Used Gear Purchase Question

[Pryme_Minister]

I have an opportunity to purchase quite a bit of used diving gear at a very good price (at least I think its a good price as a total newbie, which is why I am asking about it here).

It is older equipment, mid 2000's as best I can tell. 2 BCD's - 1 Aqualung Malibu RDS, 1 SeaQuest Quick Draw; 2 complete regs - 1 Aqualung Micra ADJ, 1 Sherwood Oasis, both with Aqualung LPO octo's, both have SPG's but I am unsure the exact makes; 2 sets of Aqualung fins; wetsuit, boots, gloves, 4 masks, 2 snorkels, 2 lights, large gear bag, and a Suunto Zoop dive computer.

All of this is available for $1200 OBO. Seems very good to me if the equipment checks out.

My questions are this: are these items worth aquiring given thier age? Or should I avoid them due to the challenge of finding service parts and potential failures? Is $1200 reasonable for this? I have seen a lot of the same equipment available on places like eBay for very reasonable prices. I'm pretty sure I could assemble the same ammount of gear for less, but it would take a lot of work and I would'nt be able to inspect it before I buy. I am thinking of buying the whole lot and then selling off the equipment I won't use to offset the cost even more. Should I go for it or should I not risk it?

 

[DanBMW]

If you don't know what you are buying and are a new diver, I'd suggest passing. Most of the gear that you purchase new will last 10-20 years if you take care of it. Get what is best for you, not what is on sale.

 

[Pryme_Minister]

If you don't know what you are buying and are a new diver, I'd suggest passing. Most of the gear that you purchase new will last 10-20 years if you take care of it. Get what is best for you, not what is on sale.

A good suggestion for sure. I am a pretty voracious researcher, and I am not afraid of used gear in any of the other extreme sports I participate in. Granted, diving is likely the most dangerous of them all. My question more if it's even worth it to consider older gear. I live on a very tight budget so the ability to get all my own gear in one shot is appealing.

 

[lexvil]

Knock $1000 off the price and I would still hesitate. Nothing to do with the age of the stuff.

 

[Pryme_Minister]

Knock $1000 off the price and I would still hesitate. Nothing to do with the age of the stuff.

Care to explain?

 

[Pavao]

My questions are this: are these items worth aquiring given thier age? Or should I avoid them due to the challenge of finding service parts and potential failures? Is $1200 reasonable for this?

As far as serviceability goes, you’d be fine, that age isn’t considered obsolete, but I think it’s the wrong question to ask.
This age will relate more to the conditions of the equipment, for example, BCDs that aren’t adequately stored could see a failure of the elbow connecting inflator to bladder, generally when I see whole lots of gear like that being sold means it hasn’t been used in years, so it’s a bit of a gamble on the part of the buyer whenever buying used equipment.

But I think that is still not the right question, what you really wanna know is whether that equipment is worth owning and diving, many of us, the vast majority of us divers, buy the wrong equipment at first, only to find ourselves having to buy again. How good of a deal can it be, if you would end up having to buy another later?

In my eyes, that’s $1200 less you’d have to put towards the right gear.

 

[Johnoly]

It is older equipment, mid 2000's as best I can tell.

20 yr old equipment definitely should be checked before using it. One thing that you can do right now is check with your local shop to see if they will repair those brands and models you listed. Not all shops work every brand of equipment and some will refuse to rebuild it because they can't/don't want to obtain parts. So you'll end up going to another shop that will. Being in Montana, you'll have limited shops compared to CA & FL.

But I was just like your post when I first started diving. I walked into a garage sale that had a similar dive bag being sold by a divorcee mom. Bought the entire gear bag for $75 with bad alloy 6351 tank included. Two thirds of it worked and the rest had one issue or another and was scrap. For $1200 you can buy a NEW Xmas package for a BCD & Reg (maybe a low end computer too)

 

[scubadada]

Pass on this mish mash of equipment. Buy equipment you really want, not what you can easily buy.

 

[GJC]

If I was a new diver with no gear but with the knowledge and experience I have now, I would pass.

It's 20 year old gear. It might be OK and work fine or it all might be beyond repair from damage or neglect. You won't know until you have a service tech take a look at each item.

Personally, I never even consider used BCDs. You just never know the condition of the inner bladder and if it was ever pinched or exposed to extreme heat that will cause it to blow on the next dive. BCDs are the one item I always buy new from a dealer I can return it to if there are any problems.

Consider that any used regulators will need to be serviced before use. This will be $100-200 for 1 full regulator set plus any parts that may need to be replaced. You can buy a very good new low end reg set for just a little more than it would cost to service old ones. I service and dive 70 year old regulators. Old regulators can be fine to dive or they can be unusable due to poor maintenance and damage.

The fins may be OK or they may be dried out and brittle from 20 years of poor storage.

Masks either fit and seal well or don't fit and leak. You need to try them on to see if they fit you or not.

That computer is still sold today. But that one is 20 years old and you don't know how it was stored and if it was exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time. You can buy a comparable new computer for $200-300.

Lastly, as for the wet suit, I just don't wear wet suits that other people have peed in.

 

[lexvil]

Care to explain?

A quick assessment, the b/c’s if in great shape, $50 or less each, aqualung reg set, $50 to $75, the Sherwood $0 to $50 the rest of the stuff collectively, $40 but there could be a good mask in there that could raise the value by $20 and the zoop $30 to $40. This is just my opinion but …