What did you buy that you regret?

[scubaclimber]

Non w.i. Jacket BCD back in the day,
non merino lined DS hood
30cft pony (shoulda got the 40)

 

[Cacia]

I use a jacket BC but I'm thinking of getting an H set up as well, thanks Catherine. I don't think I ever used the swords I bought disguised as dive knives.

Dennis, you're gonna love the hover with that halcyon and your big ol' double strobe in Bali. We can have a shoot bag contest. --One handed with camera, k? Since I have your air for back up, no reason to buy the pony.

 

[Diver Dennis]

he he, I've been practicing the one handed bag shoot in Palau...

 

[AlexMDiver]

1) In the early nineties most wetsuits had rediculous colours, like neon pink and yellow...
Ok, so I had one of these. I always looked for the power-switch to turn the thing off, it was completely fluorescent underwater!

2) Huge Scubabpro Hawk 'tech' BC that felt like having an inflated whale on my back
(v. happy with my BP/W) (I like the SP regs though, just not this one BC).

3) Oceanic Data Trans Plus. Broke nearly everytime I went on a dive trip. It used a battery that you couldn't buy anywhere else but from Oceanic....aarrrghh.
After two replacements (of the computer) I gave up.

Currently, happy as can be with my DIR set-up.

 

[ScubaStan]

Ditto!

A: Jacket-style BC

 

[H2Andy]

an Oceanic Probe BC... great BC, but what i needed was a bp/wings setup.

a very well known diver 'roud these parts wouldn't let me leave the store
with the bp/wings i wanted. assured me the Probe was the way to go.

alas... it wasn't...

as i said, awesome BC, just not what i needed

 

[MSilvia]

I have no regrets. If I had it to do over again I'd do some things differently, but I've learned something from every piece of gear I ever bought. If it took spending $10 on a tank banger to learn that tank bangers stink, the $2 net loss after reselling it on eBay was money well spent.

Since I did say I'd do it differently though, here are some things I wouldn't have purchased if I knew then what I know now:

• tank banger (akward, obnoxious, and unhelpful)
• yoke valves (should have been DIN from the start)
• glowsticks (Glo-Toob strobe is superior and reusable, and tank markers are silly to begin with)
• console (big, clunky, and harder to use than wrist mounts)
• Aquaseal in big tubes for small jobs (it hardened in the mouth of the tube)
• condom caths that weren't the right size (need I say more?)
• flat slate (wrist slate is much more streamlined, and holds more info)
• the most gigantic catch bag available (flaps like a sheet when fully opened, and is akward to store)
• a tickle stick for lobstering (I don't even use a stick anymore, but if I did I'd use a coat hanger instead of a $12 plastic rod)
• molded rubber drysuit boots (like little blimps on my feet)
• an AL19 "pony bottle" (AL40s are just as convenient, and more useful for deco diving)
• a tank mount for the AL19 (stage mounting is the way to go)
• jacket BC (not configurable, bad bouyancy distribution, pockets were almost useless in cold-water gloves, etc...)
• back inflate (non-BP) BC (I should have just gone straight to a BP/Wing)
• AL80s made from 6351 alloy (scary to use, hard to sell)
• Timex "waterproof to 50m" watch (they lie)
• lots of lead I don't use (I could sink the underdog balloon from the Macy's parade)
• "All purpose" DiveRite RecWing for singles and doubles (fair for either, good for neither)
• Weezle undergarment with poofy collar (I have to roll it down or leak from the neck)
• battery operated tank marker light (worse than a glowstick... burns batteries fast and is dim as well)
• cheap plastic spool for cheap polypropelyne flag line (both stink. Use a ratchet reel with nylon line. Polypro floats, and you may not realize it when the knot you tied poorly comes undone.)
• alkaline batteries (waste of money... Get NiMh)
• lots of brass boltsnaps (they get sharp with use, and occasionally stick. Stainless Steel is a better bet)
• air computer (not nitrox compatable)
• "introductory priced" regulator (why set yourself up to buy a replacement? Get a good one the first time)
• stupid gear cart (useless)

 

[Jim Ernst]

dont know if you want to count this in guys, as i didnt buy it, but i won it in a raffle, zeagle concept back inflate bc i hate it so much that i used in the pool for training one time and i then GAVE IT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[adurso]

A speedo

 

[thmoose51]

Dacor Darwin Air Computer. It does all kinds of s..t, I just can't see the damn thing. The eyes just ain't what they used to be.