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well its time to start saving/buying

13K views 97 replies 24 participants last post by  MSargeant 
#1 ·
This weekend i passed my PADI open water :)

so now that im officially a certified diver i guess its time to start looking alot more serious at some gear.

already own my mask and snorkel which are fine.

im guessing fins and boots should be next purchase? then i got to start saving for regs, bcd, suit etc

Im planning on getting a few more dives under my belt then do my AOW, and eventually do some wreck diving being that i live in a haven for these.

Any ideas welcomed on what i should be looking for
 
#4 ·
sack the snorkel?? surely i should always take it? The school said if i ever brought dry suit off him he would do my dry suit course for free. Used a 7mm on my open water dives this weekend and i was warm enough to be fair. Had a hood on for one dive but ditched it afterwards as felt like it restricted me a bit and didnt want it on for the mask removal skill. For continuing dives i can go with the club linked to the school i did my course with and hire gear. There is a club in my town but thats BASC not PADI not sure if that matters at all?

i live in st austell in cornwall.
 
#8 ·
sack the snorkel?? surely i should always take it? The school said if i ever brought dry suit off him he would do my dry suit course for free. Used a 7mm on my open water dives this weekend and i was warm enough to be fair. Had a hood on for one dive but ditched it afterwards as felt like it restricted me a bit and didnt want it on for the mask removal skill. For continuing dives i can go with the club linked to the school i did my course with and hire gear. There is a club in my town but thats BASC not PADI not sure if that matters at all?

i live in st austell in cornwall.

good BSAC club wont care who you are trained with, they will care about you joining.
they will however take on the relative inexperience of your diving ability and no doubt do some finishing work. don't be offended by it as ultimately you learnt to pass a course in relatively controlled environments which don't always match the realities of uk diving.

clubs often but not always have kit that can be rented or borrowed for the short term to get you diving. the best bet is to pop down to the local club when they meet and have a chat. not everyone wants to be in a club and not every club does what potential new members want. and remember you can do a trial dive with them to see if you get on with them and them with you. just be honest.

hood wise. learn to deal with it. water temps are about to start dropping, at 16-18 you can do it, at 12 it hurts at 6 you wont dive. a weel fitting hood isnt hard to wear its just a bit weird at first. and mask drills are easy once you are used to it.
 
#5 ·
Pros and cons to both - goggle it or search on here, it's the sort of question that gets asked on a Friday :)

I've been both and now sit with BSAC as that was my only local option, works for me.

Go see what each has to offer and work out which one will provide what you want, in the time frame that you want and in the budget you have. St Austell isn't far from us (but too far to be sensible) Mevigissy and Mid Cornwall divers are two options I believe?

Both should get you diving, and that's what matters.
 
#6 ·
where are you based? plymouth area or up towards bude way?

are they quite welcoming to newbies or would they not be too keen on buddying up with me? I was going to do my first few dives with mark from wavecrest scuba and his club which is who i qualified with.
 
#7 · (Edited)
A drysuit is a very sensible choice for your first major purchase as you want something that fits you. The rest of the kit doesn't really matter as fit isn't generally an issue. You don't need to do a PADI drysuit course but it is very important you get instruction on how to use it, which you could get from an experienced diver. One option is to do the drysuit adventure dive as one of your five for the AOW. If you join a BSAC club, you can ingnore the AOW and do the BSAC Sports Diver - the BSAC club will teach you how to dive in a drysuit.

There is no reason why you can't join a BSAC club with your PADI cert. I do not know any in your area, being from Manchester, but I'd imagine you will be spoiled for choice in your region. I'm sure you will get plenty of recommendations here.

Regarding the snorkel, many do not carry them as you cannot use it underwater. I do not like having one hanging off my mask as it can get caught on something and disloge my mask. They can be handy for surface swims. I carry a roll-up snorkel in my drysuit pocket; I rarely use it but it is handy if I want it and it doesn't get in the way when I don't.
 
#12 ·
Been searching the net pricing up different gear.. Biggest thing I'm stuck on is what kind of fins to go for? I'm guessin not frog ones as I do a normal kicking motion. I know I want open heal but that's about it.

Any advice for a novice?
Also been looking at reg an BCD packages seems as though there some good deals out there did look on eBay but thought not for regs I think I would prefer new as won't have a chance of any hidden history/fault
 
#14 ·
Don't buy any fins until you have bought a drysuit. All suits have different sized boots and whilst some drysuit boots in size 9 will fit in a size L fin, other makes size 9 boots need an XXL fin (O3 being a prime example of the bigger boot). Fins are a very personal choice. What one person loves another will hate. join a club and borrow different fins until you find some you like.
 
#16 ·
Don't pay for any more courses. A Padi master scuba diver recently joined our club, he spent thousands on the most absurd courses - DSMB course, Dry suit course.....etc. Ihave no axe to grind with Padi and their basic courses, many divers start that way on holiday etc. I started with Padi many years ago, but now they have just invented courses to flees people. I agree with the posts above, join a club. There are some good ones. Just ignore the members on an ego trip and find the genuine members who actually do some diving.

Here is my rcommened kit list that you may find useful - borrow and try kit in the pool or shallow water to see what suits you.
BCD - Seaquest Pro QD - integrated weights with surelock - excellent jacket - no back ache, goos support in water and excellent quality -
Regs - Apeks XTX 100, 200 - new model great reg or better still ATX 200 same great kit but much better value second hand - others I would recommend Aqualung Titan LX or legend (Titan can be picked up at exceptional value and are great performing very reliable regs.
Fins - Tusa Xpert zoom - great cramp free diving (had mares quatros which are powerful in current but prone to giving cramp)
DRy suit - watch ebay and buy a DUI CF200 is probably the best suit in the world
Computer - masive choice here - go for something which will do Nitrox (£10 for the course with BSAC god knows with Padi) Uwatec are simple and robust as are the proper Suunto - stay away from D9, D6, D4...etc. Remember, great in the bar to show people you're a diver but too small and difficult to read in water. Probably best buy today VR3 bullet proof outstanding computer and now we have all gone silly wanting Organics LED displays you can pick up one on ebay for silly money.
Mask - take your time - try it on with a reg in your mouth - laughter lines can be an issue with some mask designs
Weights - If you go for integrated weights - pieces of lead flashing make great weights - if you want a belt? Go shot - buy the shot from a shooting shop (cheaper)

Safe diving
 
#17 ·
since this original post i have become addicted to the sport. I now own a dry suit, regs, computer , fins. Also now done AOW, deep speciality and got wreck diver next weekend which is the diving i have always wanted to get into.

Logging up a few dives and been looking at different peoples set ups they dive with.
I next need a BCD. Originally i was strictly thinking jacket but since doing deeper dives and about to be getting into wreck diving i understand the need for a redundant air source. I have been using a pony but quite like the idea of side mount divng as aposed to twins on the back. After speaking to other people they are saying i should perhaps look at the hollis 100 (i think) and get the backmount adapter plate. Then go sidemount when im ready as apposed to buying a jacket and then forking out again when im ready to go sidemount. Just wondered has anyone else used this kind of setup at all?

Im hoping to join the club to the red sea (if the wife lets me) in September so wondered what is that like for traveling with?
 
#19 ·
Also now done AOW, deep speciality and got wreck diver next weekend which is the diving i have always wanted to get into.
Phew, PADI , must really love you! I know plenty of people who "only" have OW but they think nothing about bimbling about at around 60 metres. I'd dive with any of them any day of the week yet there are also plenty of (so-called) divers with lots of tickets to whom I wouldn't give the time of day.

I do hope you're not turning into one of the latter. :eek:mg: :eek:
 
#20 ·
No not at all. I've always said I wanted to do these courses... I'm not by any means saying I'm a good or great diver. It's a massive learning curve and each dive I gain more knowledge, skills and confidence in the water and my gear and also buddies. I know courses wont make me a good diver it's time in the water and experience that does this.

I am diving with a club but they only have jackets to borrow. But after talking to othe divers about what I want to do it was a suggestion they said to look at as appose to a pony setup or diving twins.
 
#21 ·
I wouldnt buy any wing yet sidemount or standard.

A cheapo decent almost new BC can be bought from ebay for under £100 and that will happilly
do holidays and UK single + pony for now. Once past that first rush of "must have shiny" and more
dives logged, you'll be more objective.

Same BC can be sold on ebay again for no or very little loss and this gives you a bit of a breather
before spending £400+ on a system.
 
#23 ·
Doesn't really matter what you wear; wing or jacket, to perfect your buoyancy, just work on perfecting it.

Although a Wing/Bp system works out cheaper in the long run. As parts wear out they can be replaced, with a jacket if something goes you pretty much have to buy a new Jacket.

For example when I thrashed my Zeagle wing a few years back, I simply replaced it with a brand new APEKS WTX3 for £100 and continued diving. Had my old Aqualung wave done the same thing the bill would have been around £300.
 
#25 ·
No need to spend lots of dosh on BC's or wings at this stage.
That depends on your point of view. I happen to think that being taught to dive "in" a wing is preferable to otherwise.

A BCD is well and good but many (most?) divers will eventually gravitate towards a wing. So why not teach a wing in the first place?

To my knowledge there are no basic differences between a BCD and a Wing, they are both bags of gas, so what's the problem with that? Apart, of course, from the cost of transferring the schools BCDs to wings I suppose.
 
#27 ·
Yeh, cant see owt wrong with thinking ahead a bit ,kitwise that is , and starting with what you may use a little down the line. Can save on money for kit and needless retraining.

Had all the option of today been available 30 years ago I would have preferred it,money permitting of course.
 
#28 ·
and starting with what you may use a little down the line. Can save on money for kit and needless retraining.
Starting with what though?

What the shop says, what the Instructor who did the first course says, what the internet says,
what a tech agency says, just about the only one who has no say in the matter, is the bloke
doing the buying and he doesnt even know how far he will go yet, maybe he should go straight
to CCR :)

Agreed for some things like a decent set of regs, they are after all pretty much future-proof,
but for the rest, better to be able to make up your own mind, whatever that is.
 
#31 ·
Seeing as most of the people who would call you on this have left terry I'll put in my 2p

I knew where I wanted to go on dive 9. I switched to a wing and twins on dive 15.

I500 dives later it didn't do me any harm and I think I may have got my buoyancy nailed somewhere along the way ;)

The wing I bought saw me through twin 7s and twin 12s. The backplate I am still using on my RB. The set up sees me through single tank diving, twinset diving, deep stage diving and RB as well.

Side mount is a bit of a daft idea this early on. It's a tool not a fashion statement. As a guess, you listened to one vocal instructor who just got their side mount instructor ticket ;)

If you can easily borrow kit, do so until you have logged 50 dives. if you are still keen and still want to go tech find a good tech instructor (not just one you happen to know) and get help putting the right gear together. I used to do this for students and most of them reckoned they saved a fortune by avoiding purchases they regretted.
 
#32 ·
Some good stuff there, well said Clare.

Sidemount is (i) for people with bad backs, as witness our own Trickie Dickie (ii) for people who dive in restrictions, such as a ship or cave and, very much last, (iii) people who want to demonstrate to the world that they are up there with the latest trend. Yep, they are, right up there.

But you were lucky Clare, you knew almost from the very first where you wanted to go on this diving lark, most people take a lot longer than that! :)

As for Wings v BCDs as the initial training medium of choice, I'm still not convinced by Terry's argument, I still maintain that there is no particular reason why people should be initially trained in a BCD, as they all are at the moment and I don't think that one of the principal reasons is that these new divers all buy BCDs. After all, if they'd been trained in a Wing instead, what do you think they'd buy?
 
#33 ·
Only reason I looked at sidemount is I don't think I my back would handle twins due to it taking a pounding from work and golf it likes to twinge every now an again. I've not had a problem with a single tank.
Like I said it was purely because of wreck diving which I want to get into alot. At the moment a club member is lending me his spare pony set up which i am very grateful for.
 
#35 · (Edited)
Only reason I looked at sidemount is I don't think I my back would handle twins due to it taking a pounding from work and golf it likes to twinge every now an again. I've not had a problem with a single tank.
I have had surgery on 2 dics in my lower spine and when on OC I dived fine with twin 300bar 10's in fact they were more comfortable in the water than a single cylinder for me.

Carrying them around just took some care and planning ie I bought a folding sack trolley so there was no need to carry them anywhere at all.

I am not totally convinced by the argument "I have a bad back therefore I need sidemounts" with a twin set you get it on your back and it is easy to carry as the load is spread, carrying two independent cylinders one in each hand or one on each shoulder etc would cause me many more problems and a lot more pain I believe.

As a side note to what Clare said the moment I started diving I knew I wanted to dive a rebreather and that is exactly what I do now :D
 
#36 ·
To be fair I've never had them on my back so don't know how they would feel.
I'm sticking to one cylinder for a bit anyway as I am a new and inexperienced diver.
All I was wondering was about the hollis with back conversion on it more than anything else.
I sort of know where I want to go with my diving which will mostly be wrecks around the coast if Cornwall. And maybe the odd bimble in warm waters but not very often.
 
#37 ·
Well here's my two bob's worth

Fleabay is (mostly, though not entirely) poor value for dive kit, especially if, as a beginner, you don't yet know what's what. Buying new, at least via the internet, can actually be cheaper than fleabay in many cases.

One exception - a BCD from fleabay for between £50 & £70 is a good start. You can sell it for little or no loss if (when?) you buy a wing, or even if at some point you want a more bling BCD for some reason. Sizing for BCD is basically small, medium, large. And providing it doesn't have a leak in it (ie does it is stay up overnight), and the inflator doesn't leak air into the wing - (does it inflate overnight if fixed to a cylinder), then you are good to go. For the record, I do have a wing, and made a slight profit selling on my original 2nd-hand BCD

Regs - many, probably most, regs are fine - but want "cold water" rated ones for UK eg Apeks "40" models and upwards.
People say, "get good regs as your life depends on them", and whilst this is in a sense quite literally true, it's not the point. Apeks 40 or 50 (whether TX, ATX, XTX or whatever) are genuinely excellent regs albeit ridiculously cheap - not a phrase usually associated with any diving kit. I have a mixture of Apeks TX40, TX50, XTX50 & some Poseidon Cyklons, and though I do slightly prefer the (considerably dearer) Poseidons they're not actually "better" in any absolute sense. There is simply no need to spend more. A Rolex won't tell the time better than a Casio nor be as reliable, although some may prefer the former for "bling" reasons.

One piece of (very good) advice I was given, and now pass on, is don't get a console, even if in a special deal job lot. Just get a pressure gauge, then put compass & computer on your wrists - much neater and easier.

I agree with earlier posters about snorkel - don't stick it on mask, nor or your leg were it'll surely catch on something. That said I do have a folding one in my pocket to help in the "lost at sea" scenario.

Drysuit - I think someone mentioned O3 - extremely well regarded, though I've not had one myself. Mine's an Otter from Bradford and I'd definitely buy another next time. If much cheaper than Otter, I'd be a little wary though. Whoever you buy off, if ordering in, I'd be measured up by the makers even if it means travel. I'm not sure I'd be keen on a "lesser" make if that's all your local shop had. There are other good makes than the above two I dare, but you'll need to do some homework.

I'd also read the DIR fundamentals book. Although by no means DIR myself, albeit I am somewhat influenced by it, I found it a great start on configuring my kit as the mainstream organisations are very vague on this kind of stuff (PADI & BSAC alike). Bear in mind some of it is a bit American and can be ignored (burst discs on manifolds), and upstream and doesnstream reg types etc is not something you need to worry about overmuch if you buy Apeks say). Also read up about the "long hose" thing - but unfortunately BSAC are pooey about this on courses at least - for some apparently secret reason (sorry couldn't resist).
 
#39 ·
There was a time people used their lungs for buoyancy then someone came along with an ABLJ and oh how they all laughed, they then bought one. Then a short time later someone came up what what is popularly known as a BCD and all those with ABLJs said it was daft, then 99.9% went and bought one. Then along came the wing, soon everyone will be diving one.

Each step in this scenario has been an improvement, some see it early, others take a lot more time but eventually all but the stubborn get there. A wing is a much better option than a jacket style BCD, it grows with your diving in a way a standard BCD can't, it puts the gas where you want it, is more streamline and allows for a clear torso.

Why anyone would by a BCD today is beyond me and other than price why someone would advise such is also beyond me.

From a club/school point of view wings are a one size fits all solution if you allow for adjustment on the webbing.

The day of the BCD is numbered, time to move on people.
 
#40 ·
The largest expansion of tech diving into the mainstream and with it the use of the wing has happened
in the large decade, but the number of wings vs BC's sold doesnt even scrape past double percentage
figures in world sales.

You might be totally right and the day of the BC is numbered, but at this rate you might have to wait
until the 22nd century :)
 
#52 ·
Do you ever stop trying to prove your point?.
Depends if it's a point that i'm passionate about. When you spend 4 days a week minimum on training
new divers, you do tend to get a bit pissed off with the same old advice that attempts to push them
into kit/configs that they wont ever need.


Pray tell, what is a 'club style BC'?
.
A club BC is the entry level basic version, designed to be used in most pro-schools and clubs. They have
less bangs and whistles, mostly a thinner material and some even have the word "club" in the title.

My fave in this catagory was the Poseidon Clublift which became the Ecolift. It had as much lift as any
of the most expensive BC's and was a rugged and hard-wearing BC that more than did the job, without
costing luggage allowance. Trade it came in at under £100 and even retail was available for under £200.
For a holiday/occaisional use BC it was ideal.


As for the rest of your fancy talkin' pa used to say when a man relies on fancy talkin' he has already lost.
Lol, "fancy talk" ? That would be English then :)
 
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