What did you buy that you regret?

[avlena]

my hubby & i just finished our rescue class, and it put us into a number of different underwater scenarios that exercised our gear in different ways. So now I have a few more regrets:

1) Buying med spring straps instead of the small I needed - my fin actually slid off during one of the exercises, and we spent half an hour looking for it so I could finish the class!
2) Integrated octo - when we'd tried it before, it was just a few seconds in the pool, and not terribly uncomfy. But using it for more then a minute or two, and wow it's super uncomfy, plus working the inflate/deflate buttons are just plain clumsy while sharing air.
3) Not getting a regulator with an adjustable flow control. At certain angles, it was noticably harder to breathe.
4) Neoprene mask strap with buckles - pain to adjust, hard to get on/off because the straps kept slipping out of the buckles & I'd have to re-thread, and it was my snorkle didn't really sit well on it, and kept falling off.

 

[deco_martini]

A "squid cap" neoprene hat for warm water diving. It never fit my head well and came off during a dive in cayman brac. My dive buddy saw it come off my head, but even with 100 foot vis, it was gone so quickly we couldn't find it.

A "compact" snorkel that rolls up into a ball. It rolled right out of its carrying holster and into the deep blue on one dive. It sucked for snorkeling with so I had to carry a real snorkel with me on warm water trips and fetch it out of my gear bag for snorkeling.

 

[Bottomfeeder Brodie]

well I love my IR-3! Researched and bought everything before I hit the water for the first time. In sticking to the thread, I bought a reel from ace hardware for 10.00 with 270' of #18 160 lb test high viz orange line on a handy winding crank type reel for my wreck cert class last saturday. Didnt notice it was on a cardboard tube (duh) and it disintergrated while taking the test. I lent my finger reel out durring the dive and i was stuck with a big nest while the instructor faded off into the distance while i was clipped to the anchor with this piece of @#!!! So while fumbling with the nest, I see he is leaving me behind so I reached back to hit the tank banger while i could still see him and realized they were on my full tanks in the trunk of my car at the dock. I chose to use the rental tanks already on board. What a disaster! Lesson: Spend the money and get the proper tools for the job! BTW as old as this thread is. i should be writing in hyrogliphs (?)

 

[Bottomfeeder Brodie]

oh....the instructor is top notch and was to the rescue in 30 seconds FYI He teaches how to control panic (which i did not do) but i missed the class on bad attitude control!

 

[Bob]

I regret every dive light I had ever bought after using my new Explorer cannister light. I also regret ever dive computer I ever bought after I dived my new Galileo just one time. almtree: Bob

 

[emttim]

After seeing the Mares BCDs, I regret buying my Oceanic Excursion! I can't imagine how nice it would be to have crotch straps to keep the BCD in place and zippered pockets to hold spare stuff like SMB, extra mask, etc. in with the Mares Pegasus.

Although my first order of business is still looking at a drysuit I think, but I'm going to wait until I can get a good sale on one.

 

[kevindwhite]

Although my first order of business is still looking at a drysuit I think, but I'm going to wait until I can get a good sale on one.

I'm not sure what your financial situation is but DUI is doing a 12 month same-as-cash promotion. I just saw the ad in this month's PADI Sport Diver magazine.

 

[Patrick_NC]

ScubaPro Ventana mask (large volume, side windows, etc.).

Side-to-side visibility is decent, but the vertical field of view is the trouble. With the mask sticking out so far in front, it's really hard to look down to find stuff strapped to the upper parts of the BC. I now use a low-volume Atomic Frameless, which completely solves this problem.

When trying on a new mask, I recommend that you not only test the seal, but also put on a BC and check whether or not you can easily see the upper D-ring area. This seems like a trivial issue, but it had a significant effect on my diving experience.

 

[patnee]

oceanic alpha 8 regs with a balanced first stage they are so wet and hard to breathe they cost me on average 30 bar over any scubapro regs i have tried
cannot understand why anyone would buy aluminum tanks,don't you have enough weight on your belt?

 

[Cacia]

I regret every dive light I had ever bought

I have spent so much on lights, I cannot stand to think about it.