Need to pick up some Dive gear
 

I enrolled in a basic Scuba class for the spring semester. I need to get a mask, snorkel, and fins at least. My room mate recommends a Dive bag too.

So where can I get a good deal on all of these? I have until January. Also what brands/styles should I be looking at?


Assume I don't know anything... Edumacate me.

I'd recommend a local dive shop where you can try the stuff on if you have one. But I've ordered stuff from leisurepro.com and joediveramerica.com with very good results. Did you get your course book yet? I assume you are doing and open water certification through PADI or another org as the curriculum? I know the PADI book has a few chapters on gear and specifically what you should look for, so you may want to read through that too before you buy.

DiversDirect. is very good.

But as suggested, try stuff on first. Make sure it fits well and is comfortable.

Some folks after going through a scuba course go crazy over the sport! You can spend a fortune on equipment, but if you plan on traveling to great dive spots outside the southwest rent your tank/regulator/weight belt/back pack/wet suit with the outfit you dive with. Yes, a nice part mesh dive bag to hold your mask, fins, snorkel, booties, log book and accessories is needed. Make it a bright color, so in the future when your on the dive boat or on the dock at some great destination like the Florida Keyes with several others you will easily recognize it. Being in Oklahoma I will assume instruction is in the pool and your check out dive is in a lake or quarry. Or are they taking you down to the Gulf or Keyes? Lake and qaurry diving can mean thermoclines and VERY COLD temperatures. With that, see if the school provides wet suits. If you plan on diving in colder water you must have thermal protection.

Do not forget the dive watch (with a rotating bezel of course). They come in all prices, but the Seiko line is the toughest and best for my money. Anyways, they are great everyday watches.

Good luck, dive safe and welcome to the great underwater world.

Bob:D

I know the certification is through PADI... I haven't bought the book but I will probably end up stealing my room mates anyways... He is in the class right now... Yes the instruction is in a heated pool and the check out dive will be Lake Tenkiller here in OK or the Blue Hole in NM.

check with the dive shop to see if they're selling last years rentals. When traveling, I always bring my on gear, minus tanks and weights. There are plenty of on-line resources, but you would be better off trying stuff on before you buy it. Maybe the shop will let you try before you buy in the pool. They should. don't Go apesht before you know what you're doing. Dive gear can be a verrrrrry slippery slope.
Can you say Inspiration?

As a PADI scuba instructor, I work with newbie students all the time.

Buy your own book, highlight all the important facts so you can review them later. You'll need your own book anyways in order to complete the knowledge reviews (homework) that is turned into the instructor.

I'd suggest NOT to buy "last years rentals". That equipment gets hammered on to death.

think of it this way, you're putting together an astronauts suit, your life support equipment to keep you breathing at depth. Buy a good quality regulator (Scubapro/Oceanic/Zeagle), and dive computer, forget about a dive watch, not really needed but if you want one go cheap.

There are always good deals on lightly used equipment on Craigslist. Somebody spends $2K on gear, uses it 5-8-10 times, then they get out of diving and you can buy the 2K of gear for $600-700.

Most important gear is your mask, and regulator. Buy your mask and get it fitted right at your local dive shop. A leaky mask that is always fogging up will ruin a dive and keep you misable. A good quality regulator breathes easily with little resistance. Buy it ONCE, don't go cheap and then upgrade a year or two down the road as that's false economy. Oceanic makes good affordable dive computers, The Veo250 or similar.

Buy your Basic open water PADI book now and start reading it, the DVD is good to have too as it is matched chapter to chapter to the book. You'll be leaps ahead of the rest of the class by reading your book now and before class even starts. Watch the DVD and get your friends to join you in class as dive buddies are great to have.

If you have any Scuba questions PM me, if anyone in the Seattle area wants to get certified let me know as I do one on one instruction so you get my full attention and not a class of 10-12 people.

Diving opens the door to the world. Every trip turns into a dive trip, and I've been fortunate to have seen Fiji 3x, Belize 2x, Costa Rica, Roatan Honduras, New Zealand, and many other more common places like Hawaii and Florida.

ENJOY, and happy bubbles to you!

I'm VERY much into underwater photography too, and own $1000's of dollars worth of camera gear.


enjoy some scenes from the undersea world..........:D



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354000.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354038.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354083.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354134.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354201.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354247.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354276.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1257354310.jpg

dive !
 

Check out leisurepro.com they have some great deals as do diver warehouse. I agree 100% on not buying used shop gear.
Build the kit that suits you. and as soon as you qualify for open water do advanced OW, its 3 more days you will learn so much more crucially you will understand buoyancy better dive safer, and use less air.
Gear : It does not need to match, you can buy lots of different parts from different suppliers.

Regs : Its your choice but I would suggest looking at Atomic M1 reg (best all rounder IMO) get a cheaper octopus scuba pro / oceanic but don't save on the reg think about diving nitrox or maybe even trimix later on.

BCD : Trust me a wing will support you as well as a jacket. I would consider spending a bit more and get a harness and travel wing from Dive Rite. This makes a small light package that you can build on or if you don't like you can sell and DR gear holds value

Use a weight belt not pull pockets, you can get a comfortable enclosed weight belt
Buy a computer Suunto to start with.
Get a good torch start simple but it will bring out the colors, (if you like the sport buy a green force umbilical) without a torch everything is green
Always carry a small sharp knife, you don't need a big one but you need it in a convinient place
Take a bungee form a loop put a small piece of plastic tube 8cm with two holes 1cm from the open ends, feed the bungee through the holes then through the holes you made tie the two ends of the bungee. wear around your neck to hold your octopus in between the plastic tube and the bungee so you know exactly where your octopus is.
Carry a flag or inflatable 'sausage' and a spare mask where you can get to them
Don't fight current
Always check B.W.R.A.F before you go in. its not a race and if you are ever uncomfortable slowly surface raise the flag and the DM will come and get you
Its a great sport, one last piece of advice the best way to get dive experience is to do a liveaboard trip.

Wow. Lots of good info there.


Right now the university provides regulators and all that goodness.. I just need a mask and snorkel and the fins.
My DD Invicta is a dive watch.

There really isnt a dive shop in this area. The nearest one is OKC. I'll go pick up a book in the next few weeks. I'm going to start getting in a little better shape too... Gotten kinda lazy since my backpacking trip in '07.


Yikes Rusty you are going to cost me money with those pictures... I already have a DSLR and a love of photography...

Save your money and head to the Red Sea. Some of the best diving I have ever done. Vis up to 300 feet and warm enough to dive without a BC...

Joe- I will take that into consideration.... My room mate have been discussing an out of the country dive trip in a few years... Discussed Belize and Cancun already... Hmm.... Maybe Australia....

Pacific is also excellent. Been a diver for 35 years now and love to roam the world looking for nice warm places to dive. Tired of wetsuits...

Fins, may I suggest the Scubapro twin jet fins, or Apollo Bio-fins. I really like split fins in open heal then get dive booties for walking around with your feet still protected. DON"T get closed foot/heel fins. Get the stainless Spring straps over just a rubber strap too

Scubapro Twin Jet Max Open Heel Split Fins

I also prefer a black skirted mask, such as the Oceanic Shadow, or the Mares X.

While back inflate wings are nice for BCD's, (I have 3 of them) they do tend to push you face down at the surface, so a very good all around BCD is the Scubapro Glide Plus, which is weight intergrated and has nice features. I'm also a BIG fan of the Zeagle line of BCD's, and own a Ranger, Stilleto, and Escape.

A VERY good website to soak in all the info is:

ScubaBoard - Scuba Forums, Articles, Dive Buddies, Social Network - Equipment and Travel

Before you get into photography, get your buoyancy skills down, and it'll shock you what a DSLR housing will cost you, starting at $1500. I shoot with an Olympus SP-350 point-n-shoot in an Ikelite housing and DS-125 strobe.

Yes a dive lite is a great first investment in toys. The UK HID light canon is awesome, (I own 2 but they're not cheap) as is the Princeton Tec Shockwave triple LED.

Princeton Tec, 2008 Shockwave LED


Buying yellow gear in flashlights or fins, helps if you drop or lose something as that yellow color is the most visable at depth. Most people buy all black stuff, but when you drop a black flashlite if it's not turned on most likely you've just lost it...........been there done that.

For travel, it's hard to beat the carribean for cost/value.

Belize is awesome, Get out to Ambergris Caye and also do inland jungle adventures exploring Mayan history.

At this resort Cocoview on the Island of Roatan off of Honduras where I used to work, it's around $999 for your over the water cabana, 3 buffet meals a day, and unlimited diving for 7 nights. WOW that's only like $150 a day per person for your room food and fun.

Welcome to CoCo View Resort

and it's hard to beat an All Inclusive resort on Cozumel Island which is right off of Cancun and Akumal.

GREAT travel websites:

Cheap Caribbean

and

Travel Deals: Airfare, Vacations, Cruises, and More | Travelzoo


I just got back from Cancun, where on Cheap Caribbean they have sales for All Inclusive All you can Drink All you can Eat and a nice resort for $39-59 a night per person. Dammmn hard to beat that.

cheers!

Wow, Great photos and dive sites! I'm still new at the sport (just complete advanced open water last month) and have been trying to avoid the underwater photo itch..... You are NOT helping me there!

Any recommendations for into underwater photography equipment?

Pat

That was just a quick grab of photos off my computer hard-drive............Honestly I've probally shot close to 20000 photos in the last 5-6 years.

Each dive is easily worth 100-150 photos. Throw out 3/4's of them after brutal hard editing, and out of 100 I'll keep 10ish, then show off 2-3 out of the 100.

yes underwater photography is hard.


Note I said "photography", not picture taking.

you have to answer that yourself, "am I a picture taker, or photographer"

A photographer is constantly changing shutter speeds and f-stops, shooting with fish eye and wide angle lenses (I just bought a DREAM of a 165 degree field of view fish eye lens)

For the basic noobie photo taker, stay AWAY from "dedicated" dive cameras, such as the Sea Life or Sea-n-Sea brands. Crap equipment, nice crap, but still crap.

Instead buy a digital point-n-shoot and the manufactures housing, or step up to an Ikelite which is Pro-sumer level.

Nikon, Canon, Olympus, nothing else is really supported for the undersea world for housings.

I've seen people shoot with $8K - $10,000 rigs underwater and turn out turd worthy photos. I've also seen $300-500-1000 rigs shot stellar shots in the right hands.

I'll post more pictures off a different laptop later, I just went CAVE diving south of Cancun in Akumal in Centoes which are flooded ancient cave systems. Jaw dropping stellar awesome. Surreal diving in fresh water in a cave. Yeah it's hard core, but no more so than Autocrossing your 911 and going into Turn 1 hot and fast braking late at 85-100 mph........ GRINS.

for photo tips/equipment

Go to http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/


or wetpixels.com

or for equipment Reef Photo & Video!, The Underwater Photo Pros

they all know my credit card well.


PAT S, CONGRATS on taking your Advanced course. Now the real step, is going forward to Resuce diver. That is one of the HARDEST, but most rewarding courses you can ever take. I seriously encourage you to go for it if you're serious about diving. At least buy the book and DVD, you'll still get the skill set whether you get the cert card or not.

stuff
 

We should do a Pelican Dive liveaboard, something else to talk about after the night dive.

+1 Congrats on AOW, the advice re rescue is right seriously its a great confidence builder and a must have before moving on in either direction, you learn so much and its fun especially the last exam day when on the way home after they have told you you've passed. you're out of your wetsuit feeling good ... instructors start throwing themselves off the boat Guess who has to do the rescuing.

If you dont want to go to DM do specialties and the next real challenge : Tech Rec, I found it the most useful knowledge & skill set of all. Even if you don't do the course read the book.

Dive sites: Cocos Islands off Costa Rica, do the Red Sea in the Sudan, and once you get to mixed gas head to the Pacific.
Great things await.

Yes in a few years we should put together a Pelican dive trip... That would be great fun. I know my room mate would come with us.

I'm up for that! :) My wife and I just finished a week of diving on Roatan at West End. Awesome diving.