Well I talked to my second local dive shop today who were incredibly helpful and not at all pushy. He didn't even laugh when I said I didn't want Apeks because it looked the same as the club kit!
I am going to borrow a friends wing to try in the pool I think before I make a decision but if I do go for a wing this dive shop can custom build one for me (for less than the price of most BCs). If not I think I will be looking for a second hand BC, that way if I decide I do want to upgrade I won't lose much when selling it on.
I am also now even further confused about regs though - I had decided to go for the Aqualung and was deciding whether to buy it online or not but this dive shop stocks Scubapro (which I hadn't really considered) and Sherwood as well as the obligatory Apeks. I was very taken with the tiny second stage on the Sherwood and it seems to have decent reviews - any comments on it folks?
The Sherwood is more unusual because there is only one importer to the UK so it doesn't matter where I get it, it will be fairly expensive but at least that eliminates the problem of shop vs online prices!
Ah well, at least I'm having fun spending hours trying to sort this tangle out! Thanks so much for all the help folks - you are being very patient with me
