Original kit

Dominic · May 14, 2003

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I doubt there's many divers that didn't buy some stuff in their novice days they've subsequently been grateful Ebay took off their hands.
But what about the stuff you've KEPT? What (if any) bits and pieces did you buy as a clueless novice that you still use today?
My list is:
- Suunto compass (strap replaced with bungee tho) - it works
- Dive knife (6in bayonet blade but converts into shears) - I have trauma shears as well, I just like having a knife with me.
- SL4 torch - it's gone from my only torch to my backup torch, as it's small but bright
- Apeks TX100 & TX40 octopus - now converted to long-hose primary & necklaced backup
- Suunto SPG - tho it originally lived in a console
- Mask - tho it now lives in my pocket instead
- Aladdin Pro Ultra - tho I'm planning on selling it soon

And that's about it. Replaced the 15L & pony with a twinset, the Avon drysuit with an Otter, the drygloves with wetgloves, the jacket for a wing, the thinsulate for Weezle, the Idea3s for Jets, etc etc.
What about you?

daz · May 14, 2003

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ummm,

Mask, (Actually keep it as a spare and replaced it after 6 years with a new one of the same model)...

Fins (Well the wife uses them as I bought larger ones due to a drysuit purchase)...

Does my snorkel count (It is in a draw somewhere, honest

)

Thats it, everything else has been changed at some point.

Daz

Hobby · May 14, 2003

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I still use most of my older stuff Dom(quality never goes out of style!

,my arse!).I'll just list my gear,starting with the stuff I still use:-
ND well used neo.dry bag(too tight to wreck my new one) with bog chain dump.
Diamond 8mm dry bag with bog chain and swivel inflator
Apeks Manta and Apeks 1st stage,no octopus,contents and suit inflation.
ND thinsulate thing,old wooly bear,assorted ex army thermals.
Scubapro Mk whatever,as 1st stage,contents guage.
SOS capilliary depth guage,as back up to a slightly later model!
US Divers Atlantis mask(don't use a low profile mask!)
Twin inverted Sabre set ex RN.
Twin AGA inverts ex police,300 bar.(unused as sold the Heisers to make way for these)
A couple of decent(can't remember the make)compasses.
U.Kinetics 6 cell torch and some other back up(never really found it a benefit being able to see)
SMB,bought from a boatjumble,loads of crabs,maillon rapides for attaching kit etc.

Other kit I still have are several steel Cyclons,my 1st Reg a Typhoon Mk3!,Comex pro,some Dacor thing and a Sherwood of some description.Snark single hose.
Loads of knives,for hitting things the use of,big orrible things.Also the obligatory Kitchen Devils in gas pipe(use these and crowbar for rec.use).
Some US Divers jet/rocket fins..won't fit the commercial boots on my suits!
Various old dry bags and sharkskin wet suits,gloves without fingertips,masks,blah blah.A spirotechnique ABLJ........

Several singles of various types,weightbelts etc.
As Bren etc will confirm much of this stuff is currently hidden,borrowed or under repair and I thus have to borrow the odd item at present for a dive.Not that creates any difficulty

Had a couple of Nemrod (pneumatic)spearguns somewhere too,but I think my ex wifes' kept them,really can't imagine why.
HTH,Hobby.

Rob Meddes · May 16, 2003

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When i use a single i use vertually all the kit i first bought. My first regs i use on my twins as they can be right or left post (A'lung coustau cryo) so my singles now have ATX200 on them.
My crappy £52 torch has been binned for a CD HID (small upgrade there).
Upgraded from Spyder to Stinger.
Apart from that i use what i bought as a thrashing noviceafter scouring magazines:-
15L tin
Buddy Pioneer TD
Bowstone shotbelt
Mares Pipin mask
Oceanic triple console
Mares Quattro's
Typhoon CNK Tech suit
The only thing (apart from the torch) i wish i hadn't got now is the 15L storage tank.
Good diving
Rob

Richie · May 16, 2003

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I still use my knife - knife is a kind description now, more a lump of brown metal with a handle. It was a Spirodag, best tool short of a crowbar bought in around 1977. My original weight belt (even older) made of rubberised canvas and capable of supporting a 747 is still lying around but is not used. It seems to have shrunk lengthways; strange that, and was always seriously uncomfortable

John Gulliver · May 16, 2003

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One of my cylinders goes back to the day I started, 15 years ago. Everything else has been upgraded or replaced (I've lost 3 knives, a prescription mask and 2 rechargeable torches in various oceans!).

Gimbo · May 16, 2003

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After 7 years some of my equipment is showing its age but none of the key mechanical items; I replaced my wet suit this year and boots, will need new gloves. My next item on the list will be a new BCD.

Now the one piece of equipment I change regularly, and I mean more often than I want to remember is the snorkel. I am the total profesional in loosing these bl*&%$dy things. I've lost two this year allready!

I'm happy that with diving I don't feel the need to upgrade the equipment all the time, like in computers for example. Once I invested in the equipment it has been a relatively expensive sport. (so I say to myself)

MATTBIN · May 16, 2003

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weight belts, I keep buying weight belts. I am sure its a fetish.
Matt

daz · May 17, 2003

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Hey Matt,

Want to buy a harness or even a Oceanic loose shot belt...?

Oh well you've got to try.

Daz

MATTBIN · May 17, 2003

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Daz
probably

Matt

Mark Chase · May 17, 2003

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My Alpher 7 regulators

I still use them for deco and swaping to my old alpher 7 is still a pleasure.

Only caviat is I had them converted to DIN

Mark Chase

angleseydiver · May 18, 2003

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Try again- Anyone know how to stop" freeseve anytime" kicking offline after 90 mins?

Anyway, as a novice 8 or 9 or 10? (getting old and too many dates to remember!) years ago I bought a torch from a petrol-station, £2.99 it was, with batteries!

Double O-rings each end, fluorescent yellow, not the brightest torch on the market
but it's still going strong after many dives to 50m range. We keep it on the boat (have to have one as part of COP) as a spare and it's saved the day on many occasions

Anyone beat that as a "Best- Buy"?

Paul Oliver · May 18, 2003

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Hi

My first set of kit was all very secondhand as my units diving club was closed down and the kit sold off 8 years ago. I had used this stuff quite a bit and most went back to my old unit being posted to Cyprus in 1990. Full set of kit £250

I still use the Buddy Commando, and Octopus (although the original 1st and second stage are on my pony now), also the semi dry gets occasional use, but it seems to have shrunk a lot!!! I'm also back to using the mask as my new one got broken on Saturdays dive.

I've also still got my first watch and gloves.

Regards

Paul

Digger · May 18, 2003

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I'm still with old faithful, the mask with no name. Everyone that dives in it asks to borrow it whenever they go diving, my girlfriend is in the process of stealing it, as my other mask isn't much good for either of us, and I'd rather her mask didn't leak than mine!

I dived in the first drysuit I ever used last week, and it was as reliable as ever. NDiver CNX. Top suits, IMO.

I'm still in my first pair of Avanti Quattros, still never used those damned buckles on a dive.

Still using a collection of snorkels I've found over the years. I've got about 5 now. Everyone loses them, I'm just the guy that picks them up. Every other dive there's one lying on the bottom. I've got no use for them, but when you've got to do snorkelling with the novices...

One half of my semi-dry is still in service, but the top half was stolen off my washing line by trick-or-treaters. I knew mouldy biscuits were going to piss them off, I'd just forgotten my wetsuit was outside!!!

Other than that, I'm on my first set of tanks, but I only bought those last year. Never had the need for them before.

And my first computer was a mosquito, and I can't fault it for holiday diving, but it's useless with a drysuit. It's on my inflator hose now, not exactly where I want it. Still diving with the little fella, though.

All in all, not really replaced a lot. I keep adding to my collection, but bery rarely get rid of anything. I've got 4 drysuits in the cupboard. Only one of which is dry. And it doesn't fit. Now I'm selling it.

JohnR · May 20, 2003

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Thought I'd chip in too.

Still have / using from 1977-80:

1st knife bought cheap in spain
60cuft ally (didn't have litres then) - now just for pool/short dives
USDivers Conshelf X1V / MDE contents - still in use, though oct added
Snorkel - yes really!
Wrist compass
Typhoon ABLJ
wetsuit boots from '80s - bit smelly and tatty now
Rubbery fluorescent orange overhood thingy. seemed like a good idea at the time but makes your head look like a crab pot marker float
UDT jetfins -bit small / tight with latest boots
Typhoon weight belt and probably some weights

Acquired over the years:

Mares BC
Sequest wing
Apeks ATX200/40, + TX100/40
Suunto triple guages
Another wetsuit (3rd or 4th I think)
Line cutters
More snorkels - picked up during dives
BC knife
3 11 litre cylinders
pony cyl. + clamp
various toches
Mares Volo fins
Prescription mask now that the vis is more than a few inches.
Pro Ultra computer
BSAC 88 tables to replace the old "dive A+dive B" sort.
Lycra Skin suit (don't go there) for the summer

On the Way (but don't tel the wife):

TX50 for use on pony / stages
HID lamp
Drysuit - maybe - 'cos it gets a bit cold here - water was as low as 16 C in Dec+Jan -and before you start, I used to dive in UK when I was a lad - 4mm 2 piece in N Sea in winter - bloody cold I can tell you!
Err - anything else I can sneak into the house without my beloved spotting it.

Original kit

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