Wetsuit or gear 1st?

[CHUD]

Which would you advise a newbie who will eventually get all his own gear to get first? Wetsuit first and rent everything else, or something else and rent the wetsuit with the rest of the pkg?

 

[diver_paula]

Regs - 'cause your life depends on them. The only reason in my opinion to get the wetsuit first would be that you are a 'hard to fit' person and rentals just don't cut it. In that case, I'd suggest they purchase the wetsuit first. (I did.)

Paula

 

[Scubakevdm]

Which would you advise a newbie who will eventually get all his own gear to get first? Wetsuit first and rent everything else, or something else and rent the wetsuit with the rest of the pkg?

What kind of diving interests you, and where will you dive?

 

[IndigoBlue]

Here is my recommendation:

mask
snorkel
booties
fins
weight belt
dive timer including analog depth -or- computer
regulator assembly
B/C
suit

 

[ChrisA]

Which would you advise a newbie who will eventually get all his own gear to get first? Wetsuit first and rent everything else, or something else and rent the wetsuit with the rest of the pkg?

I'm in the same gear collection mode. I idea is to wai till you find a good deal on something you know you want. In other words if you find a wet suit you like and it's on sale buy it now

Also I think it depends on the quality of the rental equipment. If you like the rental regs but none of the shops suits are good buy a suit and rent the reg. Or vice versa.

I'm lucky "my" LDS has first rate rental regulators and they sell and replace them frequently. So I can pick up the other stuff while I decide what kind of regulator to buy.

Some people recommend to buy the stuff that has to fit well first, like a mask, gloves, booties, wet suit and a BC. Then go with the stuff where fits is less importent like reg. and tank.

 

[rab]

Well, I think it depends on where you'll be renting. If you know the place (maybe your LDS) and you trust their rental gear, then get wetsuit first. About a year ago I was in the same position and here's what I did:

snorkel (actually, already had a good snorkel)
mask
fins & booties
dive computer
wetsuit
lights (AOW class's night dive)
gloves
BC
regulator, octo, SPG
compass
wrist slate (impulse buy, but very nice!)
tanks

The only regs, BC, or tanks that I used were from the LDS at which I took my OW and AOW so I knew what they had. My next purchases will be a hood and SMB or small lift bag/marker combo.

-Rob

 

[mania]

I would advise first - mask, fins, snorkel and wet suit. At least that's what I did. The reason was that renting a wet suit which is used by hundreds of different people and not necessarily properly washed after each use made me feeling sick...
Mania

 

[Scubaroo]

I would advise first - mask, fins, snorkel and wet suit. At least that's what I did. The reason was that renting a wet suit which is used by hundreds of different people and not necessarily properly washed after each use made me feeling sick...
Mania

This is exactly what I did. There's nothing worse than the hassle of renting wetsuits and having to try smelly suits on - they're affordable compared to major purchase like BC, regs and a computer, and wearing your own suit (people p!ss in them for goodness sake) makes a world of difference in comfort.

Would you buy your own bowling ball before you bought your own bowling shoes???

 

[CHUD]

That's exactly my thinking -- do I really wanna go skin-tight with a couple dozen other people's leftovers? I was leaning toward wetsuit first, and I think that's what I'll do. My LDS seems pretty above-board so I feel comfortable renting gear from them until I can stop losing at poker long enough to be able to buy my own.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

[scubatoys]

I agree with the wetsuit - but that's a pretty cheap investment - $50 to $200 or so depending on what you're getting... And when it comes to the rest of your gear, I differ from the rest here in I think the BC should be your next piece - even before the reg. This is a very common question in our shop - I even wrote up my thoughts in our Ask Joe & Larry section...

Here's a copy of it...


If two people walk into our shop that both need to rent regs and BCD's for the weekend, either person can use any reg we have. But they might not be able to wear the same BCD. Maybe one needs a small, and one a large.

Also, when it comes down to it, all regulators work about the same. You put the second stage in your mouth and breathe. But BC's have a lot of different, unique features. Some have integrated weights, some have a pull dump, maybe one or two bottom dumps, maybe a shoulder dump. Also some are wrap-around vest style inflation, some back flotation. Some may have an integrated octo on the power inflator, and there are a host of power inflator configurations. Not to mention, there are now Women's BCD's that fit most women much better than a standard mans bcd.

Will all this variation, it is very helpful to be more familiar with your BC than your reg when it comes right down to it. Also, if you own your BCD, you can start customizing up the way you wear your gear. You'll know how far down to mount the tank for comfort. Then you can put a clip here, a retractor there, and a knife attached on this thing. Then you'll know where everything is - and you can just hook up any regulator to the system and it will still feel the same.

Admittedly, a reg setup is a pretty easy sell in a dive shop.."That's your air supply.. don't trust that to rental gear!" I've heard that many a time in a shop.. but the reality is also the cheapest reg setup will set you back about $400 - and for less than that you can have a top notch BCD. And a top notch reg setup with octo and computer could run up to $1000 plus pretty easy.. (no wonder they push the reg first normally!)

Not that there is anything wrong with getting a reg setup first.. Just to me, it makes more sense to get the BCD first so you can become more comfortable in it, then get the regulator setup later.

Just some of my thoughts.. so I'd say wetsuit next... then BC.