shop around and wait.

 

[scubatoys]

70 degrees is probably way to cold for a 3 mil. A 3 mil is a good universal suit for tropics... 78+... but down to 70 you might want a 5-7 mil suit depending on your individual succeptablity to cold.

As far as the renting vs. buying decision, I've found that most times renting gear for the day runs about 20 - $25... So if you are doing 3 trips a year with 4 or 5 days of diving on each, you could run up $300 - $400 in rentals pretty quick. And most rental gear is not all that great. There are exceptions, but you can find a lot of divers who rented gear that leaked, bubbled, and just overall did not make them feel safe or comfortable.

If someone had the ability to try a whole bunch of different types of gear, that would be great, but in reality, normally you "get what they got" and that won't do much in educating you on what you want.

Now, I own a dive shop... so it would make sense for me to say buy gear... but I felt that way before I owned my own shop. I bought a full setup just after finishing my original open water class, and true, I've changed gear several times since, but I would rather buy a nice BC for $300 or so and use it for a year, then if I like it great... if I don't, sell it, lend it to a friend, keep it as a backup... that seems more productive than looking at $300 worth of credit card receipts for rentals I would do in a few years.

 

[ththooft]

I am one of the people that took the classes and bought gear shortly after. That being said, I had the opportunity to dive a few times before that, so I'd gotten to try a few things. For example, I knew that a jacket style BC was not for me. My wife and I dropped a good chunck of cash on gear, and we've been lucky enough to have it pay off. We dive Scubapro regs which carry a lifetime warranty. So, they were more expensive but I don't have to worry about them crapping out.

Wetsuits are nice to own too. We bought ours online and paid less than 1/2 price for the exact same suit I was renting from the shop.

This being said, there is some gear that I have or will replace in the future. We bought regular fins and have since upgraded to twin jets. I know that eventually (no time real soon) I will probably buy a wrist computer. That being said, I am very happy with my console, air integrated computer.

Renting here in MN is really expensive. For both of us to rent full gear for a weekend, we're looking at $200+. It doesn't take many diving trips before we've paid for our gear. Plus, like others have said, it got us out diving a ton!

Remember...PADI stands for Put-Another-Dollar-In. I'm convinced it's unavoidable....

Good luck!