What ABOUT THIS SETUP???

[UFcampben]

I am ready to make my first gear purchase. I am planning to eventually do divemaster/ instructor/etc courses. and i am buying gear accordingly. My plan was to buy a Zeagle Ranger BC, SHerwood Maximus Reg with Minimus octo, and a SHerwood Profile computer.... whole package is gonna cost about $1050. (Leisure Pro prices....from www.scuba.com thanks to there price-match-policy) they are authorized dealers...so that solves that problem....and i have tried out all the gear before. ANY INPUT ON THIS SETUP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. i will be doing warm water dives....with a possibility of cave/cavern diving later on. Please give any input you guys/girls have. thanks a bunch.

 

[Snowbear]

If you're looking to do cave diving, I would get a Backplate/Wing setup. The BP will pretty much last forever and you can get a single tank wing now and when you're ready for cave and doubles, all you'll need is a new wing.

As for the regs - I don't know anything about the Sherwoods.

I learned the hard way that I didn't need to spend the $$ on a computer.....

 

[Diver0001]

I am ready to make my first gear purchase. I am planning to eventually do divemaster/ instructor/etc courses. and i am buying gear accordingly. My plan was to buy a Zeagle Ranger BC, SHerwood Maximus Reg with Minimus octo, and a SHerwood Profile computer.... whole package is gonna cost about $1050. (Leisure Pro prices....from www.scuba.com thanks to there price-match-policy) they are authorized dealers...so that solves that problem....and i have tried out all the gear before. ANY INPUT ON THIS SETUP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. i will be doing warm water dives....with a possibility of cave/cavern diving later on. Please give any input you guys/girls have. thanks a bunch.

I agree with Snowbear about the BCD. I do know something about the Maximus. It's a very reliable regulator. Personally I find it a little wet for my taste (comparible to the 2nds from Apeks) and it's a little stiffer to breathe from than the balanced 2nds from Aqualung and Apeks and others.

R..

 

[Scubaroo]

Hmm... a search on "ranger" and "ebay" reveals 56 hits on ScubaBoard :evil:

 

[JimC]

Minimus octo

Do your self and your buddy a favor, get a quality backup second stage. This low profile POS wonl't cut it during a pool session, let alone a real emergency.

 

[JDostal]

I would say, if you are planning on doing all of that stuff...seriously re-evaluate all of your choices.

Computer - get a wrist mounted one and a small SPG instead of that console. Trust me, you'll be glad you didn't waste the money as you are going to switch eventually.

Get some real regs. Sherwoods aren't bad - but if you are going to do some overhead stuff you are going to want something better.

BCD - junk it. Get a bp/wings. It'll outlast and outdive anything you've ever tried.

 

[bwerb]

I remember when using the Sherwood regs before I bought my own gear. The one thing I found really disconcerting was their drybleed feature. The sound of gas coming from the 1st stage and the stream of bubbles underwater made me nervous as a new diver. Also...they breathe wet and extremely poorly. I think they are likely quite bulletproof in terms of rentals etc. but if I was buying regs...nope. There are much better choices.

Ditto the above on the computer
Ditto on the BP/Wing...Ranger is a fine BC but if you eventually want to do anything more technical, you will need to replace it. Some of us have found that it is much less expensive to buy one rig and switch the wings. If the webbing wears out...it's inexpensive to replace as well.

Just curious...a bit of a deeper question. You mention wanting to become a DM, instructor, cavern/cave diver etc. How long have you been diving? Is this something you went into diving to persue or did your shop encourage you to follow this path?

 

[UFcampben]

ive only been diving for about 6 months. My university has a real good academic dive program. (University of Florida) and north florida has some real nice caves... that is a few years off. But i dont want to have to buy all new gear later on.

 

[JDostal]

If you don't want to buy more later on, buy right the first time. Dive Rite has excellent bp/wings for reasonable prices. You can even pick up a plate from eBay and run the webbing of the harness yourself:

http://www.gasdiving.co.uk/pages/misc/kit/harness_2.htm

You can then look for a wing online - they don't have to be all the same brand. I've got a Dive Rite plate, an OMS single tank adapter (again, got it cheap on eBay), and a Scubapro RecTek wing. This was a result of me buying twice - I bought the RecTek because I thought it was cool, and luckily I was able to use the wing from it on my new backplate.

And once you have a wrist mount computer with an SPG, you'll never go back!

 

[ams511]

First, I think the quote you received for the gear was excellent. You did some good shopping. Second, I agree with the others on the board that maybe you should rethink your gear choices. For regs maybe a SP G250 / MK 25 with an R190 octo. Backplate and wings over BC anyday (as the man said look how many rangers are on ebay). Skip the computer and get an electonic bottom timer if it is cheaper. Find a local Dive Rite retailer and see if they can put together a package deal for you. I used to live in Orlando and there was alot of competition so check around. Also see who your Scuba club recommends you may get a discount there.