Help a noobie cave diver save some bread?

[Walter Pickel]

Mask - ScubaPro Frameless $100
Fins - Scubapro Jetfins w/ steel spring straps $100
Suit - DUI CFx200 drysuit custom fit $3,000
Regs - 2 Atomic B2's or Scubapro s600's (DIN) $1,000
BC- DiveRite Alum backplate w/ Trek wing $500
Cpu- VR2 or VR3 $1.5 -$2,000
Backup Lights- 2 Tektite Excursion LS4 $350
Primary Light- Salvo 9.6 Amp Li-Ion 21 Watt HID $1,400
Tanks- 2 galvanized steel PST E8-130's banded $1,000
Manifold- Diverite 300 bar manifold. $300

Glad I don't shop where you do Although it looks like some of your quotes are low (unless you are buying used). Pretty good setup Andre.

If yuo watch for swap meets you can usually pick up your gear a lot cheaper used than new...All my 72s were made before I was born. I just picked up some 104s that were made in 74....

[Moonfuzzy]

It is a LOOONNGG road from basic OW to full cave. You will take years and possibly HUNDREDS of dives to get from one to the other... be sure to enjoy each stage as you go and don't rush yourself. You need to have the skills down pat before you move on to the next level each step of the way or you will be missing out on the training.

As was said above, there is a lot of gear that you will probably use for OW that gets tossed in the cave - like a snorkel for instance. Don't despair... here are some things that can take you all the way through. Also – I would suggest renting the first few times to make sure you like being under water.

BC - the DiveRite Transpac is a harness that you can buy different wings for. Get the harness and they are single tank wings. Later in apprentice you can get larger wings. I do dive singles in the OW sometimes and like having the gear flexibility.

Regulators - get a high end reg... don't skimp here. Apex, Dive Rite, ScubaPro all these are good. I like the DiveRite because they are high quality and relatively cheap. You will end up with many regs down the road (I have 6 or 8) but at least you won't have to toss this. You will end up changing around all the hoses later, but the core will be there.

Tanks – there are several ways to go here. Aluminum tanks are pretty standard for OW they will go into the closet when you get to cavern & full but then come out again when you start using them for stages – they are apx $150. Steel tanks are really nice but more than 2x the cost. You won’t have to wear as much lead in the water, they usually hold more air, and for cavern and cave you can buy new valves/bands to make them into doubles. HP 120’s are nice, LP 95’s are also – you can do some research on tank weights and buoyancy characteristics to see what is good for you... I think there is info on the resources page

Fins - these will probably be worn out by the time to get to cave training! Maybe not... heavy fins like the Turtles won't make you happy in the water unless you need them to adjust your trim - otherwise you will be fighting them on your dives. You want fins that create a lot of thrust, not ones that flap around in the breeze. Go online to DiveRite, Halcyon, etc. etc. to look at their fins. http://www.diverite.com/

Mask – get one that fits and feels comfortable. I spent $80 on the last mask I bought, but that isn’t necessary.

Lights – when it is time to buy lights this may be WAY out of date. Currently you would want to get an HID canister light. I would recommend going for a focusable light head and the smaller/more dense batteries. When you start doing night dives you might splurge for one of these… you will be the envy of the WHOLE dive boat ; )

Training – You may want to read “Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival
by Sheck Exley”, it talks about trim, kicks, etc. Having an idea of where you are headed as far as technique goes may keep you from developing some bad habits. (Don’t kick up the bottom, stay parallel to it, don’t touch things, your legs move you around – your arms just waste energy)

Hope this helps!

[Jordan]

Many cave divers don't like the salty seawater rotting out their life support gear (tanks, regs, hoses, etc...) and typically will have multiple sets of gear for this purpose. That's when the REAL money pissing begins.
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Haha - I love it! I use my same gear for ocean or cave. I guess I am living on the edge

[the_sandman]

Just wanted to thank everyone for the wealth of information and the private messages. I got so many I have not been able to respond to each - but the information was priceless.

The one thing I have gathered from this is that it is a long road and I do have a ways to go. I have already identified some equipment choices that I can carry over with me - but before I do anything I am going to get in the water and start the live process of training. I did not truely respect the dive time before hearing the many testimonies people have sent to me. Now I understand my best choice is to be thrifty with the pocket book and buy my equipment slowly, when I need it.

I am going to make some sacrafices in perhaps a wetsuit and a single wing that won't carry over into my cave diving goal, but this is a reasonable sacrafice as there is no point in buying the highest grade cave only diving equipment at this early stage possibly years before it is of use to me.

Thank you all. I will be around gathering more info.

The Sandman