What did you buy that you regret?

[frozenwarp]

I regret buying a built in safety sausage that mounts on the rear dump valve of y BC,
Can't be sent up from depth
cant stick a light in it to make it glow
and to top it of i get an email saying it might be defective and to take it in to have it checked but i bought it from the US and im in Australia so its not realy worth me paying the shipping since i dont use it and have since purchased a independant unit

 

[da-gd]

Silly little pencil slate from the 99 cents table at the annual LDS sale, gloves (never wear em) and duffel-type gear bag with neither wheels nor shoulder straps.

 

[nereas]

...If I had it to do over, I would NOT: Buy a console computer...

I was lucky because I was able to visualize this problem and accordingly refuse the store owners offer of a discount off the $900 version. I went with the smaller ScubaPro SPG and a wristwatch and wrist compass instead for a total under $200 instead.

... I would also NOT: Equip my BC with an Air2...

Yes, this piece of garbage is great only for shallow-water open water instructors, since it is less clutter for them. But even a D/M in the same class with the students is better off with a full fledged additional 2nd stage, since a D/M is likely to have real emergencies with students, rather than would the instructor.


Other things on my own list that I would never buy:

Jacket B/C

Cheap lights

Suicide clips, whether plastic or brass

7mm wetsuit

Wetsuit hood

Self-clearing mask

Oversized steel single tanks

 

[nereas]

WOW! This has been a popular thread. I had no idea it was 3 years old!

 

[Gombessa]

Equipment regrets are universal i guess! I still wish i got a lower-volume mask for OW class, but i think i can live with that.

Ditto for the trap-door snorkel. I don't hate snorkels, but the gimmicky flap mechanism sometimes closes unexpexctedly and cuts off the air. At least it may be a good simulation of a second stage failure...

 

[spt29970]

Wheeled tank boot. It sounded like a great idea. Why carry your tank when you can roll it? The problem is that it makes the tank so damn tall that with the gear strapped to it, you can't stand it up. Part of the problem is that they made it EXTRA tall by adding a stupid little drawer on the bottom (supposedly for a tank weight). It makes even my HP80 tank, which is nice and short by itself, unwieldy. It is a gimmicky POS. I dove it once and couldn't hammer it off fast enough.

 

[RAWalker]

A lot of people -- myself included -- keep giving beginners the advice NOT to buy gear for a while but to rent and figure out what they really need or want. I was actually given this advice from a good friend before I bought MY gear . . . but I wanted to dive, and to dive I needed gear, so I made the best decisions I could at the time. Most of them were okay, but a couple were, in retrospect, bad decisions.

If I had it to do over, I would NOT: Buy a console computer. My husband and I, for reasons I can't clearly remember, decided that wrist-mounted gauges would be too much hassle. We were wrong. Consoles are too much hassle. Either they hang, or you clip them up to something and then have to pull them out to look at them. I have since bought a wrist computer and intend to give up the console. I would also NOT: Equip my BC with an Air2. It seemed like a good idea at the time, eliminating a hose and improving streamlining (my husband and I wanted simple gear, streamlined, and standardized for the two of us . . . small wonder I'm going DIR, huh?) It is a very awkward device to use for air-sharing, and even more complicated if you have to do an ascent. If I had bought a second second stage, converting my gear to a DIR setup would be much simpler as well.

So what gear-buying decisions did other people make that they regretted later?

I bought a wrist computer as my first piece of dive gear at the time it was a great choice since it would allow me to become familiar with a computer to rely on instead of just an RDP. I figured I'd rent gear for a while to figure out what I wanted although during my pool and OW training I found a Sherwood Avid w/ a Wisdom computer work well for me. I had also tried the Maximus reg but didn't like the adjustable aspect.

On my first dive after attaining OW cert I had a rental BC who's inflator hose and dump cable separated from the inflator control assembly while at 42'. I was able to safely make it to the surface but could not establish good positive boyancy. Lucky for me I came up close to another anchored boat and was able to get a hand boarding. My dive buddy (who happened to be the DM didn't even notice me missing. After checking my computer I was able to check that indeed my accent, which I had little control of was safe so I could get another BCD and join the group for the second dive of the day.

After that trip I realized that having my own gear was an essential to participating in this sport. Rental gear sees too much use and abuse between inspections. Because of the number of different divers that use it, signs of immenent failure may go unnoticed and the diver using the gear is unaware of any history of failures a particular piece of gear may have.

At that point I needed to decide on what my future diving requirements would be and select my gear accordingly. I did a lot of reading and researched a number of items by reading many reviews. I decided that I wanted to concentrate on streamlining my gear. I chose to start with a back inflator style BC and decided on The Sherwood Tortuga for it's higher lift capacity over others of it style and price.
I liked the idea of the breathable inflator and order the BC with the Gemini factory installed. My regulator choice was the Oasis based the fact that it seemed to be highly used by the LDS in my area and great reviews. The last hose to eliminate from my rig was the SPG line. My original computer choice with only 4 dives on it no longer fitted my needs. I purchased a Oceanic VT3 wrist computer for it's hoseless air integration.

My first dive computer after only use during 4 dives sold on craigslist after 2 months I took a loss of $100 but it served well for those few dives. If only I had known ahead of time I could have saved that $100.

 

[Mairiiv]

After that trip I realized that having my own gear was an essential to participating in this sport. Rental gear sees too much use and abuse between inspections. Because of the number of different divers that use it, signs of immenent failure may go unnoticed and the diver using the gear is unaware of any history of failures a particular piece of gear may have.

hehehe, that's why I read all 50 pages of this thread, the best time I've spent thusfar. a few things I've picked up thusfar that most ppl complained about.

No1 is the Jacket style BCD, most opting to go BP/W instead.
No2. Air II, I have no idea of what this is as I havn't been exposed to it, however I will opt for the bungee cord aroound the neck setup, makes most logical sense.
No3 A Mother of a diving knife, most prefer a small knife or sheers.
No4 Snorkel, most only used it for their qualifying.
No5 Retractors, something that's according to me just by design bound to fail at the most inopertune chance.... :11doh:
No6 Wedding / Engagement Ring for one or another ex (don't have this problem as I have no-one atm :no

My take on these as I'm planniing to get my rig today or tomorrow hopefully ( depends on stock) is I'm looking to get a full BP/W setup, either Zeagle or Apeks, with either a Mares Proton Metal or the Abyss (depends on budget after BP/W), mask got one that fit at the store (this i might get quite a few ones as I can't see how well one would work from one or 2 dives), snorkel came with mask, wetsuit, I liberated my brother's snorkling 3mil farmer John wetsuit as he ain't using it anymore, it's a perfect fit will get myself a thicker one once I start cold diving as I don't get cold easily dived 23degrees Celcius on qualifying with it. Diving knife not planning on getting one emediately, and ring I don't have someone :.

I must thank everyone thusfar for posting here, it truely helped me with my decisions on gear, hopefully I won't post here in a few months complaining.

The only real concern I have is getting a mouthpiece that fits comfortably but luckily those ain't expensive

 

[Cacia]

smaller ScubaPro SPG

me too, love those.

Cheap lights is what I continually waste money on every time I night dive, I buy a new light. The only reliable light I have ever owned is my Ikelite strobe.

 

[Anti-Hero]

Wow, no love for the AIR2. I have one, and I practice using it on most dives. It sits at a weird angle in my mouth and is not very comfortable, but I see it as an emergency backup that just needs to work, not be comfortable. If my primary fails the dive is over anyway.