Need some good scuba advise here...

[drock59]

Well i am in college, my last term, and i am taking a scuba class. Im sooooo excited about this and have wanted to do this for some time. I am on scholarship too, so it makes it even better knowing that someone else is paying for it.

My question is, what advise can experienced scuba divers give me??

As far as equipment goes, how much will i need to spend to have some decent equipment that i will use for one trip every year or two???

Any other advise or comments folks want to make is welcome. thanks!!

[Scuba Dog]

drock59

Well what kind of diving are you wanting to do? I see your in Oregon so if you go to the coast its cold water diving, a dry suit would be high on my list. Try out some gear most dive shops will let you try out there gear to see how well you like it. Me personaly I would look for a good regulator set up, and a dive computer, One trip on cozumel my dive computer quit on me so for the rest of the trip I felt way naked without it, I know the tables and what not just love computers. as far as BC's its a matter of taste, I personaly love back inflated ones , but some people hate them, then agen i liked the old horse collar BC's aswell...but overall define the type of diving your most interested in and build your gear around that....

[drock59]

i am in oregon and there i will have to do my four certification dives here so it will be chilly but i think we are wearing two layers of wet suit. I have gone surfing a couple times at the coast with just a wet suit and i was cold but fine.

I plan on doing reef diving. I dont plan on doing anything extreme and i probably dont want to go much deeper than fifty to seventy five feet. I just want to see reefs. I guess there is some really cool stuff on the west coast of canada that i would love to see, not to mention mexico, bahamas, hawaii, figi, australia, etc, etc.

One more question. I will need some booties with the cold water and i wear a size 16 shoe. is this gonna be a problem??? i hope not.

anyway thanks for the feedback.

[Scuba Dog]

drock59

With the wet suit yeah I would definitly go with the booties, and Im sure you will be able to find some. Im mostly familiar with aqua lung US Divers equipment since my local dive shop carrys that gear, but I havent really kept up with the new stuff the last couple of years or so. yeah Mexico has some cool reefs in the yukatan sp....good ole cozumel...basicly I would not skimp on the live suport gear...to me the regulators is really important a good easy breather at depth, most important when choosing gear is one is is dependable and comfortable and a good fit....but every one has there own personal preferences, you could always look up rodales ratings of scuba gear, but I always recomed that you suport the local dive shops, a good place to meet dive budies and if you buy from them then your prone to get better service for your gear...

[babar]

I wound up with 18 credits in scuba in college, Got my divemaster cert and even TAed for a couple semesters. Given a choice, I think the college course is the way to get certified. You spend the entire semester taking the course, they run drills in the pool. I think it's a great way to get really comfortable with your gear and skills.
usually there is someone in the course who offers a package deal on gear for the course, or they're hooked up with a local dive shop. I would ask around amond the course people.

cheers, and have fun
Babar

[drock59]

we do get a great deal on snorkel, mask, fins and booties but i am wondering about the other equipment. Eventually i would love to have my own gear so when i go places i dont have to rent or use someone elses gear.

[billsreef]

Originally posted by Scuba Dog
then agen i liked the old horse collar BC's aswell

Your dating yourself with this one

As much as I hate to admit it, I've got one hanging up in the closet Personally I think the upgrade to a vest style BC was the best investment I ever made Though I'm still diving with the reg's I brought at the same time as that old horse collar

[Jim in santa barbara]

Buy a good regulator, mask and snorkle, and computer for your personal use. Rent the rest. That way you can maintain it and know 2000 other people havent put their mouths on your gear. I rented in mexico once and my reg quit @ 60 feet and I had to buddie breath up.

Size 16 booties, you may need to custom order those, nobodys gonna stock those.

[billsreef]

Originally posted by drock59
One more question. I will need some booties with the cold water and i wear a size 16 shoe. is this gonna be a problem??? i hope not.

Get the booties first, than the fins. That way the fins fit

For warm weahter diving, your feet will get to be a little toasty. But that's better than getting cold feet The alternative is to get a second pair of fins for warm water diving. Personally I'm a cheap SOB and bring my booties along for vacatation too Never had a problem, other than the time I forget to pack the booties

[respond2life]

I agree that you can establish good relationships with your local dive shops, get good service, and plan some neat dives. But if you are a broke student like I was, I would suggest looking at www.leisurepro.com. My favorite purchase was a dive computer (aeris 750gt). Leisure pro carries all of the name brand dive products at discount prices. My local dive shop sells most of the items for double the price that leisure pro sells them for. Just make sure you get a good mask, regulator, and decent bc. You can't go wrong with anything that scubapro makes, aqualung is also a decent manufacturer. Hope this helps. Have fun with diving.

[jjwdiver]

If you go the Leisure Pro way, just remember that Aqualung, Suunto, Seaquest, Scubapro and Uwatec cannot be sold online by an authorized dealer. Anyone selling such things online cannot off the manufactures warranty. Meaning, if you're in Florida diving with your gear and you need a fix, it will cost you ALOT more to get it fixed.

However, if you enjoy the whole shipping and returning process...

Support your local dive stores because that is where the service is. They cannot survive on servicing equipment!!! They gotta teach classes and sell stuff. Go elsewhere and they will too.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[drock59]

just bought from eugene skin divers supply. great company and great service!

[skylsdale]

Might be too late, but as far as your starting gear: I would get the best mask and fins that you can afford, then the cheapest booties, hood, and snorkel you can. There are so many gimmicks our there for snorkels, when in all reality, you hardly use it.

I'm up here in central Washington (same type of area as Bend, OR...if that gives you an idea of climate, etc.) and I use a 7 mm wetsuit in the mountain streams and rivers around here coming down out of the Cascades, and I'm nice and toasty (even in the middle of October). Temps in Puget Sound average around 42*F, and 7mm would probably work well over there (Hood Canal, Port Hardy in BC, etc.). My friend just got a dry suit for doing a lot of diving over there, but if you plan on doing most of your diving in the warmer months, you should be fine. Depending on how much you actually plan on doing, you might be better off renting a wetsuit.

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by drock59
i
I plan on doing reef diving. I dont plan on doing anything extreme and i probably dont want to go much deeper than fifty to seventy five feet. I just want to see reefs. I guess there is some really cool stuff on the west coast of canada that i would love to see, not to mention mexico, bahamas, hawaii, figi, australia, etc, etc.
.

FYWI, from what I hear you have some great diving right there in the PNW. Warm water reefs are cool, but, you also live in a place with a great reputation for diving, don't forget about your own backyard. Plus if you get good in the chilly water you'll really be able to tear if up doing tourist dives down south.

BTW, most experienced dives don't wear snorkles - for obvious reasons such as drag and the though of getting entanlged with sometime attached to your face, and for less obvious reasons realted to speicalized gear configuration.

[sea dog 6]

drock59:
Some of the best diving in the world (thats right .. World.. ) is in upper Puget Sound... dont discount your own geographic area! You wont see a more unusual collection of Actinairia. Often Seals/ Sea Lions and the occaisional pod of Orca. Check out the upper San Juan Isls, and on the Canadian side, inlets off the Georgia Strait, usually out of Sidney.
Also, back in Wash., Hood Canal was once great diving for oysters, and beach BBQ that follows is great. Water there is warm in the summer. There are many Puget Sound communities with "official" shore entry dive areas. One that comes to mind is Edmonds Wash, which has an underwater park of sorts. Also,
kelp forests are primevil hunting grounds... check it out... with an experienced buddy.
Dive local and you dive more often... it ultimately makes you a better diver.
Have fun!
Sea dog 6

[sea dog 6]

drock59
One last word of advice that hopefully is not necessary. Always err to the side of caution and redundancy. Until you do some beach entries & exit or experience a rip tide exit and parallel swim, you may not realize how important your snorkle can be. If it gets in your way, put it in your BC. But you better bring it with you until you have sufficent experience to know when its not necessary, or I will personally swim up behind you and turn off your air and drop your weights ...

now have fun exploring our great aquarium!
seadog 6

[sea dog 6]

Scuba Dog!

i liked the old horse collar BC's as well

Wow! OK, OK ok, ok I admit, I liked em too. No clutter. no retractors for those who cant manage all thier must have clutter..no logo... gadgets. . remote control buttons ( breath tube?)...no hot pink...no over controlled boyancy... no pockets (well one small one for a mirror and a used CO2). Did I mention no clutter? Yup, I guess I miss em too. I think I gave mine to my youngest daughter to use as a snorkel vest, maybe circa 1979. Made a great pillow on the beach too. What is/was neat about the thing was that it worked, and was the ultimate in simplicity.
Do you have a "Conch Shell" Reg. also? remember... sucking air through a freezing up bar straw? Used to get a kick watching the bad guys on Sea Hunt cut the good guys exaust hose... and the diver in the simulated panic! Reminds me of an underwater touristo surfacing and discovering that its not his boat!
Training Method for the most part has improved I think. But a lot has been lost as well...Eyles and Fontova, Barskey and Hendrick should be mandatory reading, maybe with disertation a requirement for cert. ?
Yup, its come a long ways... and most of the changes really are great....But pretty soon you wont even have to be a swimmer!
Seadog6 out there sippin air...

[Scuba Dog]

sea dog 6

Yep I was weened on a horse collar bc lol, that was back in 1984...I was 15 years old, and halled hay to pay for the c class lol...used a conself 20 USD regulator...could not even afford bootys then but i had some tough heels though lol... My dive shop has some old horse collars laying around, but i think the bladder may be shot in them they were the old traing bcs back then. Now I use Back inflated bc, but its been all to long since i have dove, i bought a house and all the necessary items to keep up a house even a riding lawn mower, got married and bought my wife her scuba gear...then got into reefkeeping...so my scuba exploits ahve taking about a two three year break...But hopefully soon like next january or febuary Ill take my wife to cozumel since im way familar with those reefs and start enjoying the good life agen...

[Abynum1]

If you are only going to dive maybe once every year or two,then buy fins,mask,snorkel and booties if you're going w/open heel fins. Unless your rich why spend a grand or more on equipment that's never being used and just sitting around taking up space? There are some that would argue that they would rather own their own instead of trusting rental equipment, but I think I would rather take my chances with maintained equipment from a reputable diveshop(reputable being the keyword) then use something that's been sitting in an attic for the last year and a half.