When To Buy Equipment ?

[DivemasterDennis]

I may be the only person on the planet who did this, but I bought my first entire set of equipment before I had my first open water pool session. That was in 1997. My reasons were much like those suggested in the original post. First, I thought if I invested $2000 in equipment I would be a more active diver. Second, as a student at my local dive shop, I was given 20% off everything I bought. Third, I was scheduled to do my open water dives in Maui, and then a couple of other dives after. The rental gear there was going to run about $100.00. Finally, I bought gear from my local shop, tried it all, and it fit me and was comfortable.
So my initial saving from discount and not renting was about $500.00 And the fact is, I was and am a very active diver. When my wife entered the sport a few years later, we did the same with her, and she has been active as well.
If you are buying from a reputable local dive center with whom you will train, and will have a relationship with them for a long time, my view is that it is never too early to acquire equipment. As far as research and consulting friends, fine. But separate personal preference from hard facts on what equipment is designed for the type of diving you will do. I currently dive in widely varying conditions, so have 3 different BC/ reg set ups, and a whole closet full of different exposure gear. But going back to the beginning, I strongly favor acquisition of your own gear as early on as possible (and I don't even own a shop or sell gear!)
DivemasterDennis

 

[Juardis]

FWIW, I am of the opinion that the more comfortable I am the less likely I am to panic and more likely I am to conserve air and better prepared to react to whatever equipment malfunctions that may occur. Therefore, wife and I bought all our stuff and we were able to practice with it in class, use it in the OW certfication, and now practice in a pool until we can make our trip to the caribbean. Don't know that there's any right or wrong answer except, the right time is when you decide it is.

 

[Peter Guy]

OP -- You've gotten some good (and perhaps not so good) advice -- here is another take.

My history -- My wife and I bought a set of gear (regs, BC, computer) as we finished our OW class on the theory that IF we had the gear, we'd dive more often. She then acquired a used Dry Suit soon thereafter and I did a couple of months later. The good news is that the several thousand dollars this all cost was well within our disposable income budget -- the perhaps not so good news is that my wife ditched her BC and Computer several months later when she found "a better way." Me, I still use my BC for teaching in the pool while I use the computer for every dive (btw, the 2nd computer finally died and when this one dies, it will not be replaced). We did sell her unwanted BC and recouped about 50% of the original cost.

As you are in the Atlanta area, I'd suggest you join a dive club and/or local online forum and see if you can borrow some gear to decide what you want. If you can, you'll actually be using gear that real people use as opposed to the rental fleet of the LDS (which may, or may not, be the right gear for the type of diving you want to do). At least here in the PNW, it is very common for new divers to borrow gear to try out this type of BC or that type of Dry Suit -- with BCs being, perhaps, the most common thing that is borrowed (except maybe for Can Lights!).

While it is really nice to "try before you buy" it is often not all that feasible. Another piece of good news, there really is much bad gear out there (the i3 might be an exception!) -- especially in the life support gear, BC, Reg, Computer or exposure protection. So even IF you buy something you end up not wanting, as long as you take care of it you should be able to resell it. (OK -- IF $ is a strong consideration, you might want to look at the used market -- but just make sure you take any life support gear, especially a Reg, to get serviced before using.)

Gear doesn't make the diver but poor fitting gear can make it harder for the new diver to perfect the skills needed to be a solid one.

YMMV

 

[fjpatrum]

I'm sure not the most qualified person, but as a newb with a relatively low number of dives, I think your thought process is pretty well intact and logical.

I bought my gear right after OW class (before cert dives) but I was searching for the "right" gear as soon as I signed up for the class. I bought all used gear after doing some research online and got to test all the gear (on land) I bought before I paid for it. I got the regs serviced at a local shop and I've been happy ever since. I've definitely dived more (though still not a lot) than I would have if I had to rent gear every time. My biggest issue is the time I have available and adding trips to rental shops before and after a local dive would make it even harder to do.

I don't think you need to rent a lot of gear but it makes sense to have some options in mind and do a lot of research based on what you think you want/need for your diving. You'll find a huge amount of information right here on scubaboard, if you haven't already, that will lead you in a couple different directions. Consider the pros and cons of each and decide for yourself which direction you want to go. Worst thing that happens is a few dives (or a few hundred) you decide to go in a different direction gear-wise. That really won't cost you too much in the long run unless you're replacing very expensive regs. Buying used will also reduce the amount of "loss". So far all the gear I've replaced I've either sold for the same price I paid, or I just kept as "spares".

 

[Boardndave]

I know many people who completed certification, dove on one trip, then haven't been out since. That makes the initial certification cost incredibly expensive. If you want to keep diving, your best bet is to buy gear so that you're not put off by the price of continually renting gear. Of course, you have to buy that gear first.

 

[TSandM]

Hadn't noticed you were in Atlanta! Get in touch with katepnatl here on SB and see if you guys can get together and talk equipment options!

 

[Juardis]

one more thought. We bought all our gear at our LDS where we were getting certified. As students, we got a 10-15% discount. The owner guaranteed us that he'd refund all but 15% (restocking fee) IF we came back from our vacation and decided diving wasn't for us. That helped sway us into purchasing our stuff new through him. Of course, now we've got to trust the owner of the shop if we do indeed dislike diving, but he has a great reputation in our community so I'm not too worried. Plus, I don't think we're going to hate diving. (But if all we did were quarry dives, I swear he'd be buying it all back )

 

[freewillie]

I may be the only person on the planet who did this, but I bought my first entire set of equipment before I had my first open water pool session. That was in 1997.

My dive instructor bought all of his gear, mask, fins, BC, regs, everything before he even signed up for scuba classes! Now he's a PADI instructor.

Owning your gear does promote diving more often and frequently.

 

[martinskarin]

After my first trip I decided to buy the gear that I found I could not rent in good quality and size such as wetsuite, booties, mask and computer. Until now I have been able to rent BC:s and regulators in good condition and could find a size suitable for me and will not buy this gear in a little more while at least, it adds service costs and possibly some transportation issues whlie flying for example (weight) not only the cost of buying it.

For the gear I bought I never really found good condition gear, it is always broken and fit poorly.
Computer was my first buy and I recommend everyone to buy that first, it is a good safety and also fun thing to have.

But as soneone said, if purchasing gear will make you dive more (maybe you have good local places to dive, I dont) get it, it will pay !

 

[gcarter]

My dive instructor bought all of his gear, mask, fins, BC, regs, everything before he even signed up for scuba classes! Now he's a PADI instructor.

Owning your gear does promote diving more often and frequently.

Even tanks - I had no intention of getting my own tanks. Then I saw a deal I could not resist. LDS was moving some 5 year old tanks out of their rental fleet (they made them current hydro/ vis). Cost of the tanks was given back in air fill cards. IOW, it was effectively prepay your airfills and get the tank for free. Too good to pass up.

Makes it MUCH easier to go when the mood strikes rather than have to plan ahead to dothe rentals.