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Scuba Forum / General / December 2004Quality/Moderate Price Equipment Recomandations?
My son (15yrs) and I (42yrs) are taking a PADI Course here in SE Florida and will be shopping for new equipment in the $3000 price range for both. Since we are new to diving we are not yet sure how much diving we will be doing. Our max budget now is $3000 excluding the basics (Mask, Snorkel, Fins). It seems obvious that Net Shops are cheaper even those with Factory Warranty, but would prefer to buy locally for ease of service if I can find a good bargain. We are doing our PADI cert with a small dive shop that has barely any items on display but he is a certified - GENESIS - SHERWOOD - AKONA - BARE shop that can order any above items at decent Mark Up compared to most shops in the MIAMI-LAUDERDALE-PALM BCH area that seem to have their merchandise prices set at 100% and over. Especially SCUBAPRO-AQUALUNG dealers. We are looking to purchase: - BCD Jacket Style w/Weight Integration - REGULATOR (balanced 1st & 2nd stage) - OCTO - COMPUTER Console - WETSUIT Fullsuit 3mm - TANK QUESTION: 1) Are the the brands my Instructor selling - Good Quality - Reliablity - Value 2) Or are other brands better for the money we can afford to spend? 3) Should I just go with Net Shops and get high end stuff for the same price we would spend at a local shop -or is - dealer service more important for warranty repairs and exchanges? Any suggestion would really be appreciated in our first DIVE into this Sport :-) Thank You >From: "G-Force" geabnyc@bellsouth.net > Since we are new to diving we are not yet sure how much diving we will be >doing. >Our max budget now is $3000 excluding the basics (Mask, Snorkel, Fins). > - BCD Jacket Style w/Weight Integration http://makeashorterlink.com/?D1E963FE9 Sea Elite, none better. >QUESTION: > >1) Are the the brands my Instructor selling > - Good Quality > - Reliablity > - Value Yeah, for average trash. He expounds their virtues because that's what he sells. It's very run of the mill. Masks? Shop around for one that fits. Brand and price are irrelevent, high or low. >3) Should I just go with Net Shops and get high end stuff for the same >price > we would spend at a local shop > -or is - > dealer service more important for warranty repairs and exchanges? Buy from a net shop that has ground locations, get the warranty. Fins? Mares Quatrros from where ever you can find them cheapest. Get a wrist computer, not a console. Akona makes a good wetsuit. Try Diver's Discount as well as Diver's Supply. Popeye The only working atomic bomb platforms the Japanese ever had were delivered via airmail. >>From: "G-Force" geabnyc@bellsouth.net > [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] > > Try Diver's Discount as well as Diver's Supply. Diveus.com ain't bad either. ...and go for Apeks regulators  SignatureMichael Wolf ------------ Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil? remove stopspam to reply > My son (15yrs) and I (42yrs) are taking a PADI Course here in SE Florida > and will be shopping for new equipment in the $3000 price range for both. > > Since we are new to diving we are not yet sure how much diving we will be > doing. > Our max budget now is $3000 excluding the basics (Mask, Snorkel, Fins). Don't do it! Use the money to dive. Rent gear. Borrow gear. Do not buy gear until you are sure what kind of diving you will be doing, where you will be doing it, how often, what is available, and what best suits your specific needs. Spend the money on getting experience. If you insist on buying gear right now, there's lots of it available for about ten cents on the dollar from new divers that found that their gear is not what they really want to dive with. Once you have some dive experience, you won't have to ask the question. This is Gold. Use it as such. > > My son (15yrs) and I (42yrs) are taking a PADI Course here in SE Florida > > and will be shopping for new equipment in the $3000 price range for both. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Once you have some dive experience, you won't have to ask the question. Mike Gray is completly right, you should see what kind of diving you want to make . If you plan on going deeper or doing wreck diving ( after getting the courses ... ) you should not buy the same equipment that you would for shallow diving . I personnaly want the best regulator you can get since your life depends on it . I use a Poseidon Jetstream since 1997 , it never failed me and gives great performance in any dive situation . And I do most of my dives in the north-east .... not the best condition there is . >> My son (15yrs) and I (42yrs) are taking a PADI Course here in SE >> Florida [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Once you have some dive experience, you won't have to ask the question. Thanks for the Tip Mike. Never considered Poseidon since I have not seen them locally (SE Fla) which is where I see doing most of my diving. Though as a native NY I did dive their 23 years ago. And can see myself doing a few dives their but only during the summer. But I going to do my homework on POSEIDON Thanks Again! BTW Mike back then I had: Aqualung BC w/CO2-Tank AL80 VOIT Reg Whit Stag Farmer/Jacket Wetsuit Calypso Mask-Fin-Snork And a really COOL Knife! :-) > Mike Gray is completly right, you should see what kind of diving you want > to make . If you plan on going deeper or doing wreck diving ( after [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >>> Since we are new to diving we are not yet sure how much diving we >>> will be doing. Thanks to everyone for their input! Got some good advice here. BTW DiversDirect.com in Dania Fl. has lower prices than DiversUnlimited.com in Pembroke Pines on same items. Though they both have good selection and really helpful staff. The DiversUnlimited salesperson even insisted my son and I try on several items in their pool before we purchase anything. > We are doing our PADI cert with a small dive shop that has barely any > items [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > - AKONA > - BARE > We are looking to purchase: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thank You |
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