Your opinions on my first set of Dive Kit..!?

[Justin Owen]

Hi all, I've just finished my sheltered water lessons for Ocean Diver, and I'm looking to purchase equipment to proceed to the open water lessons and complete my training. I am proposing to buy the following equipment:

Drysuit: Either Scubapro Spitzenberg or ND Divemaster (both crushed Neo)
Undersuit: Been recommended Bowstone...
Reg/DV/Octo: Apeks TX40/TX40
BCD: Buddy Commando TD
Fins: Mares Quattro (Everyone seems to recommend them!)
Computer: Suunto Vyper
Console: Suunto 3 Gauge

Am I going too overboard (no pun intended) having not jumped in the Ocean yet? I'll be doing most of my Open Water diving off North Wales/Anglesey... Any thoughts or views gratefully accepted - for example, scubapro and aqualung have been recommended as budget regs, but am i not better spending the extra few (100) pounds now and getting the Apeks?

Thanks all...

Justin.

[Mr T.]

Hey Justin,

Absolutely nothing wrong with the list as it stands!

If you've just finished your 1st course and are about to go into bat with your Oceran Diver, then all this kit has a lot to be said for it. I have one caveat: undersuit, you might want to look at the Weezle Extreme - toasty warm mate.

And you're right in your attitude of 'Buy Cheap, Buy Twice': get the best you can afford day one. This will have the dual effect of providing you immediately with good kit without the prospect of getting pissed-off with it as you increase your skills level in diving and end up wanting to upgrade with all the "I wish I'd bought the......" type arguments. The other benefit of buying good kit up front is that if you ever (God forbid!!) decide to jack, then you'll get better resale value for it when selling it.

Good look and welcome to YD!!

Oh, whilst we're on the subject, might I please ask you to do a brief intro on yourself in the Introductions section? Just a bit about where you live, where you dive and what type of diving you see yourself doing in the immediate and near-term future?

Cheers in advance,

[Gavin Yates]

Don't rush in all at once until you're sure you want to persist with UK diving. I'm sure you'll love it but there are those who don't

On the kit front - I'd try and borrow a few different things and test them out before parting with the hard-earned. One man's prefered set-up is another's dog.

On your choices IMO the regs are fine - the suits are ok if you like neoprene and I don't, the BC has a good reputation but I'd get a single-tank wing - the comp is a good choice but you might as well spend a wee bit more and get the vytec - there's no point in buying a console - just get an SPG and buy a wrist mounted compass Suunto SK7 - fins - I love quattros too and undersuit I like the weezle extreme - it's toasty.

I should add that these are just my views and there are plenty of guys here that will disagree or have their own ideas.

Whatever you decide on good luck and we hope to see you on a trip with YD asap.

(Edited by Gavin Yates at 7:41 pm on Jan. 21, 2003)

[Davey Willo]

Hi there Justin and welcome..

My advice.. don't go the same route as so many others including me by buying a BC and then later regretting it... go straight for a BP/Harness and single tank wing.. you'll benefit in so many ways in comfort, balance, trim, and future proofing, later on you'll probably want to go deeper and for longer and you'll most probably want more air and redundancy, a BP/Harness config will allow that growth in your diving needs without a big loss during the transitional period...

I won't bang on about it but if you feel that you want to know more just ask and we'll load you with reasons for and against wings..

I'm sold as are so many others that have moved over to a wing from jacket style BC's

This is just my opinion J but I wish I'd known then what I know now, I would of saved a fortune and a lot of heartache

best regards
Dave

[Justin Owen]

Thanks for the feedback guys, i'm gonna try both neoprene and membrane suits (albeit in the shop) to see which i'm most comfortable with. I was of the understanding the Weezle's were for membrane suits? Is the Extreme designed for crushed neoprene suits?

I'm quietly confident i'll love my diving - one of the lads at our SAC says i'm the only person he knows thats spent 8 weeks in the pool and still grins like a kid when i get the gear on!! ;)

Will spend a bit of time exploring the site (which is great by the way - was recommended to me!) and will do an 'intro'

Thanks again...

Justin.

[Gavin Yates]

The extreme is used for membranes - weezle make a compact that a mate of mine uses with his leaky neo suit and still stays warm-ish.

[Mark Chase]

OK i read the list twice and didnt see a pony bottle >:¬(

Regs are good
BCD: is good (But I quit MY good BCD within a year and got a wing)
Dry suit: havent tried enough to comment
Undersuit: go wesel thats what they all tell me
Console some love them some hate them. I hate them
Horabul dangley things you can never find when you want them
Go for the SK7 cumpos it is V good
Viper V good, Vytec dogs dangleys for under £260
Fins V good BUT carrey spare buckle and strap as they can be fragile.

PS: Single Wing ??? why?

I dive single 12s on my Custom Divers wing no problem then whack twin set and stages on for the deep stuff I have no problems at all with this rig it worked day one, dive one.

Hope this helps

Mark Chase

[Justin Owen]

I wish I knew about this site sooner! I'm getting more feedback now than all the shops i've visited previously!

Regarding the "wings" I have absolutley no experience of them - and while i'm sure i'll come across them as i get more advanced, i'll probably go with a BCD to start with as I also visit Ibiza twice a year and will be looking to use my kit there diving too...

[Justin Owen]

PS - Once i've completed the training and have my Ocean Diver qualification the next thing i'll be buying will be a pony - i like the idea of a backup - which was another reason i was going for the Buddy Comando as it has the cylinder bail out system...

[Davey Willo]

Mark

Cos a double wing is designed for doubles, and a single wing is designed for a single.. it means you don't have to go from horizontal to somewhere past vertical to have a hope of dumping air from the bloody great flaps wrapping around a lonely single cylinder.

I know you use a double wing with a single cylinder and can get away with it but I wouldn't recommend it and I'm sure I'd hate to dive a single with my 55... but lets hope this doesn't detract from Justins query post by becoming a debate eh ;)

Justin, a pony bottle is a completely redundant air supply, a separate bottle, a separate first stage and a separate second stage, it's there in case of complete failure of your main cylinder (Or running out of air but you'll never do that now will ya) ;).. A Buddy BC emergency bottle is NOT a redundant air supply, it's a way of getting air into your BC should you need to.. personally I think they are a waste of time if not dangerous cos the bloody thing could send you rocketing skywards but thats a personal dislike, others swear by them.

New divers tend to think that wings are the sole property of techie divers, not true, at least try to use one before you spend your money, as you've already seen in this post many divers migrate to wings eventually anyway, please be careful that you don't buy yourself into a costly corner that can take years to get out of.

You are more than welcome to meet me at Capenwray or somewhere safe and shallow to try on my wing anytime you like.

Best regards
Dave.