| Now I'm probably going to get shouted at here, but after my advanced (9 dives) I went out and bought all my own kit including a backplate/harness system which I made myself. I knew I was going to be doing this for a while, so I was happy with the 1.5k outlay. I do a couple of other sports with similar requirements and I'm happy I'll be doing this for a while.
I found having my own basic kit made my enjoyment of the sport that much greater - it's no fun when you have to hire different kit so many different times.
Worst thing of all to do is make uninformed choices, which is only a bit worse than making no choices at all. And, if you come to a point where you think you know everything about the kit you're buying, you've probably missed something!
I found the gang that hang on this forum incredibly helpful, and have never been slated for asking what I thought were stupid questions. So fire away, keep the costs down (i.e. you really don't need to spend £400 on a BCD and a £350 torch and clearance drysuits can be a bargain!)
Have fun - you'll be considering and buying kit for at least half the time you'll be spending in the water, it's part of the sport.
Rob  |