My Gear is Better Than Yours

My Gear is better than yours!!

By: Tony Boustany

I’m pretty sure most divers, especially tech divers in the making, have had this struggle.

What are the best brands to buy from?
Why should I buy this BCD or that one?
My regulator set is the most popular one.
I don’t like that brand I’ve had issues with it.
I’ve been diving with that gear for ages, and it didn’t fail me.
This instructor is using that brand so it should be the best.

So many debates and questions face us when we decide to buy our equipment. What should we do?

Well let me help you with some hints and tips that will make it easier for you to choose.

First, ask yourself, am I a frequent diver?
If you dive frequently, it’s ideal to get your own gear.
If you dive less than 10 dives per year, renting may be cheaper. I don’t suggest getting into what to buy.

If you are looking into the future and want to be a tech diver, well… (Knowledge + Experience + Equipment). This brings us to the next question: what is the best gear to buy?

A couple of points to take into consideration:

  • Your budget
  • Priority gear.
  • What is your aim for the future? Do you want to limit your dive to recreational or you are looking to step into the technical diving world? If so, choose your equipment wisely.
  • Is there an availability to try before I buy? Can you try different brands before you decide?
  • Get different inputs from different people and combine them.
  • Get a brand that has a quick and reliable service center near you for quick replacement parts and maintenance.

Some recreational to tech switches

Some of the equipment you buy will not be fully compatible with technical diving requirements and gear configuration. For example, when buying a BCD: if you’re looking to eventually go technical, then a wing BCD with DIR configuration is what you should be looking for, not a jacket. So don’t pay twice. If you’re looking to get a regulator set, the minimum requirement if you want to continue into tech is to get a 1st stage that is swivel with a fifth LP port and get the long hose short hose configuration so you can use it in a twin configuration. And the list goes on with every piece of equipment you want to buy, so choose wisely.

Of course, some brands are more expensive than others. You know what they say, you get what you pay for, but make sure you don’t just buy something expensive. Instead, buy what you need to use.

Invest wisely in your equipment and make sure you take care of it. Your instructor’s input? A good instructor will guide you on what’s best for you since they’ve been down that road before.

Invest wisely and don’t get intimidated with “my gear is better than yours” because great gear without a wise diver will just be useless.

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