Opinions on what to buy in which order?

[blue monday]

Starting my OW course next month - hoping to go on to AOW in Jan - the school im using dive in dry suits and will provide all the equipment initially free of charge. I will have to buy my equipment in bit by bit and am interested to know what people think is the order to buy equipment in?

[lottie]

Blue Monday - majority of the time, people buy their snorkel, mask and fins first, the rest comes at a later date. if you haven't got those three things as yet, I would highly recommend getting them.

Now with the rest of the equipment, it's entirely up to you, from what others have also suggested on here in other posts is to get used to the equipment first, use the rental stuff and try out different types/makes/etc and see what you like about it, what you don't like about it.

HTH

[Dsix36]

Follow Lottie's advice.

When you are familiar with some of the pieces that you need to purchase, then My suggestion is to buy the regulator setup. Just my personal preference, but it is life support and my life is worth knowing how the regs have been taken care of.

As you may guess - I have had some bad luck with rental regs.

My .02 is over

[Papa Bear]

By them after the first class! Check for a deal at the shop where your doing the training! It seems rude to me to go buy MF&S at a competitors shop and then show up for training! Also you might get a discount or at least find out from the instructor what they like..... The next item to by is a custom Wetsuit or a good Drysuit! You can rent the rest! If your cold you will not dive and the training is a waste of time and money! If your comfortable and warm you will dive year around! It is the best investment you will ever buy!

[Papa Bear]

Follow Lottie's advice.

When you are familiar with some of the pieces that you need to purchase, then My suggestion is to buy the regulator setup. Just my personal preference, but it is life support and my life is worth knowing how the regs have been taken care of.

As you may guess - I have had some bad luck with rental regs.

My .02 is over

Most rental gear is well maintained due to the liability potential! Not to say things don't go wrong, but that's why you're training;) A Reg will do you no good in 50* water if your too cold to dive longer than 10min!

[Dsix36]

Most rental gear is well maintained due to the liability potential! Not to say things don't go wrong, but that's why you're training;) A Reg will do you no good in 50* water if your too cold to dive longer than 10min!

I didn't really take exposure protection into account. I trained and dive in sunny S Florida where the water is pretty warm.

I still have to put my priorities on the life support rather than comfort, but I guess that will depend on the water temps.

[Papa Bear]

You can breath from an open valve on a tank or a cut hose, but in cold water your dead in 5 to 10 min. As I was saying the simplest reg must still meet minimum life support standards and 99.99% of shops keep their rental line in great shape, it only takes one bad reg to be sued and risk everything! The Rental Line in dive shops maybe basic, but it is usually the hardest equipment in the industry!

[blue monday]

By them after the first class! Check for a deal at the shop where your doing the training! It seems rude to me to go buy MF&S at a competitors shop and then show up for training! Also you might get a discount or at least find out from the instructor what they like..... The next item to by is a custom Wetsuit or a good Drysuit! You can rent the rest! If your cold you will not dive and the training is a waste of time and money! If your comfortable and warm you will dive year around! It is the best investment you will ever buy!

Thats kind of the order i was thinking too, if im aiming to go work abroad i was also thinking no point in buying cylinder until im abroad, the School don't actually have a shop (i was surprised by that as most seem too) they just concentrate on training and the club diving. During the internship for dive master (hoping this will be late next year providing i show aptitude for it and progress at a good rate LoL) they have said they may not always charge for equipment borrowed depends how involved you are with the school and club i think.

[shinek]

Papa Bear is right, as my old Sargeant Major used to say "any fool can be uncomfortable!". Particularly when diving colder waters, the right level of exposure protection is critical if you are to enjoy your diving. Make yourself as comfortable as you can be or you'll risk being put off the whole process.

Don't forget that, once you get into diving, like most hobbies, it is an endless money pit. No matter what equipment you buy today, you will want something else tomorrow. Whether that is additional equipment or upgrades, either way, over time you will accumulate it. As you go through training you will see and learn about different equipment from BCDs and Regs to watches and computers, take some time to figure out what best fits your needs. For example, if there is a chance of you getting into Nitrox in the reasonably near future, then to buy a computer without that capability may be a little shortsighted.

Also, even if the school you're working with is not a retail dive shop, they obviously buy their equipment from somewhere. If you plan to go through the whole training process with them, I'm sure there are deals to be done on equipment once you decide what you want and need. They may be able to get you discounts on equipment through their wholesaler or through other dive shops they deal with, its definitely worth a conversation.

Until then, enjoy your diving, make the most of the training and have fun.