about gear

[lebourdonant]

Hi everyone and thx for welcoming me on this forum !!

I have a lot to learn...
I am considering the purchase of gear, but I both scuba and free dive. I am sure some of you have been in the same situation before, trying to purchase something polyvalent.



those smilies on the side are really cool ...
:friday

 

[Old Man Dave]

I do both as well. I used to have 2 completely different sets of gear but recently I have begun to merge the two. Mainly I have given up using a dry suit for tanking and now use my 5mm spearfishing wet suit. I can scuba dive all day (3 tanks), 8 hours in the boat from June to December in local waters (UK) in the wetsuit. Outside of that maybe the dry suit would be better but I am too old to get that cold anymore so don't go "out of season". I use the same mask and at a pinch could use the same weight belt but as that's cheap (make my own weights) I actually have two belts with slightly different amounts of weight. Fins are a problem as I find my long freedivoing fins (Ice 3's) too long for scuba so still have scuba fins as well. I have just gone over to a stab jacket with the tanks and currently use a very basic, very cheap but truly excellent Aqualung Wave. Computer wise I use an old Suunto companion for scuba and nothing for freediving but am considering buying a D3.

Hope that helps.

Dave

 

[lebourdonant]

Thx Old man

I didn't know that as you get old you would start loosing the sensation of coldness.... maybe that is because you are too cold to feel anything !! :t
I get easily cold myself. a very good wetsuit should be ok for diving in egypt....
Maybe the sad thing is that apnea fins are quite long for scuba. What about the mask and vision angle? isn't it detrimental to use small volume ?


:crutch

 

[Jon]

I scuba in my freediving stuff unless I'm doing a deep deco dive- then a drysuit is mandatory for where I live.

I use my 5mm Elios wetsuit and am fine for any type of recreational diving. I DO use my freediving fins fo scuba and don't have any problems with them- even inside of wrecks. I will say that my one try scuba diving with a monofin on didn't work out so well.:head I recently picked up an oversized pair of esclapez freediving fins, with openheels, just for using with a drysuit.

I use my OMER Alien mask for scuba diving, but don't like to scuba with my Sphera. The Sphera is great for freediving, but the vision is hard for me to get used to when tank diving.

I use a backplate and wing with very little, if any, weight on my belt when tank diving. I use my Suunto D3 for freediving and I use a Suunto Stinger for tank, and free, diving. For deco/trimix dives I use my D3, with tables, and my Stinger, in guage mode, as a back-up.

Jon

Jon

 

[iceselkie]

.. it's also important to remember your really freaky long fins when SCUBA diving with other people. I noticed I forgot now and then and they got in other people's space (sorry!) :duh but they sure beat SCUBA fins. You can't freedive at all with scuba fins.

 

[lebourdonant]

where should I buy my stuff ?
and which brands are recognised for value?

 

[iceselkie]

It really depends on where you live...

 

[BatRay]

Be sure that you seriously consider what type of gear you're getting, and where you are buying. Scuba shops have the tendency to charge $$$$$$$$$$$ for stuff that doesn't really translate well to freediving. That happened to me.

Longfins are fine for scuba, as long as you aren't in a cave or a wreck. That's the general consensus. They're great for making headway against a current. I have an Omer Alien mask, which is fairly low in volume and very comfortable. It would be entirely appropriate for freediving or scuba. There are many good brands out there. Omer is good. So are Sporasub and Cressi-Sub. The Deeperblue store has a great selection, and the prices are usually much better than shops, even with shipping. I have had great experiences shopping with them. The stuff gets to you very quickly.

However, we could better help you with recommendations if we knew your geographic location. The type of gear depends on the region where you live.
Hope that helps

 

[lebourdonant]

I must thank you for this willingness to help.

Cause at the end of the day, I can make my own bad experiences and spend money but I don't want to pile up useless stuff hardly ever used just in the case I get to very specific conditions. (in which time you forget about the stuff you should use and are not even confident to use it --- hum--- maybe that's a bit of a romance now)
I am now in swiss. But after 200 scubadives in dahab I feel a bit disapointed by the visibility temperature. last dive, I saw a dead fish. :inlove

There I discovered freediving (special thx to blueskunk wibes over the resort, Roland .. if you read this..) . And now I have two mistress and just the one bag.
Suit, scuba wetsuit one piece with ice jacket when scuba diving. should be ok.
(I Thing scubapro or waterproof)
Fins. well again the size is a thing, the oportunity to use them with shoes is another critical element. I do want shoes even when freediving, is that so bad ? (master diver cressi?)
Masks !? when reading masks' reviews one could think that it needs scientists to help you choose. (I will have a look at those mentioned above)
snorkel !? ---- yeah right --- rofl

lebour

 

[lebourdonant]

I must thank you for this willingness to help.

Cause at the end of the day, I can make my own bad experiences and spend money but I don't want to pile up useless stuff hardly ever used just in the case I get to very specific conditions. (in which time you forget about the stuff you should use and are not even confident to use it --- hum--- maybe that's a bit of a romance now)
I am now in swiss. But after 200 scubadives in dahab I feel a bit disapointed by the visibility temperature. last dive, I saw a dead fish. :inlove

There I discovered freediving (special thx to blueskunk wibes over the resort, Roland .. if you read this..) . And now I have two mistress and just the one bag.
Suit, scuba wetsuit one piece with ice jacket when scuba diving. should be ok.
(I Thing scubapro or waterproof)
Fins. well again the size is a thing, the oportunity to use them with shoes is another critical element. I do want shoes even when freediving, is that so bad ? (master diver cressi?)
Masks !? when reading masks' reviews one could think that it needs scientists to help you choose. (I will have a look at those mentioned above)
snorkel !? ---- yeah right --- rofl

lebour