Scuba Equipment recommendations?

Question

hi, i´ve purchased my dry suit (O Three) and want to be the complete set ofgear so i dont have to rely on renting. Does anyone have any recommendations on which Reg or BCD to buy for example?

Answer 1

Buy the absolute best you can afford. Siebe Gorman regulators used to be the best.

Answer 2

Talk to the dive shop where you have been renting your equipment. They should have some recommendations based on the type of diving you will be doing. If you are looking to advance your education then make sure to get one that will accomidate what you want to do (night, deep, tech, etc) Make sure you shop around though for the best price once you find one you want. You may even be able to rent the one you are looking for to test it out before you buy just to be sure.

Good luck in your search

Answer 3

There's really not much information to go on here. What types of dives will you be doing? What level of diving do you want to reach eventually? Body type?

  I guess where I'm going with this is that every diver is a little different. I could tell you to go out and blow 1200 bucks on a complete Dive Rite, Halcyon or OMS harness plus add in the costs of different wings etc., but that may not suit your area of diving, diving style and the lot plus they aren't cheap by any stretch but are perfect if you plan on going Tech later since they're modular and highly individually configurable.

I could also tell ya to go get an Apeks reg set too..but maybe that 800 bucks you don't need to spend. All the above might be overkill or it may just scratch the surface ( pardon the pun) of where you plan on taking your new sport.

You're far better off to hit your LDS and give them the info and the staff can recommend gear for you. You may even get to try before you buy.

  I suspect that you're from the UK since you bought an 0 three. You might want to look for these features in whatever reg you purchase at the very least.

1/ Environmentally sealed first stage. You're a cold water diver. So am I. You need this diving cold or you need to be vigilant with your regs at all times in water and even so, you could have a free flow.

2/ You have a dry suit, so you'll want as many low pressure and high pressure ports on that first stage as you can get since the suit whip occupies a LP port that many warm water divers never have to deal with. Unless you're going to lug an argon bottle around. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to find uses for those extra LP's when you gain some bottom time. The extra HP port is useful if you ever buy an integrated computer. No spare HP port...no fancy computer. Remember, you've used 3HP and 2LP already if you're keeping your console (which you should) .

And for the BC:

1/ Make sure that it has no straps that will interfere with your operating the suit inflater. Some BC's have chest straps in very dry suit unfriendly spots. For that matter some have shoulder straps that make getting your left arm in a hassle. Bring your suit with you to try them out.

Answer 4

I would recommend Oceanic regs and a Mares BC have used them myself for years and find them both reliable and user friendly but ultimately its what you feel happy and comfortable with.