red_barbarian
Contributor
I'm going to agree with Creed on this one. I bought most of my stuff used, although not on ebay. Some was craigslist locally for stuff I wanted to see. Still I guess I paid thirty cents on the dollar for used vs new overall. Spend some time reading about gear here focus on gear that can be found used at a good discount over new, if you know any divers that can act as a mentor that won't send you to the LDS for stuff get all the info you can from them. If your going to dive w/ them get stuff that they know about. Figure out where you spend most of your time diving, you don't need the top of the line Apeks/Scubapro reg to dive the rec limits. Get a set of conshelf 14's on Ebay, dont pay more than $60 w/ a console. Scubapro/Apeks regs are nice but they go for so much you might as well buy them new online. Send them to http://www.techdivinglimited.com/, have them rebuilt, then buy the Vance Harlow books, get the tools and learn to rebuild them yourself. I agreee w/ DA_Aquamaster get Jet fins or better yet get the Aqualung clone for even less. Don't pay more than $10 plus shipping. I got a set for $8. Replace the straps w/ spring straps, build them yourself using the instructions in the DIY or get someones extras off ebay for $30. I got my wing from a board member here, virtually new, he promised he'd only used it twice, if he used it that often he took really good care of it. The only thing missing was the original sales tag. The wing and STA I bought new but... lets just say the price was discounted. Wetsuit's used from craigslist, reg replacement hoses new off craiglist, etc etc. The only thing I wanted new was a cannister dive light, didn't trust used or homemade to be durable at 20+ meters.(Yet, I'm still working on a DIY one for later) Still looking for a set of metric gauges if anyone wants to off a set (Cheap) or better yet trade for a set of FT/PSI guages 
Spend some time on the DIY board, see what folks are using on the cheap, they're not drowing in droves. There's way to much talk about "life support" equipment around here. Open up your reg, you fall on the floor laughing the next time you read that. I think if you take the time to learn enough about your gear to buy it used you have not only saved yourself money, but you'll learn how to fix it, take care of it, and learn what can go wrong with it. Just remember the golden rule "NEVER PAY RETAIL!".
Spend some time on the DIY board, see what folks are using on the cheap, they're not drowing in droves. There's way to much talk about "life support" equipment around here. Open up your reg, you fall on the floor laughing the next time you read that. I think if you take the time to learn enough about your gear to buy it used you have not only saved yourself money, but you'll learn how to fix it, take care of it, and learn what can go wrong with it. Just remember the golden rule "NEVER PAY RETAIL!".
