Let's have your questions for the upcoming: 'Everything you wanted your Dive Instructor to tell you but were afraid to ask!' video. Twitter and Instagram only: @diversready and #askdiversready
Brother I am SO STEALING this and sharing it to everyone on the planet!! You just backed up so much of what I have been saying for a long time. My biggest push for getting my own gear was maintenance and storage. I maintain what I can. I take my gear to the same shop where I bought it. Everything fits me perfect and I've had my same gear (1st set) since 2013 with no problems, hiccups, crazy failures, nothing and I really think I've got many more years on it. A word about packages you didn't mention, some dive operations will tweak a package deal for you in the event you only want a minor change to a better computer or an upgraded regulator. Great Great Video.
After a "Discover scuba" dive , I Bought a full set of gear and sign up for OW course, after got 2 used tanks from same dive shop. And it worth every penny. I was the only in class whose gear was a perfect fit, plus you familiar with all the equipment. And main reason was that after I got certified I was completely independent diver, if I want to dive - I grab my buddy, my gear and 15min later we are on the lake diving.
@@DiversReady I agree, goes another way as well. After you invest, makes you more likely to do it 😆. BTW, I'm planning a trip to Grand Cayman, thanks to your video ✌
Just started diving and the first thing I bought that I take with me is a mask and fins. I plan on buying my own gear eventually but will do so after a major move we have coming up.
I just bought my first fins, the Scubapro GO Sport diving fins, some boots, and gloves, to go with my Hollis Goggles! :) I'm diving Bonne Terre Mineshaft next week !!
I also spent $2,000 on my gear. Not sure if I got bang for the buck. Already had a mask snorkel 2mil and 5mil wetsuit and Seawing Nova from snorkeling. Then I ended up with Scubapro Mk25 EVO-S600, R195 Octo, Hydros Pro BCD, Suunto D6i Novo with the tank pod transmitter, 16 lbs weight and a mini spg. Will just rent tanks as it costs $3 to fill my own plus $250 to buy the AL80 or $4 to rent their full tank.
Dive gear is bloody expensive. I'm a beginner with fewer than 25 dives under my belt, but I decided to buy my own gear anyway. While I learnt on a jacket style BCD, I decided to future-proof my setup and put together a DIR set. I got a backplate and wing, and a set of cold water regulators in a long hose configuration. In the future I will likely want to move to sidemount and drysuits, but for now I'll be diving single backmount and wetsuit only.
These are why I started putting together my own gear. I was having issues with my OW class as they never gave me the same equipment each time. I had learned in the military to dial in gear to fit me, so I started buying scuba gear and did the same. My wife always said she didn't want her own until she saw what a difference it made. Now she's buying her own.
Very nice video James. You covert all the most important points why owning your personal dive gear is essential in getting the most out of the sport. Having been a dive instructor myself it always made me laugh when divers would not even wanna buy a properly fitting mask but then complained throughout the entire dive trip, that their mask was leaking and they weren’t enjoying it. 😂 Serve yourselves... 😉
@@DiversReady Feel free to use it buddy 😉 No, unfortunately I won't be able to come to DEMA this year, I'll be in Australia, obviously diving. 🤗 But who knows, I might be able to make a trip to Florida next year...
Rentals always suck for every sport/hobby, thats why I want to buy my own gear if i get into suba diving. If ima go scuba diving once or twice a year i want the best experience too
Buying my own gear was probably the best decision I made. I enjoy diving more and can focus on learning& mastering new skills. Totally worth the investment 👌🏽
I'm glad you guys were safe during the hurricane! This video was very entaintaining and educating, thank you James. My local dive shop charges $75 for the gear rental package except the computer. I purchased my own mask, snorkel, boots, fins and computer to lower the cost of the rental fee bit by bit, to be able to dive more often. But ..... for the individual items BCD, reg., tank, wetsuit+shortyand, hood, gloves and weigts it was still $75. So I was looking for a BCD to get a little more consistency and did a lot of research. It had to fit some requrements: I wanted a lady cut bcd with great fit and a bladder with enough lift capacity to work well in Puget Sound plus I wanted to try it before buying. I found a Zeagle Zena (the only female cut BCD they had) that fits great and the dive shop will let me try it for three dives. If I don't like or can't handle it, they will take it back. It wasn't easy to find a place that would let me try the gear to start with. It is crucial to me because I'm a novice diver and I never would have considered a back inflate right away. So I'm not sure if that was a risky decision, I have never tried back inflate before. But if feels like the best option to try something anyway and I just hope that it works out even though is is different. The reviews for this BCD also were really good thru out, so I think it really comes down to trying to see if I'm comfortable with back inflate. Fingers crossed!
@@DiversReady Usually in California I expect to pay about $100 for rental gear with 2 tanks. It makes the payback time pretty quick for getting your own gear. @Janina, back inflate or bp/w are great and I am sure you will find it much more comfortable than jacket bcds.
I've picked up some nice 'used' gear. It seems like there are a number of new divers who get kit and then don't dive as much as they originally imagined. Seems like every week a new classifieds ad 'like new, only a few dives'. Or something similar. It seems like at least one shop in this area sells full kits before checkout dives and then that's all it gets used. Anyways occasionally some great deals to be had. Good thing my bank account doesn't have much in it because I have a gear buying problem.🥺
Reason number one is why I bought my own gear. The only dive shop near me is 3 hours away so just driving out there to rent gear for the weekend and then driving back would not make it worth my time. Owning my own gear means I get to go diving any day of the week I feel like and all I need to do is go to my local instructors place to have my tanks filled:-) I've only started diving last summer and I have already spent close to $6,000 in gear :-) then again, I go diving about once a week.
You bring up an interesting question. When you see a badass tech diver with four bottles going for a two hour plus dive, where do they go when they need a bathroom break at 50 m deep. The old school divers at the first dive shop that I've work use to say that there's two kind of divers: the one who pee in the wetsuit and the one who lie about it. So if you have to go, do it in your own wetsuit and wash it at home and not in the rental equipment rinsing water.
I like the video, but the hidden cost of ownership is the annual maintenance cost. If you have to pay for the parts, a reg service in Oz is about $250, the reg probably only cost 2-4x (or more) that. You may have to get it serviced more or less frequently than yearly of course. Annual tank hydros also cost $60 per year in Oz. The payback time Is quite a bit longer for a regular diver, I would suggest. I agree with everything else. I went the second hand route for everything (when I got back into the sport recently) except fir the exposure protection, so saved a lot of money that way.
I haven’t started my course yet & will not be able to start into March. I have bought a Mares wing style BCD, Mares Smart Air wrist computer with LED transmitter, Mares Loop 15X regulator/octopus, Mares Pure SLS BCD, Mares all in SMB, TUSA HyFlex Switch Pro fins, Freedom HD Mask with snorkel, Cressi Morea 3mm wetsuit, Cressi Minorca 3mm long boots, Cressi high stretch 2.5mm gloves, & gym a membership.
You have not started but already bought everthing? Isnt it a little bit risky? Some people recognize they are paniking under water during their OWD Course and have to quit. I am a padi rescue and only own a mask😂
thanks for your great videos always enjoy your candid approach. Went with scubapro hydros, mk25 w/ti620, scubapro g2 computer with AI. Feels good to be familiar with my gear and no it fits. Allows me to focus on my skills and enjoyment.
Hi. James. I have my own mask, snorkel, and fins. I also have my own wetsuit, dive skin, boots, regulator system, and dive computer. I just need a bcd and I will have all of my gear. I would have my own tanks but I plan to do some traveling over the world to go diving. I heard some airlines will charge an arm and a leg to carry your own tanks. Great video as always.
I've been told by several shops to "NEVER" bother taking your own tanks when you fly because airlines will require you to remove the valve assembly and they say why pay the extra cost unless where you going doesn't have what you need.
Tanks should be the absolute last gear item you get. Since you need to get them filled anyway you are going to the dive shop one way or another. Owning tanks just means potentially one less trip. Unless you are diving locally on a monthly basis - 2-3 dives a month it usually isn't worth owning tanks. The only other advantage of owning your own tanks is if you suck air and are a big person getting 120s or 130s. I own a pair of 130s which gives me lots more bottom time and are not common rental tanks. Likewise if you are a small person and would do better on a 63cf tank. Otherwise the AL80s, Steel 80s and Steel 100s common to most shops will do a great job. Don't even think of traveling by plane with your own tanks, you have to travel with them we the valves off and its a big heavy hassle. If you have to take them to a shop to get filled any way you may as well just rent their tanks and weights.
No point at all for travel. Not sure how much airline will charge you , but I bet it's at least a week of tank rental :) If you driving, its different. I live in Canada and driving to Florida every year for few weeks. I take my tanks. Works good for shore diving. If you going with "dive operator" I wouldn't bring them. Main reason - you have to watch after your tanks. And they quite frankly all the same 😆😆
Hi Jess, thanks for watching! I can only agree with everything said above. I own a buunch of tanks for Tec and for diving from private, non-commercial boats, but if I'm going to travel or even just to use a commercial operator locally, I use their tanks. Cheers, James
Gear I purchased before my OW course: Bare Trilam Tech Dry drysuit with Sitech dry gloves and P valve Hollis 7mm hood Hollis fleece, top and bottom Bare Exowear base layer, top and bottom Hollis DSX stage 1 and LX200/LX150 stage 2 and octo, Zoop Novo in console (used) Sunnto Compass Scubapro Hydros bcd (used) Atomic Venom Frameless Mask (primary) Bare Mask (secondary) Bare snorkel Hollis Yellow Tip Bat fins Wrist slate Hollis DSMB and a spool Sola 1200, primary Gobe 500 and soft Goodman mount, backup, + Nightsea lens and Red lens Gobe 500 2nd backup ( used )(currently lost somewhere in Saanich Inlet) Aqua Lung knife Hollis cutter Scubapro G260 Stage 2 (used as my primary stage 2 and used Hollis LX200 was put on pony)(put a necklace on G260 too) Catalina 13cu pony w/Sherwood Stage 1 (used, 1 yr old) OMS rigging kit new 2 Faber HP100cu, (used, both 5 yrs old and both with fresh vis and hydro) + a 1 yr unlimited fill card on all my tanks from my LDS Gear purchased after my OW: Shearwater Peregrine ( Zoop is now secondary ) Gear purchased after my AOW (at 40 dives) Catalina 30cu pony (used) Scubapro MK25Evo ( now primary and Hollis DSX moved to pony ) Gobe 1000 to replace the Gobe I lost. Currently sitting at 135 logged drysuit dives, and I only got my OW last Sept 8th, the day before this video first came out,, 11 days before my 59th birthday. I am trying to get to 200 dives in my 1st year. Only possible because I purchased my own gear. Buy quality and buy it once. ( I am sitting around 11K CDN so far, average local rental, $110 a day for everything. My average cost per dive is close to $81 per day and getting cheaper each dive)
Scuba pro mk25 with a 620 or 700 and is titanium with nitrox 32 / 36 a good idea if u will be back and forth from 21. Nova gorilla fins and lastly the hydro BC Thoughts on flex hoses and is their a better brand in your opinion.
Lots to unpack there! To summarize: You'd like to see user reviews of ScubaPro gear, MK25 1st stages with either a 620 or 700, Nova Gorilla fins and the Hydro BCD. Then for the questions episode (#askdiversready @diversready) you want to know: My thoughts on Flex hoses Vs others Thoughts on mixing Nitrox and Air dives. I will be happy to tackle all of this! Thanks! James
I will almost certainly never make my money back by comparing what gear costs versus what I would have spent renting. But that doesn't matter to me. I'm literally trusting my life to this equipment, and I'd rather know that it works properly. Being used to the equipment also means that I will know if it's doing something unusual and I can respond accordingly, when I may not be able to tell immediately with rental equipment. There's definitely an added benefit of knowing that no one (other than me) has peed in my wetsuit and that someone with the coronavirus didn't use my regulator an hour before me.
I have an old dive mask that i got as a kid about 20+ years ago. It's an oval mask with a purge valve, a red line around the lens that says tempered glass at the top and a metal riveted band. I've been trying to find it online for probably over a decade and have never come across an exact match. If I can dig it out of storage and get a pic of it, would you or someone you know be able to identify what it is and if its worth trying to learn to scuba with?
Hi James, you mention in this video that you will be making a video on the pros and cons of buying package deals. Is that video already available? Can't seem to find it. Thanks and great video by the way as always.
Looks from your profile pic like you're in a rashguard. I have waaaaay more than $2000 invested in dive gear. But my standard recreational set up (yes, for warm water diving) retails for around $2000 - give or take. That doesn't include my 3mm wetsuit which is $450 on it's own.
