What to buy first?

[Bugsy700]

Im relatively new to diving (only been on 7 dives) but enjoy it so much I think it would be smart to get my own gear so I dont have to rent anymore. Im a student with a limited budget so cant get all of it at once. I already have my personal gear (fins, mask, snorkel, boots). What order, if any, should I buy my BC, reg, wetsuite, tanks, etc. in?

 

[pt40fathoms]

Do you rent your underwear?

I hope not!

Get your own exposure protection first, that includes wet suit, gloves and hood. Then buy your own reg before your BCD. You put that thing in your mouth, and even though it's not as bad as renting underwear (wet suit), having your own means that at least that portion of your life support is being maintained by, and used exclusively by you. BCD next, tanks last.

Any questions?

 

[Kriterian]

Im relatively new to diving (only been on 7 dives) but enjoy it so much I think it would be smart to get my own gear so I dont have to rent anymore. Im a student with a limited budget so cant get all of it at once. I already have my personal gear (fins, mask, snorkel, boots). What order, if any, should I buy my BC, reg, wetsuite, tanks, etc. in?

Tanks can be rented, and that's usually the case if you're travelling since it's such a pain to fly with them. Those I would probably wait until the end unless you're going to be doing alot of local diving.

I went with the BC (well, a backplate and wing) first because of all the things you listed, I wanted to be comfortable with that and make sure it fit.

I went with the reg second so that I wouldn't have to depend on rentals. Most shops take good care of their rentals but it's not worth the risk to me.

Third I went with the wetsuit, mainly because I was tired of renting crappy, old ones and wanted to get a nice Henderson Hyperstretch that fit better and more comfortably.


It really depends on how much of a gap we're talking between the items too. If you can only get once piece of gear on Christmas and that's it, then the order may be different. In my case, I was buying one piece every two weeks, so I had all my gear by the time my ear infection was healed from open water checkouts.

 

[Spoon]

yeah wetsuit is at the top of my list then Reg then bcd.

 

[TeddyDiver]

Im relatively new to diving (only been on 7 dives) but enjoy it so much I think it would be smart to get my own gear so I dont have to rent anymore. Im a student with a limited budget so cant get all of it at once. I already have my personal gear (fins, mask, snorkel, boots). What order, if any, should I buy my BC, reg, wetsuite, tanks, etc. in?

Have you considered secondhand? There are great bargains time to time in SB and other places too. If you find something intresting get more information about the gear from here...

 

[bet63]

Im relatively new to diving (only been on 7 dives) but enjoy it so much I think it would be smart to get my own gear so I dont have to rent anymore. Im a student with a limited budget so cant get all of it at once. I already have my personal gear (fins, mask, snorkel, boots). What order, if any, should I buy my BC, reg, wetsuite, tanks, etc. in?

Do you plan todo most of your dives locally in Ohio using the same dive shop or while traveling?
If local, what type of rental gear does your shop use? Are the wetsuits fairly new, regs service regularly, the bc's weight integrated, jacket style or back inflated?

I would start by purchasing which ever item appears to be the weakest link of the shop's rental department.

if you plan to do most of your diving away from home then either a bc or reg system.

Hope that helps.
Brian

 

[spectrum]

1. Wetsuit
2. BCD, that has to fit and is critical in mastering bouyancy and includes them most that you need to learn by feel without thinking.
3. Regulator set, for novice diving it's pretty ubiquitous.
4. Cylinders, if your still going to the shop to rent there's no sense in owning these yet.

Pete

 

[scubatoys]

Yea, I'm with Spectrum on this one. I also believe that the BC comes before the reg. Here's an article I wrote on that subject: Which should I buy first?

 

[scottyroz]

I dont think you can go wrong in the order in which you purchase. Everybody will have their own order in which they purchased for their own reasons. While i agree with what most people have said about comfort being the reason they bought the wetsuit or the BC first, i think out of the entire kit the Reg is what you rely on the most. Afterall we do breathe from it. If you are diving mostly local you can probably trust that the LDS has their regs serviced regularlry but if you start to travel to other countries thats when i being to wonder the last time it has been serviced. With the amount of use the rental regs get i would think it would be safer to have your own before any other piece of equipment.

Order in which i purchased:
1)Reg
2)BC
3)Wetsuit

 

[jonnythan]

Wetsuit first, obviously.

A regulator is a regulator. You shove it in your mouth and breathe on it. One regulator isn't really different from any other underwater when you're starting out.

The BC, on the other hand, is a big deal. Where your octopus and console are stored, the fit, the buoyancy, it all changes big time from one BC to the next. BC is second.

Then you can get your regs and tanks and so forth.