Rookie and Cash soon to be parted.

[Rookie]

Ok! I know this has been done a thousand times, but I just want to make sure I'm not going to make any monumantal mistakes here. Having finally made it into the UK salty stuff, and convinced that diving is for me (and Mrs Rookie), its time to spend a little (read 'Shed loads') cash. Our diving is mainly UK inland ATM, as Stoney is 20 mins away, but the sea calls, and we are prone to a little holiday diving also (Malaysia and Bali this year ), so we need rugged but portable kit. We both have about 15 OW dives under our belts.
This was the plan, for us both, from the dive show:-

ATX 50/40 regs or Oceanic Delta 3/4. I prefer the deltas, but will see what bargains are to be had.
Simple depth/contants gauge ( already have wrist mounted compas). Am expecting to pay no more than £340ish for the above.

Buddy Tekwing. @ £165, it seems ideal, and will be upgradable (e.g steel plate). I am interested in the additional (weight) pockets, but have never seen them in use. Any good?

Plenty of lead, and something to hold it in (probably a shot belt or 2.

ND Cortex or Otter eq. Around £470 inc undersuit for me (normal size).
Whatever suit fits the missus (funny shape), so probably v expensive. Women!

A torch/strobe for Mrs Rookie. I've been v impressed with mine. Great for poking in dark holoes, and an ideal backup for later on.

We will also be on the lookout for a decent set of reels, SMB's, knives etc. Oh and a new mask for Mrs Rookie. She killed hers the other day - The hazards of a very bouncy RIB!

Anything we missed?

Thanks

Rookie

[Rob Dobson]

Computer, fins, boots, hood, gloves, ankle weights?

[divingniknaks]

You don't seem to have missd anything there

You might consider spools for smb deployment rather than reels, that would leave you money for other things.

If you've got "shedloads" to spend why not an awesome primary light (Sorry just couldn't resist)

[Little Pete]

Spools!!!

So neat and easy to use with a bit of practise, stow like a dream and cost about half the price of most reels!

DS4 with Atx 40/50, get a single guage from Phill and get a Uwatec dive timer for neatness and precision of depth and time.

Ah what the hell, just get a long hose and go for it


But seriously I would look at spools and a dive timer will be very useful. good luck

[MATTBIN]

Oceanics - I have several sets, get a DIN fitting jobby, plus I would get the best winterised 1st stage combined with a decent second stage, second stage doesnt need all those fiddly adjuster knobs in my view, I hardly ever use mine so you might save a few pennies on the second stage costs.

Tekwing, I have one, its fine for singles and twins, upgraded to ali plate and single piece harness, never used/seen the pocket things. I carry my weight on a weight belt due to the ali plate.

SMB - if you can afford it I'd get a self inflator Buddy job, I love mine.

Reels, try a few as the 'release' mechanism varies, some I hated, some I loved. I have a small reel as I dont do massive depths, big reels are just too clumsy for shallow diving, upgrade later if required, small reel then becomes backup.

HTH
Matt

[Conor]

Seems like you have put a lot of thought into the list above.

Personally I would go with APeks, but thats only cos its what I'm used to.

Top tip.....before the dives show mail your shopping list around a fewshops and you may get a better price than through waiting for the show. I got all my kit in one go from kent diving after they undercut Go-dive after I accidnetally let slip how uch they were going to charge.

I would save the dry suit purchase for the show....that is what I have made my greatest saving on. You can get to try on a couple of suits, haggle, possibly find some end of line stick (my oceanic flexia was £390 when the rrp was around £560).

As said you should be thinking about a computer, smd and reel. Computer.....well think aout the kind of diving you will be doing in 2 or 3 years time and buy for that, SMB......buy either a closed or self inflating, probably Buddy and probably at the dive show, reel........well reel or spool, try both and ten choose, I wouldn't want to buy a spool without trying one first, having never tried one myself, but I am keen to try one and use for a back up

hope this helps

Conor

[Rookie]

Looks like I'll be getting a puter after all. I was going to wait, and dive tables for a while, and just use my bottom timer (very good bit of Kit). This will now go in my console, as a backup. As for the puter, I was thinking along the lines of a Sunto. The one above the Gekko (the single mix + simulation) looks like a good choise, as most people I dive with also use Sunto (e.g will have the same dive times, hopefully). Can't remember if it will interface to a PC though.

I should have mentioned we already have all the basic, and I expect to get a hood as part of a suit deal. I was holding off on the SMB/reel until I had tried a few, and learnt to use one properly, but will keep an eye out for deals. We are going to the show with our instructors, so can get impartial advice from them.

Good tip about e-mailing the wishlist to various shops. I'll see what they will offer for a package, pre show. The sooner I have nice shiny bits to play with, the better!

Cheers Guys,

Rookie

PS would have replied earlier, but none of the posts apeared in my CP or in the unread posts list. A little strange me thinks!

[Woz]

Right recommendations from Woz:

Regs- Apeks are a great UK reg but if doing alot of diving abroad can be difficult to get parts for.
Computer- Suunto Vyper is a fine single mix computer bot for 25 quid LESS you might want to look at the Apeks Quantum. After some teelthing problems with them they have settled down to be a good bit of kit and will do 2 mixes. Last year at the NEC Go Dive were flogging them for 149, 10 quid more than the Gekko.
Wing- the Buddy Tekwing is fine for singles and small twinsets (7's). It's too narrow for a bigger twinset and won't inflate properly. If you want to save yourself some money, buy a Redwing and swap the hose with the top dump valve and you have yourself a black Tekwing. you'll need a stainless plate and harness but you can then use this for a biger wing later on.
Torch- if you can't afford the Salvo umbilicals from Phil at NikNaks then the UK HID rechargable is a good unit for about 180 quid.
Reel- Narked at 60 tek reel is, in my opinion, the best reel for blob firing. Combine that with a suitable blob (red please). I use the 33 from www.advanced-diving-products.co.uk
Knife- small and cheap as you will lose it. Consider snips as an alternative- Beaver do some cheap stainless(ish) ones.

[recurve]

Regarding the dry suit for SWMBO, I would check out O'three, as they certainly include modifications from a standard sized wet-suit in the purchase price, and may well do the same for dry suits.

I had first class service from them a few weeks ago, with Kevin (I think) staying behind LONG after closing time to help sort out something for my SO to dive with the next day.

HTH

[Rookie]

Originally Posted by Woz

Regs- Apeks are a great UK reg but if doing alot of diving abroad can be difficult to get parts for.
Computer- Suunto Vyper is a fine single mix computer bot for 25 quid LESS you might want to look at the Apeks Quantum. After some teelthing problems with them they have settled down to be a good bit of kit and will do 2 mixes. Last year at the NEC Go Dive were flogging them for 149, 10 quid more than the Gekko.
Wing- the Buddy Tekwing is fine for singles and small twinsets (7's). It's too narrow for a bigger twinset and won't inflate properly. If you want to save yourself some money, buy a Redwing and swap the hose with the top dump valve and you have yourself a black Tekwing. you'll need a stainless plate and harness but you can then use this for a biger wing later on.

I had considered the Apeks pouters, but wasn't sure if the 'issues' were sorted yet. They do sound like an attractive option, if they are now reliable. (leaves more beer money!)

As for the tekwing, The plan was to add a steel plate when needed, and keep the ABS for travel, as its only about £30 more expensive than the Redwing, but complete! I will keep an eye on steel bp prices though.

Rookie