I concur, with additional thoughts based on the trip I have just finished. Note: some of the comments below clearly stray significantly from the question presented... and Rebecca, if from your prior experience (of which I am not informed) this ramble is all old hat to you, my apology in advance.... item 5 below is the one most on-point to your actual query. 1. Buying your own gear is a commitment to the sport; if you plan to get your money's worth from your purchases, it should be because you will be diving more than just once per year for quite some time. 2. Good dive shops have pools and are happy to let you try out gear. 3. Educate yourself. With some gear, like BCs, better value can be had for less money if you shop wisely; with other items its "you get what you pay for". I like Rodale's reviews supplemented by anecdotal reviews from other divers I know. 4. High tech is not necessarily better. You won't catch me wearing $200 "split" fins. (in a few days you can find a story about that in the upcoming "dive log" installment of a thread I labeled as a mid-June trip report from Leif & Michelle.) 5. Selection on Bonaire is probably better during the in-season period. I visited several shops and report that you might not see the "right" gear for you, given limited inventory in many places at the moment. However, all the necessary stuff can certainly be found. Small items like tank bangers can be twice as expensive on the island then they are "back home", while I spotted some potentially great deals on the "clearance racks" - $200 BC, lightly used, <$100 gauge consoles, a few suit deals, purge snorkels for <$20, etc. Most "primary" equipment - regs, masks, fins, etc - looks like it runs about the same there as anywhere. Also consider where you would go for adjustments, re-certification, etc. A relationship with a good local equipment store is more likely to pay off when needs arise later. A local shop with a great Internet site that generates extra volume for the operator can mean better prices for you as a local customer - find the cool deals online, then go get the same bargain in person. You won't want to fuss with actually fixing anything while on your vacation. If something fails (as it did on my trip - more in "what went wrong" in the continuing trip report chapters soon), rentals are still there as your backup, so you need not miss any diving. 6. I would suggest an order of priority for what to buy "first" versus renting, if the budget isn't big enough to buy "everything": (a) Mask and fins that fit and work, (b) the right wetsuit - baggy old depth-compressed neoprene sacks are no fun - more below on that, (c) A BC that you find comfortable - some of the less costly may be the better picks - who needs 14 d-rings, 8 pockets and three tank straps anyway?, (d) dive computers! - gauges are a must to have but are cheap to rent, while a computer of your own gives you added safety, convenience and bottom time, (e) 1st stage, reg and octos - rentals should be fine unless you have mouth issues, but having your own just feels better. Finally, I say never buy your own weights or tanks - unless you plan on a lot of local diving. As for weights, why carry lead in your luggage? Likewise with tanks, but always use a reputable dive shop. 7. Consider the size and weight factor of every item - if you want to dive in it, you have to carry it. For example, I was pleased to find a BC marketed under the "TUSA" brand that did not have a molded backplate and thus was small enough that two of them, plus some clothes and dive lights, could all be "squished" into a duffle that was just within most airlines' carryon size limits. Indeed, Michelle and I managed to pack EVERYTHING for a week-long dive trip, except weights and tanks, into just carryon baggage, thus avoiding all the hassles of the entire baggage checking routine. We even packed two cameras (underwater and surface), clothes (although not much, considering our sole agenda was diving), and some hard-to-gets that we had agreed to deliver to fellow BT'ers. [If you intend to also pack a dive knive, forget this plan, for obvious reasons!] Whether you are as extreme as that or not, assume that a full complement of new dive gear will take up the lion's share of the luggage space that most people consider rational. With the new state of air travel, one's blissful mood at the end of a trip to Bonaire could easily be dispelled by the chore of heaving around excessive baggage. And now, for something completely different... A massive digression about wetsuits and why to buy one before you travel, instead of renting or shopping after you arrive: I believe the wetsuit is one of the most critical components of your dive equipment, and should be near the top of the list for what goes into your personal gear purchase column versus the rentals. Even though the water is 80 degrees (f), you can get quite chilly at depth due to heat transfer factors. I personally find a mere .5mil Scubapro suit to be perfectly comfy - but it fits me like a second skin. Being unsure my mere "diveskin" of .5 would still be good in June as opposed to the slightly warmer month of August (in terms of average water temp.), I went shopping locally and found a great deal on a clearance rack on a fancy Henderson 2.5mil full suit, with high-tech fleece-like lining, not one, but two titanium layers, specially engineered low-compression neoprene, running boards and rally lights (maybe not those last two items - just kidding). I bought it even though it was almost constrictively tight on me, because it was both insanely cheap compared to its original retail and it zippered in front - solving the one very slight discomfort I sometimes have with my Scubapro suit's fairly high neck grommet. Frankly, all the extra bells and whistles aside, the 2-3mil attribute was what I really wanted to have in a backup suit. From my reading, the thickness is the only real measure of the insulation value, and everything else is bunk. I'm now glad I bought this spare suit, because Michelle ended up promtply adopting it after the first dive we made, saving me the trouble of shopping for a new suit for her, at retail, in the middle of our vacation. Her prior suit turned out to not fit as snugly as it did 21 months ago when we last got the chance to dive Bonaire (indeed, she shed just a small amount of body mass from then to now) and she was shivering and blue-lipped after our first dive. As she and I are about the same size - but for the usual gender related measurement variations, I implored her to try the Henderson, which was expectedly super-snug everywhere but right between her collarbones. Well, it was snug there on me, but she has an - ahem - adequate, shall we say, female physique, which left a small pocket of loose fit at, shall we say, directly below the throat but well above the solar plexus. [Some suits are now being cut for the female figure in particular, for those who are affected by such things]. Result: She now refuses to let me have this suit back. Ever. The point is that your wetsuit, even if just of minimal thickness, better be a good, snug fit - else, if you are prone to chills at all, you will doubtless suffer. I would not count on a rental suit fitting well. I also suggest a full coverage choice for sun protection. Thus, I say get thee to a diving gear store and pick thy wetsuit well. (As you may have noticed, I am deeply afflicted with PBD. Thus, I find myself spending WAY too much time on BT lately!!!) -LS |