What order to buy when getting started?

[diversteve]

I'll have to check mine now also. I sort of assumed all the benefits I had with the old USAirways card transferred over as well. When I had the US Airways card I'd get the one free bag anywhere they flew - maybe AA changed it to domestic only during the merger. Now that I think about it I haven't received my companion discount ticket this year either - they probably dropped that also. Time to call Capitol One...

I have the AA Aviator AAdvantage Mastercard. It's a black card with a red border on the left - inside it is printed Aviator.

 

[uncfnp]

Side thread.

We have Amex/Delta and Capital One. The Amex card has a yearly fee. But first check bag is free and up two 3 other passangers travelling with you. That's 100 dollars saved per trip for Eric and I and we almost exclusively fly Delta. So one trip pays for the card. We board as Zone 1 which is useful since we also seem to be at the back of the plane.

But when Costco stopped taking Amex. Eric switched to the Venture card. No fee and can use for any airline, car rental, hotel, etc but I have found that he needs more miles for the same airline thicket.

 

[100days-a-year]

#1 Basic equipment;mask, fins =flowers for wife
#2 BC,reg,computer=new shoes for wife
#3 Rebreather=new pocketbook for wife
#4 New boat=better get a puppy or some jewelry
Repeat as often as you can afford.

 

[Saniflush]

#1 Basic equipment;mask, fins =flowers for wife
#2 BC,reg,computer=new shoes for wife
#3 Rebreather=new pocketbook for wife
#4 New boat=better get a puppy or some jewelry
Repeat as often as you can afford.

Your problem sir is that your wife doesn't dive...wait scratch that. Mine dives and it would be cheaper if she didn't, lol.

 

[YukonJack]

Good call on getting the dive computer first.

I would wait until you can get your regs and BC at the same time, but if I had to choose, I'd say regs first. People vomit in those things.

WTF?!?!? Really?

 

[YukonJack]

Just to mix things up a little - the Blue Hole is cold water so your shorty might not be enough if you plan to go there frequently.
It's also 4600' which qualifies as an elevation dive. Some (maybe all?) computers can compensate for it.

Thanks for all that great information. Its pretty daunting learning about all the gear being new to this and all. I did my cert dives at Blue Hole, and it was cold (it was effing cold and windy that day to boot). I wore a full length 7mil suit for those dives and it kept me relatively warm until near the end of the dive days. And yes, it does count as an elevation dive so when we drove home we had to be sure that we were safe (the drive increases in elevation so that has to be taken into account).

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

I am a new diver as well and I feel the route I took, largely directed by the great people here and at my LDS was as follows:

1. all the basics (fins, mask, etc) and my BCD.
2. computer and reg set
3. wet suit

I had all but the wet suit prior to my first OW training dive so I could learn in the gear I would be using in hopes it would help me to become more comfortable in the water and help me to learn my gear inside and out.

I am very happy with the route I took and my only regret is the computer I bought but it will soon be my backup.

If you can only do one item at a time I suggest a BCD first followed by a reg set after that. And skip the jacket style BCD and go to a back inflate.

 

[MikadoWu]

WTF?!?!? Really?

100% agree with this. Dive Computer is very important. A regulator you stick in your mouth and breath. A BC, you need to know how to dump your weights. BUT the DC, there is no standard interface. An Oceanic Geo2 is different from a Oceanic OCi, OC1, which are all different from a Suunto Product or a Atomic Cobalt.

As you begin your real learning, you will find how important it is to know your DC. Figure out your budget and your Dive Goals and get a nice one, as you will keep it for 10+ years. A buddy asked me last week why he spent 8 hours learning dive tables, when his computer does it all. Why did they not just teach the computer. I smiled big.

As for BC's, I personally love Zeagle's. My experience is that they maintain their value more then most. Buy a used one off ebay for $300-400 and you could resell it in a year for the same price. I put both my Kids in Zeagle's and Atomic Regulators. Again, I trust my children's life in these.

1. Dive Computer
2. Regulator - Before BC, only because if your DC is Air integrated you do not want to have is install every time.
3. BC
4-522 - What ever piece you need for the next experience.

 

[YukonJack]

Yeah, I am definitely going back inflate over jacket style. I just did not like the way those jacket BCs squeezed me when I was on the surface. Made it hard to breathe a couple of times.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Side thread.

We have Amex/Delta and Capital One. The Amex card has a yearly fee. But first check bag is free and up two 3 other passangers travelling with you. That's 100 dollars saved per trip for Eric and I and we almost exclusively fly Delta. So one trip pays for the card. We board as Zone 1 which is useful since we also seem to be at the back of the plane.

But when Costco stopped taking Amex. Eric switched to the Venture card. No fee and can use for any airline, car rental, hotel, etc but I have found that he needs more miles for the same airline thicket.

The Capital One isn't a "miles" card. They call them miles, but really it is just a normal cash back card 1 mile = 1 cent. Benefits of the card are that it is a flat 2% on all purchases, no FX fees, decent protections on rental, trip delay, etc, and a annual fee that Capital One will waive every year you are in good standing and request it to be removed. It is a nice every day purchase card.

Take a look into the Chase Sapphire Reserve card as well.