Dive gear
Hi All,
For all those divers out there I was hoping to get some feedback on dive gear. I'm just about to finish up my course and will be getting some gear next week.
At the moment I can't decided between a sherwood set (from diveimports) or and oceanic setup.
Does anyone have any feedback on either brands? The sherwood one seems slighlty better specs for the money though with being new to the game I'm not sure which way to go.
Below are the two sets I've been looking at;
Dive Import set
- Cobra BCD
- Sherwood Oasis Regulator
- Sherwood Gauge
- Performance Slimline Octopus
- wetsuit $1499
Oceanic set
- Alpha SP5 regulator
- OCeanpro BCD
- VEO 100 computer NX guage
- wetsuit
- oceanic Octopus
- dive bag $1799
cheers
Wayne
alfred
Posts: 3097
Date Joined: 12/01/07
Swop the Cobra BCD over to a
Swop the Cobra BCD over to a rear inflate, I have the Sherwood Axis and really like it. Does not squeeze you when you inflate.
18 Outrage, Johnson 140hp 4stroke and 190 Outrage, 150 Mercury Verado
wayneleech
Posts: 362
Date Joined: 27/06/08
hi alfred - so you think the
hi alfred - so you think the "Sherwood" setup is the way to go? They had the "Sherwood Avid" BCD there for an extra $100 - looked quite nice...few extra features...
i'll see if they have the Axis too...
btw, do you use a seperate weight belt, or do you use the integrated BCD weights?
alfred
Posts: 3097
Date Joined: 12/01/07
I have both. When I dive
I have both.
When I dive from the boat I take off the gear before I board, I find the intergrated weights easier to manage, because I only have to ditch the gear. I have set up a rope with a clip, to clip onto the BCD so that it does not drift away. This allows me to get back on easily, then haul the gear onboard.
For shore diving, it is sometimes easier to be able to remove the weights, especially if it very shallow. Ditching the weight belt makes it easier to stand and get out.
If you dive some place like the Coombe, it's not an issue as you can stand very close to the shore and just walk out. At the Spit, I got up 200m out and walked in, it was so shallow! Even then I had to kneel then stand and lifting all that weight might be an issue for some folks.
18 Outrage, Johnson 140hp 4stroke and 190 Outrage, 150 Mercury Verado
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Not a fix, but one thing you
Not a fix, but one thing you can do when faced with a long shallow paddle is to remove the BC and fully inflate it. You put it in front of you like a kickboard.
BQ544
Posts: 360
Date Joined: 22/10/06
Have you compared first
Have you compared first stage to make sure they are the same type of reg?Balanced, unbalanced, Diaphram, piston, flow through, flow by, etc. And compare the spec's of the second stage. Must good shops will let you try before you buy. Do your research and test them.
BQ544
Posts: 360
Date Joined: 22/10/06
I am not a Oceanic Salesman but....
I see that "Scuba Lab" has got the Oceanic Alpha 8 req as a"best buy" and the SP-5 1st stage as a best buy.
2005 ScubaLab Best Buy
"The Oceanic Alpha 8 Sport generated Very Good simulator scores in the breathing rate/depth category most closely representing typical recreational diving, and in the water it performed with panache. Test divers found it to be 'very simple and lightweight' and 'a nice basic reg.'" Read the complete article
If you can afford the extra maybe go up to the Delta 4 reg and the FDX 1st stage. They won't disappoint.
Also remember that Oceanic gives free parts for life as long as you have it serviced every 12 months. That will save you about $45 each service.
They also offer 12 months interest free.....