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



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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.

Man, I wish I had seen this post earlier....I have a bunch of dive gear I want to sell. BTW I would love to do a dive trip, have been working on my NAUI Divemaster cert. and can use all the open water dives I can get.

A lot of great advise - I'm not sure I could add anything except a couple pics;)


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One more - I won the Atlanta Journal Travel photo contest with this one taken in the Cayman Islands :D

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Ok guys.. Going to Blue Water in OKC to look at gear after a PCA meeting Saturday...

I lived in hawaii for 2 years and have 117 dives logged. I was certified by a crusty old diver that pretty much tossed us overboard and said follow me.

I can vividly remember the first time I came face to face with a reef shark, sunning itself on a small patch of sandy bottom in a ray of light comming down from above thru a hole.... in a lava tube.

Thought I was going to swallow my regulator. LOL.

I have been diving for over 20 years, I have not bought a BCD, Regulator, tank or weights. Everwhere I have been you can hire these. Unless you are going to dive off your own boat or with friends privately I would just do as you propose, mask, snorkle, fins and watch. If you do get keen I would suggest a dive computer. Saves you having to keep track with the dive tables and lets you have more dives/bottom time per day with safety.

Sorry Bruce, but I have to 200% disagree with your on your "rent or hire all your equipment" statement....

whether you've dove for 20 years, or 20 months, or 20 days. Rental gear is typically hammered on old stuff that has been marginally maintained, even at resorts or big Aussie great barrier reef operations.

Yes if over the 20 years, you've only dove 2-3 times a year while on holidays or vacation, then maybe that makes sense for the infrequent diver. But I want/NEED to know that my air delivery device and regulators are mine, Heck they're ONLY your LIFE support equipment, and may have in the days or week before you Rented/Hired them they could of been drug through sand or mud or stepped on or crushed under a couple air tanks.

Just like a Rental Car, how many people treat them like their own? No, people thrash on them in general in a rough and tumble way....put it this way! Would you buy a Rental Porsche, BMW, M-benz, Vette, or Dodge Viper? 98% of people would say heck no, they've been rode hard and put away wet in horse terms. A regulator that fails or free flows at depths can kill you. Simple as that. It's worth my LIFE to spend the $400-500+ on a good regulator set-up.

Rental gear adds up quick. $20-25 a day for a regulator X times 20-25 days dives = that you could of gone out and bought your owned for the same money. Same thing with Wetsuits or other stuff.

All depends on how often you want to dive, once/twice a year as a tourist, or more often.

to my students and newbie divers, yes I suggest renting equipment for the first little bit to make sure Diving is for them as a sport/hobby, and THEN to drop the big money on buying their own equipment, but renting long term gets you upside down costs wise and you coulda/shoulda just bought equipment much cheaper up front.

Cheers!

Ok went and looked at Dive gear... there was a dive shop right across from the PCA breakfast... How convenient .


What say you on the Mares Liquid Skin Mask? That thing fit amazing... I feel like it is worth the 25 bucks more....
The place I went didn't have much in the way of fins other than the 200 split fins that are all rubber... Can't recall the name... I may still go to blue water next week when I am back up there....

The Mares Liq Skin IS a very nice mask, fit is everything! do not skimp on your mask what-ever brand.

I prefer a black skirt, keeps all the distracting reflections out that clear skirts give and they annoy the heck out of me.

The x-vision Mares series has "good" all around view, you want a low profile wide angle view, especially downward and upward.

That said I just bought a Tusa "visulator" mask, super wide all-around vision. I have a wider face, and those narrow small fitting masks just don't work for me.

fit is everything, I can't stress that enough.

Try on many many masks at different stores, look as far downward as you can with your chin on your chest, and move your finger up till you can't see it anymore through the mask (nipple level or lower or where-ever) THAT is the true judge/measurement of where your lower viewing levels are while checking gauges or finding a clip on your BCD.

keep the questions coming, you're asking the right stuff. For regulators, Scuba Pro, Atomic, Oceanic, Zeagle, in that order..........

Hey Rusty is the leisurepro site working for you? I can't get there...

Scubapro Twin Jet Max Full Foot Split Fins
Scubapro Twin Jet Max Open Heel Split Fins

What would be the advantage of the adjustable ones....



Mares X-Vision LiquidSkin Two Window Mask
Really liking that and that price is a little more my speed. Didn't really notice the clear in the store...
ScubaPro Solo One Window Mask
I think thats the one my room mate has... I will play with it this week and see what I think...

Bad advice, trust me I used to work on Dive Boats, you are trusting your life to gear used 1000's of times badly, bad air consumption rate = less time in the water
Secondly, you don't need split fins, they are bad in a current or bad water conditions, buy some Mares Avanti Quatro they will give you control and power. Obviously open heel with bootie configuration. They cost less $$$ too.
I got caught with a friend diving in Sudan Red Sea, (very unpredictable water) with my Mares AQ I could have got to the wall to get into the slower water, buddies Scuba Pro splits just don't have concentrated power when needed.
Have you ever seen a tech diver in split fins ?

Split fins are fine, and are more efficient and easier to kick, no they don't give the same "thrust" and push of solid fins, but just like a 10 speed bike, the split fins are more like pedaling/swimming in 2nd or 3rd gear, instead of 7th or 8th gear. So while they don't have the same "speed" they also don't tire you out as much or as quickly.

Tech divers use them because they NEED them, as they have wear much more gear and tanks and drag through the water. They also are advanced stronger divers who have more leg muscles more likely.

Yes for a new diver, open heel fins, split or solid, so you wear booties for walking on rocky shore dives, or while on a boat too for more protection and saves you from blisters.

The other thing with fins is stiffness and floating/sinking. A stiffer fin is heavier to travel with and may sink, where lighter fins float. I dive with both types, Apollo Bio Fins, and the Scuba Pro Twin Jet max.

spring clips instead of rubber straps on fins are nice too, as they auto adjust to your boot size and are easier to don and remove.

as with most things, there is no "one perfect answer" as to what equipment to buy. Different strokes for different folks (corny swimming joke right there........)

Sf
 

Sorry but split fins are for sashaying around on gentle dives in the caribbean, and I have never once, on any of the tech based liveabord trips I have been on seen a technical diver with them on.
Agreed to each his own and if you think they are for you so be it, but for a new diver I think a bad purchase. Also If the weight of your fins is bothering you in the water then you are not weighted correctly. new divers should be aware of what can happen, down currents, heavy surge etc and the need for good fin control in sandy or overhead obstructed conditions.

Ok, thats all well and good on tech dives... I will be diving in lakes in OK and the surrounding area... Not exactly the same...

too funny. Hcariss, you keep bringing up Tech diving and a whole different level of experience.............so be it. This guy, a newbie diver isn't even certified, so listen to your audience before you start spouting off and thumping your testosterone filled chest. Too funny......

Obviously you're not an instructor or have much experience in the general public that no aren't pushing 200 foot on Tri-mix.

All the better for the general public to try more equipment, learn, and experiment and see what works for them. All peoples milage and application do vary.

Me? I live and dive in Seattle in Puget Sound 5-10 foot viz, wearing drysuit, lots of weight and gear, 34 F air temp yesterday, 45 degree water temp, all while doing Rescue dive classes and working with students.

So listen to the people you're giving "advice" to.

Cb
 

"chest beating" ?
You are talking crap and should know better. He is a newbie diver. I don't care where you dive in what viz, split fins are a gimmick and not for newbies. I am a certified DM if you want to start listing qualifications & dives go ahead I could not care less that you are an instructor and were teaching in water that you know well. I worked in the industry too and have met many like you before, they usually press something hard when they are selling it in the dive shop.

Diving should be kept simple when you start out, so that you can concentrate on what is most important Buoyancy & control which you should know is the most critical element in the equation

This new guys gear should be cheaper and simpler so that he can concentrate on what's important. My point about TD's wearing regular fins has nothing to do with the fact they are doing tech dives, its simply because professional divers have adapted the gear configuration to be the most efficient, and best all round setup suited for anything you might encounter, if you are teaching you should know how quickly situations can change and potentially deteriorate for the worse. There is a lot for 'fun divers' to learn from the tech world in terms of gear setup weather you do the course or not.

TBH I don't give a hoot what newbie diver chooses to do, if he & you for that matter don't like my advice ignore it, there are many different opinions in the sport. I know you can talk some more and keep banging on giving examples from your teaching and trying to be the biggest voice here but really as an 'Instructor' you should know that getting so worked up just wastes air.

Listen to the pro's, with facts and data on timed slalom course swim throughs and best thrust for effort extended.

SmileWavy

:D

Fins | Scuba Diving Magazine

+1
That's why I bailed from this thread too.
Hey, you can watch me get DCS on the Millitay Channel "Seabattles" "Topedo Alley" Always use your own gas analyzer. :D
I still use a pair of Mares Power Plana Graphite fins. :eek:

Mares Essence Liquidskin. Masks Masks, Scubastore.com, buy, offers, scuba-diving


What say you about that mask... And that retailer...