Intro Scuba packages

> Plagiarizing again I see. Looks word for word, straight out of the book.
>

I steal from myself occasionally--there is no wiser source.


MDH

> As a general rule, I'd suggest buying the reg with an octo and an SPG,
> then get a wrist computer. Get a backplate - steel for cold water, alum
> for warm water, along with a midsized wing. Last item is the exposure
> suit appropriate for your needs. Don't buy tanks unless you're diving a
> lot locally, or it's a pain to return them at the end of the diving. Even
> then look for a used deal.

Not meaning to add confusion to the subject, but the suit should really be
one of the very first things you buy! You can hire regs, tanks, BDCs etc,
but suits are generally very worn when you hire them, often leak if its a
drysuit, and are unlikely to be a very good fit. As long as you know where
you're going to dive then deciding on the type of suit should be fairly
easy. For example me in the UK a drysuit is the best option all year round,
elsewhere find out what the divers wear and probably go for the same style.
Regs and things, paricularly BCD, will depend on the type of diving, whether
it is single cylinder, twinset, Nitrox or air, and a whole host of other
things you won't really think about when you first start.
Most other recommendations I had when I first started diving was to get a
suit as one of the very first items (after the basic mask, fins, etc). To
me, it is a very sensible idea, and one I took up myself!

David

"Robert" <robptaylor@fishhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93BFAF588E249robptaylorfishhotmai@24.25.9. 43...
> I think everyone has missed the point of my original posting.

Welcome to rec.scuba. It takes an average of 1.2 posts to get a thread off
topic here.

James

David Walker <wbsdavenews@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Not meaning to add confusion to the subject, but the suit should really be
>one of the very first things you buy! You can hire regs, tanks, BDCs etc,
>but suits are generally very worn when you hire them, often leak if its a
>drysuit, and are unlikely to be a very good fit. As long as you know where

I bought a used rental wetsuit and used it for 3 years in the relatively
cold Pacific (8-13C) before buying both a custom wetsuit, and then a shell
drysuit. Most people don't switch to dry until they've done a bit of
dives here, know they want to pay out. And I think it's easier to make
an informed purchase with experience. In parts where it's colder, I guess
it's better to go dry from the get-go. Prices seem cheaper in your country
anyhow.

Since he didn't specify where, I put the exposure suit as less important.
You can rent good wetsuits. I'm less convinced you can rent good
regulator sets, and it's even harder if you want less traditional setups
like the long hose or the minimal SPG only console.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

mdh@owningstevespencer.com stopped playing nethack just long enough to say:
>
>You really do not care where your money goes do you? Sending your local
>dive shop owners daughter or son to college or paying their bail money to
>get out of the can is no way to spend your money.

You know as well as anybody that I have no great love for dive shops,
but this statement is ludicrous. A dive shop owner has as much right as
anybody to run their business and cover their expenses, with enough
money left over to live off of (which includes sending their kid to
college if that's what they want).

I agree that the dive industry as a whole has some serious issues with
its overall pricing strategies and structure, which is part of why
things are in such bad financial straits right now. But to imply that
dive shop owners don't have the same right to make a living as you or I
do is ridiculous.

In reality, most of the perceived "rip off" on gear sales is actually
the fault of the manufacturers and distributors, not the shop owners -
the shop owners are in the unfortunate position of being "last in the
food chain" and so they are the ones who get squeezed. In point of
fact, it is very difficult for an independent shop owner to make any
kind of decent living off a dive shop alone, and many shops barely
break even.

I always encourage people to comparison shop, and not to spend any more
than they have to. Some people are comfortable with on-line purchases,
while some prefer to deal with a real person in a real storefront.
That's why we have both kinds of places.

-JimG

--
Jim Greenlee (jkg@cc.gatech.edu) There once was a lady named Drew
College of Computing Whose limericks stopped at line two
Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332 There once was a man named Verdun

"Mad Dog Hog" <mdh@owningstevespencer.com> wrote:
>
> Hugh--Fuck yourself. You can go deal with your lds--I'll continue to fuck
> mine.


"Thanks for your support". FWIW, I've let sucky diveshops go out of
business too. One bad apple doesn't condemn them all to the same fate.


-hh

> In reality, most of the perceived "rip off" on gear sales is actually
> the fault of the manufacturers and distributors, not the shop owners -
> the shop owners are in the unfortunate position of being "last in the
> food chain" and so they are the ones who get squeezed. In point of
> fact, it is very difficult for an independent shop owner to make any
> kind of decent living off a dive shop alone, and many shops barely
> break even.

Yep - when I bought my computer a few months ago (a Suunto Vyper) I wandered
why all the shops had it at eactly the same price - £228 I think. Anyway, I
eventually found that Suunto had specified that as a minimum price they were
allowed to sell it at, any less and they wouldn't get their supplies
anymore. The once shop I talked to about this called Suunto, had to ask
their permission to lower the price (part of a price-matching deal he shop
did, since another shop I found had unofficially undercut Suunto's allowed
price). If shops are having to play by the rules of all these
manufacturers, its no wonder prices are held artificially high.

David

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 12:58:36 +0100, David Walker wrote:

> Yep - when I bought my computer a few months ago (a Suunto Vyper) I wandered
> why all the shops had it at eactly the same price - £228 I think. Anyway, I
> eventually found that Suunto had specified that as a minimum price they were
> allowed to sell it at, any less and they wouldn't get their supplies
> anymore. The once shop I talked to about this called Suunto, had to ask

I don't suppose they've got that in writing? If so, the Competition
Commission might be very interested.

Jason

--
See http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/ for Caribbean trip reports
including Cuba, Grand Bahama, Barbados, St Lucia and Mexico

Robert left this mess on Mon, 21 Jul 2003 21:14:21 GMT for The Way to clean up:
>
>I think everyone has missed the point of my original posting. I am looking
>for some advice on brands and best place to purchase. My intent was never
>to start a debate on LDS and on-line. I think this thread is getting out
>of hand.
>

Not really. Look at what you asked. The LDS-Online debate resides within that.

>Let me narrow the scope of my question. What should I be looking for in my
>first set of equipment? A good brand for the money? How "fancy" do I need
>to get with the equipment?

The single most important piece of information you've been given is: comfort.

The second most important piece of information you've been given is: rent first,
then buy.

The only way you can understand what your needs and desires as a diver are is to
go out and try things on, rent them and take them under, and see how they
perform.

I have a really nice reg set. I don't have many complaints about it, except one:
bubble interference is sometimes heavy when I'm looking horizontally. I wish I
had rented this exact set-up first, so maybe I could have found a different
second stage, but I took it on faith that my past experience with the first
stage and an older second stage (which had breathed perfectly fine in all
positions) would maintain the same design aspects across the product line.

Next reg, I won't make the same mistake.

As for fancy, not at all. You can go very cheap and have quite adequate
equipment: a solid reg set, a good jacket BCD, and a wetsuit. The key word is
"adequate". In other words, what kind of compromises are you willing to make?

Tao te Carl

"It takes a village to have an idiot." - Carl (c) 2003

"James Goddard" <news@earthwarelimited.com> wrote in message
news:jz%Sa.15562$Mc.1168970@newsread1.prod.itd.ear thlink.net...
| "Robert" <robptaylor@fishhotmail.com> wrote in message
| news:Xns93BFAF588E249robptaylorfishhotmai@24.25.9. 43...
| > I think everyone has missed the point of my original posting.
|
| Welcome to rec.scuba. It takes an average of 1.2 posts to get a thread
off
| topic here.

1.2 and dropping

|
| James
|
|
|