SCUBA experts knowledge needed

[NasotheHutt]

I want to get certified this summer, and would like a comprehensive list of the equipment needed. I have found a place for classes, but they want to sell me their stuff. I think I could get it all cheaper on-line. The store told me everything would cost me $2000, is this correct? I have snorkeled before, but know nothing about scuba. I do know that you can rent the equipment, but I would like to own everything, except maybee the tank. So what's needed, and where are the best places on-line to get it?

Thanks!
Naso

[ZippyBoy]

SCUBA is like just about every other hobby....there are the bare essentials and them there is the fun stuff. There is the top of the line and the not so top of the line stuff (ie titanium regs versus composite versus stainless).

Mask, snorkel (optional), fins, BCD, regulator, octo, depth gauge, pressure gauge, equipment bag - warm water stuff. Tanks & weights are provided by the dive operator. If you are diving cold waters, you want wet (or dry) suit with gloves, hood and booties. By the way, I am a BIG fan of booties and fins, not just fins. I can't tell you how many times I was snorkeling with my gear and quickly took my fins off and had a nice comfortable walk over rocks and coral rubble back to the beach while my dive buddy struggled to negotiate the path with bare feet.:D

If you buy a "package" you will get a much better price because the equipment manufacturers won't let most shops discount from MSRP. A package allows the shop to massage numbers without discounting any one piece of equipment. The shops will try talking you into buying from them because they give "better" service to folks who buy their equipment from them. I'm not sure there is a "better" or "worse" way to maintain your reg/octo, so that is probably just marketing BS.

Have you decided NAUI or PADI?

If you have a local dive club, you may want to contact them to see if they get discounts from local shops or have preferences on equipment.

Good luck...its a GREAT SPORT !

[Mad Scientist]

Check out www.paradisedive.com, they sell pretty much all top shelf stuff.

$2,000 is a little high unless it includes an exposure suit.

If you are going to diving in cold water, I'd be glad to recommend some gear, if you are lucky enough to be only diving pretty reefs and clear springs, there are other RC people who will be able to give youa good idea of what $2,000 should get you. Good luck!

[Unresistible Blue]

You may not want to hear this, but I'd recommend strongly against making a big equipment purchase at this point in your future diving hobby.

Buy your mask, fins, booties, and snorkle now, and use the equipment the shop will provide during your lessons. Take a year or two of diving occassionally to gain exposure to numerous different tpes of rental gear and see what you like and what works best for you. I recommend your first big purchase then be a regulator. Next get a BC. Not sure if you're doing cold water diving, but rental wetsuits can be gross sometimes, so you may want to by one sooner rather than later.

I bought a regulator and BC years back, and I was glad I waited. Take your time - this gear is expensive, but if you buy good stuff it will last for years and years. Last time I took my BC/Air II octo in for service, they told me it was so old they can't get parts anymore - oh well it gave me years of good service and still works like the day I bought it! :D

[JazzMan]

Originally posted by Unresistible Blue
You may not want to hear this, but I'd recommend strongly against making a big equipment purchase at this point in your future diving hobby.

Buy your mask, fins, booties, and snorkle now, and use the equipment the shop will provide during your lessons. Take a year or two of diving occassionally to gain exposure to numerous different tpes of rental gear and see what you like and what works best for you. I recommend your first big purchase then be a regulator. Next get a BC. Not sure if you're doing cold water diving, but rental wetsuits can be gross sometimes, so you may want to by one sooner rather than later.

This advice is the best you can get. Listen to it!!! Unresistable is absolutely right!! Wait and see what you like. Are you only going to dive in the Caribbean on vacation once a year? Will you do local diving? You need to see what you like first and the best way to do that is by using rental equipment. Buy the booties, fins, and a good mask and snorkel.


It's a great sport and get ready for another addiction!!!!

[Mako]

Great advice from Blue on the wait. My thoughts exactly. Another benefit of doing this is that you will come across a lot of fairly new, barely used, equipment from people who did just the opposite and found it was not for them shortly afterwards and ended up selling their gear. I can't tell you how many great deals I have found on equipment this way. Most of my gear over the last 20+ years of diving has been purchased this way. Great way to save a buck!

[NasotheHutt]

Thanks! I'll wait, on all the equipment.

Zippy - I've decided on PADI. Should I go NAUI, what's the diffrence?

[pondscum]

It is very wise to take your time and get your equipment in pieces.
I`m not sure what equipment you should get first.
I now own everything I need (even stuff I`ll never use)
and I`ve spent almost $4000.00:eek1:

[Buckaroo]

PADI= Put Another Dollar In

:p

[Mad Scientist]

It's nice to learn with your own BCD and reg.

Both PADI and NAUI are good, I would, instead, look the dive shop that is offering the sourse and the instructors that will be training you. For example, if your goal is to dive in the Tropics on reefs, you would want and instructor familiar with this type of diving. As you take more classes this will become more clear. But, it is importatn for beginners as well in that you want yoru first exposure to scuba to be positive.

A friend of mine up here in MA recently was TRIMIX certifed, although there were instructors around here that offer TRIMIX, he choose to pay to have an instrucotor fly up from FL to train him.

[badgers]

I am not an expert but I would suggest getting mask, fins, boots and snorkle.

scubapro split fins are very well liked by everyone I know who has them.

I buy all my stuff online.
www.leisurepro.com - there own warranty
www.escubashop.com (need to email or call) - this one will have full warrenty because it is a LDS. great guy, a professional salvage diver.
www.unrealfind.com - never ordered from them but almost did.

ebay.com(use link from here)
I got my dry suit from ebay and my reg, dive computer set up.

http://www.scubatoys.com/main.html
I got my mask, fins, boots, knife and defog drops from here.
You can also download the navy dive manual from there site.

I am a big guy so I also got my 3mm wet suit because it is embarrasing to go on vacation and have the dive shop say that they don't have a suit my size to rent me.:(

[ZippyBoy]

I was NAUI certified in 1978. My wife was PADI certified 3 years ago. I think Buckaroo's statement is the funniest (and truest) I've read. PADI seems to have a merit badge approach to teaching dive quals. Seperate instruction for night diving, caves, wrecks, etc, etc, etc. My NAUI cert included all the information (including a brief marine bio course on what animals it was not good to touch or play with) I needed to do all the recreational stuff I want to do and more (including decompression diving). We did not get into multi level diving, because its dangerous without knowing exactly what you are doing and for how long. My classroom and pool work lasted 5 months (1 day per week) and I did 10 open water cert dives (off of Long Island NY from July through November - brrrrrrrrrrrr). I don't know if NAUI has changed its course req's so you might want to check their web site.

The only real problem I've run into with my NAUI cert is with the 20 YO "dive masters" who are all PADI certified. They think my open water is akin to PADI's open water - which I believe certifies you to take a bath :D . But seriously, there is something like that for PADI and it basically allows you to only dive in the company of a certified dive master down to 60 ft.

I also agree with MadScientist. Your instruction should be fun as well as informative. Talk to the folks who teach the course. Find out what their quals are. Talk to people who have taken the course, see if they were happy with the instruction. I would highly recommend going with a shop who has been in business for a few years. Don't get "resort" certified, you'll waste your vacation (and most experienced divers won't risk their lives in the hands of a resort diver - I'll spare the horror stories for a later time). Its OK to do your open water dives on vacation (that's what my wife did).

Just keep a few things in mind with regard to rental vs buying.....

1. Anyone who says they don't pee in their wetsuit is a liar :eek2: (heard this one from an instructor friend of mine who dives S. Calif)

2. Rental Regs are gross - think about it. That mouthpiece has been in countless mouths over the course of its life. Most rental places won't let use your own mouthpiece and swapping on the rental gear.

3. Buy the cheap stuff (mask, snorkel, booties, fins). You'll use them for snorkelling anyway. If you don't like them you can always give them to a friend and buy some new stuff.

Get going on the class work, summer's coming!

[NasotheHutt]

Ok I got Mares quatro fins, Mares Opera mask, booties, and a snorkel. I'll get to break these in a little over a week, at St. Thomas, and St. Croix. I can't wait!!!!

I plan on starting my PADI when I get back.

ZippyBoy - I have not found anyone here that teaches NAUI, with PADI do you half to dive under a dive master? Or can you rent your equipment somewhere, and rent a boat and go dive?

[Mad Scientist]

Don't worry PADI is fine, after taking 4-6 classes (1/2 classroom, 1/2 pool time), you will carry out 4 open water dives (where you demonstrate the skills you learned in the pool). Open water ceritification trains you to dive to 60ft. You do not need to have a dive master with you after certification (I don't know where that info came from)but is totally incorrect. With your C-card you can rent gear and fill tanks (although clearly you should realize that you are new diver and dive VERY safely under ideal conditions only).

Good luck, have fun, it's pretty cool seeing a coral you are keeping in your home in it's natural setting.

[Kevin Gougherty]

I learned to dive in Monterey Bay. For certification I was required to buy fins, mask & snorkle, gloves, booties, and a compass. All toll it was 3-4 hundred bucks, plus the PADI Open Water Crew Pack.

Aside from mask and fin straps I still use this same base equipment today, 10 years later. Since then I've gone through DM and now I'm an instructor. I did not get the BCD, drysuit, regs, computers(2), until I finished my DM training.

This allowed me to get aquainted with the different gear available plus other divers experiences and recommendation. After assisting in several emergency situations, I've learned the simpler the better. The air integrated, and integrated weight systems, and the dive computers are just no substitution for simple inline gear that is time proven and dependable in emergencies. I stay down until my joints hurt, and I know I'm too deep when I start hearing Pink Floyd.

The only fancy thing I have is a Suunto Titanium Stinger. Good luck with diving its highly cool. Save you money for a good digital underwater camera!!!

[Kengar]

When I first got into keeping fish, maybe ten years after I started diving, I used to laugh at how cheap the fish-keeping equipment seemed compared to dive gear. Now that I'm into reefing, well, I now laugh at how cheap the dive gear seems :D :D :D

[NasotheHutt]

I just got back from a cruise to the Virgin Islands. On St. Croix I went on a discover scuba excrusion for non-certified divers. We only dove to a depth of about 20 feet, but it was GREAT! I can't wait untill PADI classes start!!

[ReefPilot]

SCUBA and Reefing are great co-hobbies :D

As stated earlier in this post, I agree, wait until you are certified before you start buying your non-essential gear. Also, decided what type of diving you want to do and how serious you are before you determine how top-of-the-line you need your gear.

When you are completely out of money and still need to max out the credit cards, look into underwater photography & video....this truly brings the SCUBA and Reefing worlds together! :eek2:

Have fun with both activities.

[zooqi]

It depends what kind of equipment you want to buy. I have had a whole set for $4500 before and a set that did almost the same job for $1300.