Scuba equipment ?

dominga

dominga

New member
Looking to get back into scuba again. Never bought my own equipment and always rented. we live in Wisconsin (COLD) and never got big into lake diving, but recently my brother moved to the Riviera Maya and now I am back in bussiness. "That is the way to do it". I want to buy new or used equipment for recreational diver, maybe to use two times per year in Mexico. Also my daugther is old enough to start at diving and she will become my diving buddy when she gets more experience. We were doing snorkel in Mexico so she was very excited. she wants to start scuba diving and we will give it a try. Please let me know of any suggestions or advise.
Thank you
 
Seriously, if that is all you are going to use it and you are traveling to your destinations you are better off renting then. With the weight restrictions on bags ($$$$$$) and the constant upgrading of equipment, renting gives you better equipment at a cheaper overall price. Mask, fins and snorkel excluded. Not to mention the hassle factor.

First thing I buy on a trip is a box of those alcohol pads to clean the regulators with though!
 
+1 -- The annual service alone will cost you as much if not more than what you'll likely pay for rentals a couple of times per year.
 
Thank you, that s good to know. How about just regulator. I have fins, boots, wet suit,mask,snorkel. I was planning in buying the equipment and leave it in Mexico since my brother lives there and he can use it on a regular basis. Maybe more than 2 times per year
You guys are the experts, and I will follow your advise
 
I mean it in a good way. You really know what you doing.
Rather do the diving to snorkel, but you are right with the prices of flights and charges for bags is just crazy. Besides the alcohol and basic gear what else would you advise to take.
 
No, SERIOUSLY, I'm anything but an expert... I'm not even remotely close!!!

What I am however is somewhat financially conscientious when it comes to spending my hard earned money. Being self employed in an industry that is very much feast or fast, I don't get a regular paycheck. When I do have an extra dollar from a contract, I need to make the wisest possible spending decisions that I can, so that I can stretch that sucker as far and thin as humanly possible.

That said, I tend to research things to death in an effort to make the best possible spending decisions. Case in point would be the HOG Regulators that I started a thread about in this forum about a month ago. Since that time, I bought my set, and have also turned a few other people on to them as well, because they are exceptionally well built and very economical.

In regards to specific gear to always travel with, if you have a mask that you absolutely love because it fits you perfectly, then consider buying a spare and carrying it too. At the very least make sure you have a spare mask strap at all times, and a set of spare fin straps will also serve you quite well. Hopefully you'll never need any of them, but it's called insurance because if you DO need them they could very well be what saves your vacation. I put springs on my fins, and just carry the old straps in my gear bag just in case... Who knows, my buddy may well need them!

For occassional diving, I personally wouldn't waste the money on a BC and especially on tanks (even for shiny red ones! :D), but I would give some thought to a set of regs just because I personally feel better knowing exactly what I have in regards to properly maintained equipment. You'll most likely want/need YOKE valves rather than DIN for the convenience factor while vacationing. On the otherhand you can always buy DIN and a DIN/YOKE converter and you'll be set for anything that you encounter.

Hopefully you'll find some of this rambling useful. ;)

-Tim
 
+2

...And everything that Tim said. :)

Honestly, regs and tanks both are supposed to be rebuilt or inspected at least once a year, with a cost ranging from $20 to $50 per tank or stage (and your regulator has three stages). Unless you can justify $200 per year or more for regular maintenance alone, don't bother to get your own gear.

For those occasional divers (like what I'm hearing you plan to do), often the rental gear is in a better state of repair than your own stuff that's been sitting around for a year anyway. When you factor in lugging your own gear around everywhere and all of the cleanup after every dive, it's just easier to rent.

Do you plan to ever do any local lake diving at all?
 
Thank you. that is just great input. As far as lake diving I am looking into it, and there is a lake near the WI, IL Border and is only for divers. Maybe my first step.
I was looking at e-bay and many people selling regulators and computers that have been sitting for years in the closet or basement and they just want to recover some money.
 
dominga said:
I was looking at e-bay and many people selling regulators and computers that have been sitting for years in the closet or basement and they just want to recover some money.
Click to expand...
Bzzzzzzt! Bad idea my friend, unless you know how to identify whether you can still get parts for them, and what a complete rebuild would cost. A local friend that I met while he was beginning his OW classes just went through all that, insisting that he could save money. In the end, he bought 3 sets of regs and then still had to pay our LDS (local dive shop) for a complete rebuild on the best set of the 3. In the end, he ended up with someone elses junk, that ended up costing him about the same as a new new of intermediate quality Aqualung regs that our LDS wanted to sell him in the first place.

If you are absolutely dead set on buying a set or 2 of regs, then I would very strongly suggest that you consider the Edge Epic regulator set offered by Divers Supply for $329 complete... Edge is the "recreational" side of HOG (the "technical" side of the company) that I've mentioned above, so I wouldn't hesitate to dive it. It doesn't mention whether or not it comes with hoses, but I would guess that they do. Just call em & ask! :)

http://www.divers-supply.com/Edge-Epic-Regulator-Set--P2019.aspx

Again however, I think that WE ALL THINK that you should sit tight and not buy any regs yet.

I'm gonna tell you the same thing that SeaJay told me. Before you spend a dime, know what your goals are in diving. Do you strictly want to dive on a 30' reef 2-3 times a year, or do you want to explore the depths, wrecks and caves..? I didn't listen to him, and bought what I thought I needed at the time, plus a pair of shiny red tanks... Since mid-December I have sold all of my original gear, mostly at a substantial loss, and have replaced 100% of it with what he and I both feel to be the best of the best in regards to having the right set of tools for the desired application.... My goal is to become full-cave certified, and with the proper gear & training, I will do it! :beer:

Good luck in whatever decision you make, and continue asking questions and reading here, because that's how you will learn most.

-Tim
 
I will wait for regulator. check the one you are mentioning for sure and start saving money so I can get a good quality equipment. I know I have to go back to the riviera maya in June and July so I will have plenty of time to dive. Again thank you for all the help provided in short time, and good advised I think that without this site maybe I would had spent lot of money.
 
dominga said:
Thank you. that is just great input. As far as lake diving I am looking into it, and there is a lake near the WI, IL Border and is only for divers. Maybe my first step.
I was looking at e-bay and many people selling regulators and computers that have been sitting for years in the closet or basement and they just want to recover some money.
Click to expand...

For a local spot, try Lake Geneva, crystal clear water and you can do anything from shallow water dives to 300 foot dives. Lots of fish and things to see and find on the bottom and it is not too cold. Great for your daughter as you can do shore dives at 10 feet and gradually move her out to deeper water. Plenty of slopes from 10 to 50 feet within reach of shore dives. I have logged over 40 dives there. If you live in Milwaukee it is only a 40 minute drive. Having said that, nothing beats a coral reef!

As for the above, everyone is right. look at it this way.... Do you really want to trust your life or more importantly your daughters life to someones "old" equipment? Even if it is rebuilt and checked some things are better off new and maintained by you. I would not look for a shortcut on something so important. I would just rent. If you find a good dive shop, you can get state of the art equipment for like $20.00 a day. Most good shops replace their equipment annually.
 
I will try Lake Geneva near spring season sounds very interesting,I was at the resort for a conference and yes is about 40 minute drive. I want to try also Pearl lake also.
You are right I will not put my life or my daughter's life in danger just to save few bucks. I am glad I check with you guys first.
 
Yeah, don't miss out on local diving. I'm in an area where most divers simply choose to drive 5 hours south to the Florida springs if they want to go diving... The local blackwater is low visibility, silty, and often has a ripping current. It's also salt water, which makes cleanup much more complicated than freshwater diving.

As such, there aren't many people who dive here, even if they live here and are serious divers.

...Which is to say that they miss all kinds of opportunity - they miss the history and the shipwrecks (that are relatively virgin), the fossils and meg teeth (that can be worth thousands) and of course, they miss the commercial diving aspect - what I've built my company on, which frankly, does very well financially. That wouldn't be so if local divers realized the opportunity of diving locally (I can charge a premium because few others will dive here).

In short, local diving - regardless of the conditions - has it's own appeal for it's own reasons. Those reasons could be because of it's profitability, it's history, it's uncommon diving, or it's interesting or challenging situation. Whatever the good aspect of it, it's DIVING, after all, and is attractive simply for the fact that it IS local. Don't miss doing it just because it's not exotic. :)

That said, you STILL want to rent your gear as long as possible. Don't worry - if you're diving, you'll find yourself with a garage full of gear soon enough. :) You'll find a reg you simply can't live without or a BC that's your absolute favorite. Next thing you know, you'll be trading the family car for a truck, buying a boat, and even getting your own compressor.

All of these things require maintenance, money, time, effort, and work - not just to purchase, but to own. The more you own, the less diving you'll do - after all, there's only so much time, effort, and money to go around in someone's life.

...So what we're saying is to ignore the gear, rent or borrow someone else's as long as you can, and go DIVING. After all, if DIVING was about the gear, it'd be called GEAR and not DIVING. :)
 
I will start looking into the local diving, just a bit warmer maybe spring time. My certification was in a lake a was really dark, visibility almost to none I was not able to see the instructor, just my hand infront of me, practice what I was told and did not panic, but couple of my classmates did not make it that day. We went to a different lake, water was clear and they had a boat, a bus and other sunken ships. I had fun that day because I was able to see better, did not missed the merky water from the day before but gave me a good experience.I will check couple dive shop in my area for prices and opportunities.
Thank you for the encouragement and information.
 
dominga said:
I will start looking into the local diving...
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's really a lot of fun. :)

In my avatar to the left, I'm sitting on the gunwhale of one of my boats, having just finished a dive not two miles from my house. In my hands is an 1880-era South Carolina Dispensary bottle, a truly rare find - and worth about $1200 to collectors worldwide.

Wouldn't have happened if I was diving the clear, warm waters of Cozumel or the Caymans. :)

Don't get me wrong - that dive was cold, dark, and the current was positively RIPPING that day. The dive was not for everyone, and of course, I'd have much rather been doing a wall dive in the Bahamas. :) But if all I did was dive on vacation, my diving would be cut from about 500/year to 2 or 4 dives per year.

Don't miss the opportunity just 'cause the water's murky. :)
 
Are you referring to AIR or WATER temps..?

The coldest water temp that my computer recorded on a dive was 47* at 107 feet... I believe the surface temp was about 62 degrees.

I kinda think that air temp is somewhat irrelevant, because we can usually always get in front of a heater and in some dry clothes between dives.

-Tim
 
Hey, is the water still liquid? :)

Teperature is simply a matter of the right gear. :)

I'm not a fan of seriously cold diving... Things get really difficult and not much fun. Still, if it can't be postponed until warmer times, it CAN be dived if the water's not solid.

...And even when it's solid, there's usually liquid underneath. :)
 
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