Diving Gears Question

So I've been meaning to get to Diving (BigJims Fault) I am 5'7" 175 LBS.

What type of Wetsuit to get? (Norcal waters) suitable.

What is inexpensive Speargun available?

Mask

Fins

Weight

What else am I missing?

I got dibs on future dive gear sale
j/k

   Hey Darius. Big Jim's post's and video's does that to all of us so don't feel bad!
   As a beginner, if you haven't already, try renting as much gear as you can so that you get a better feeling of what you DON'T want.  The Sacramento free dive shop is a really good place to start and ask what they can do for you.
  I'm a strong believer in you get what you pay for.  so when it comes time to shell you the dough, try and buy and the upper end of your budget.  in my opinion, the wetsuit is the one item that was the most important to me. if you get cold and uncomfortable, you'll be miserable. i started out with a cheep scuba suit for 100$.  it was warm but uncomfortable. I dove that for a year and got an Esclapez and love every second in it.  very pricey though.  Really whatever fits best is a good suit.   look for a 7mil for norcal.  A lot of guys will dive socal in them too. The Sac shop has a huge selection that you can try on so check out as many as you can! well worth the drive from SF.
  Your best option for a cheep entry level gun would probably be an Rob Allen in the 80cm range.  real bullet proof/ accurate gun that will last for some time till you're ready to upgrade.
  Mask's and fins are like the suit. try them all on and see what fist best.  i have bought 5 masks and still dive with the first one i ever bought. Mares Star.  love it and probs replace it with the same one when that day comes. Just look for a free dive mask with low volume and and good fit against your face.  I started out with mares razor fins and liked them a lot. about a year ago i took the fin pockets and put in Dive R blades and really have liked the upgrade.
  I'm about 6'1" at 175lb and dive with about 18lb of weight+/-.  I would highly recommend starting at about 15lb and bring another 4lb extra with you on the yak and keep adding weight so that you still float at the surface with and breath ex-hale, but sink when you hit about 20' down.  So start light and add as you go. your objective is to be able to sit on the bottom without having to hold on as your body tries to float up. I'm diving with a Marseilles rubber weight belt from Neptonic Systems and really like it.
   you"re also going to need booties and a stringer for your fish.  Arogs booties are my favorite and the fish stringer styles are personal preference really.  i like the stringer that is a wire that ties off to your belt and you just string the fish onto it through their gills, but i have friends that like the classic metal loop you just pin them to. Another key item is a dive light.  The lings really like to hide way back under ledges and rocks so you need to see way back in there.  i really like my Princeton LED.
  well if you have more question feel free to ask and I'm sure others will chime in with what works best for them! good luck and remember, try it all on and resist just buying on line without holding it in your hand s first!  see you in the water!

Steve
   

I tend to get warm in a 7mill in NorCal and would probably have a heatstroke in SoCal in it. Trying first is a good suggestion.

   Hey Darius. Big Jim's post's and video's does that to all of us so don't feel bad!
   As a beginner, if you haven't already, try renting as much gear as you can so that you get a better feeling of what you DON'T want.  The Sacramento free dive shop is a really good place to start and ask what they can do for you.
  I'm a strong believer in you get what you pay for.  so when it comes time to shell you the dough, try and buy and the upper end of your budget.  in my opinion, the wetsuit is the one item that was the most important to me. if you get cold and uncomfortable, you'll be miserable. i started out with a cheep scuba suit for 100$.  it was warm but uncomfortable. I dove that for a year and got an Esclapez and love every second in it.  very pricey though.  Really whatever fits best is a good suit.   look for a 7mil for norcal.  A lot of guys will dive socal in them too. The Sac shop has a huge selection that you can try on so check out as many as you can! well worth the drive from SF.
  Your best option for a cheep entry level gun would probably be an Rob Allen in the 80cm range.  real bullet proof/ accurate gun that will last for some time till you're ready to upgrade.
  Mask's and fins are like the suit. try them all on and see what fist best.  i have bought 5 masks and still dive with the first one i ever bought. Mares Star.  love it and probs replace it with the same one when that day comes. Just look for a free dive mask with low volume and and good fit against your face.  I started out with mares razor fins and liked them a lot. about a year ago i took the fin pockets and put in Dive R blades and really have liked the upgrade.
  I'm about 6'1" at 175lb and dive with about 18lb of weight+/-.  I would highly recommend starting at about 15lb and bring another 4lb extra with you on the yak and keep adding weight so that you still float at the surface with and breath ex-hale, but sink when you hit about 20' down.  So start light and add as you go. your objective is to be able to sit on the bottom without having to hold on as your body tries to float up. I'm diving with a Marseilles rubber weight belt from Neptonic Systems and really like it.
   you"re also going to need booties and a stringer for your fish.  Arogs booties are my favorite and the fish stringer styles are personal preference really.  i like the stringer that is a wire that ties off to your belt and you just string the fish onto it through their gills, but i have friends that like the classic metal loop you just pin them to. Another key item is a dive light.  The lings really like to hide way back under ledges and rocks so you need to see way back in there.  i really like my Princeton LED.
  well if you have more question feel free to ask and I'm sure others will chime in with what works best for them! good luck and remember, try it all on and resist just buying on line without holding it in your hand s first!  see you in the water!

Steve
 

All really good advice from Steve!

Regardless of what brand maks/gun/fins/light etc you end up going with the info above is solid IMO.

I also agree 100% about trying out diving BEFORE you buy a bunch of gear....from being on here you know how many guys have loaded up on all the gear, tried diving once, realized its not for them, and then all the gear is posted here for sale. 

Good for other divers looking to get deals on lightly used gear but not such a good game plan?

Anyway, best of luck and post up if you have any more questions.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

   Hey Darius. Big Jim's post's and video's does that to all of us so don't feel bad!
   As a beginner, if you haven't already, try renting as much gear as you can so that you get a better feeling of what you DON'T want.  The Sacramento free dive shop is a really good place to start and ask what they can do for you.
  I'm a strong believer in you get what you pay for.  so when it comes time to shell you the dough, try and buy and the upper end of your budget.  in my opinion, the wetsuit is the one item that was the most important to me. if you get cold and uncomfortable, you'll be miserable. i started out with a cheep scuba suit for 100$.  it was warm but uncomfortable. I dove that for a year and got an Esclapez and love every second in it.  very pricey though.  Really whatever fits best is a good suit.   look for a 7mil for norcal.  A lot of guys will dive socal in them too. The Sac shop has a huge selection that you can try on so check out as many as you can! well worth the drive from SF.
  Your best option for a cheep entry level gun would probably be an Rob Allen in the 80cm range.  real bullet proof/ accurate gun that will last for some time till you're ready to upgrade.
  Mask's and fins are like the suit. try them all on and see what fist best.  i have bought 5 masks and still dive with the first one i ever bought. Mares Star.  love it and probs replace it with the same one when that day comes. Just look for a free dive mask with low volume and and good fit against your face.  I started out with mares razor fins and liked them a lot. about a year ago i took the fin pockets and put in Dive R blades and really have liked the upgrade.
  I'm about 6'1" at 175lb and dive with about 18lb of weight+/-.  I would highly recommend starting at about 15lb and bring another 4lb extra with you on the yak and keep adding weight so that you still float at the surface with and breath ex-hale, but sink when you hit about 20' down.  So start light and add as you go. your objective is to be able to sit on the bottom without having to hold on as your body tries to float up. I'm diving with a Marseilles rubber weight belt from Neptonic Systems and really like it.
   you"re also going to need booties and a stringer for your fish.  Arogs booties are my favorite and the fish stringer styles are personal preference really.  i like the stringer that is a wire that ties off to your belt and you just string the fish onto it through their gills, but i have friends that like the classic metal loop you just pin them to. Another key item is a dive light.  The lings really like to hide way back under ledges and rocks so you need to see way back in there.  i really like my Princeton LED.
  well if you have more question feel free to ask and I'm sure others will chime in with what works best for them! good luck and remember, try it all on and resist just buying on line without holding it in your hand s first!  see you in the water!

Steve
 

All really good advice from Steve!

Regardless of what brand maks/gun/fins/light etc you end up going with the info above is solid IMO.

I also agree 100% about trying out diving BEFORE you buy a bunch of gear....from being on here you know how many guys have loaded up on all the gear, tried diving once, realized its not for them, and then all the gear is posted here for sale. 

Good for other divers looking to get deals on lightly used gear but not such a good game plan?

Anyway, best of luck and post up if you have any more questions.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Awesome write up Steve indeed. Jim I am certain I'm going to love diving, I used to dive on muddy rivers back home 50'-70' without gears, I scoop mud for manila clams and used my hand for Freshwater prawns. I got a PM from Matt that also hooking me up. THANKS MATT you are truly a class act  . All I need now is some rope. I will get my abalone tag this year. Hopefully, I get to use them. THANKS so much. 

   Hey Darius. Big Jim's post's and video's does that to all of us so don't feel bad!
   As a beginner, if you haven't already, try renting as much gear as you can so that you get a better feeling of what you DON'T want.  The Sacramento free dive shop is a really good place to start and ask what they can do for you.
  I'm a strong believer in you get what you pay for.  so when it comes time to shell you the dough, try and buy and the upper end of your budget.  in my opinion, the wetsuit is the one item that was the most important to me. if you get cold and uncomfortable, you'll be miserable. i started out with a cheep scuba suit for 100$.  it was warm but uncomfortable. I dove that for a year and got an Esclapez and love every second in it.  very pricey though.  Really whatever fits best is a good suit.   look for a 7mil for norcal.  A lot of guys will dive socal in them too. The Sac shop has a huge selection that you can try on so check out as many as you can! well worth the drive from SF.
  Your best option for a cheep entry level gun would probably be an Rob Allen in the 80cm range.  real bullet proof/ accurate gun that will last for some time till you're ready to upgrade.
  Mask's and fins are like the suit. try them all on and see what fist best.  i have bought 5 masks and still dive with the first one i ever bought. Mares Star.  love it and probs replace it with the same one when that day comes. Just look for a free dive mask with low volume and and good fit against your face.  I started out with mares razor fins and liked them a lot. about a year ago i took the fin pockets and put in Dive R blades and really have liked the upgrade.
  I'm about 6'1" at 175lb and dive with about 18lb of weight+/-.  I would highly recommend starting at about 15lb and bring another 4lb extra with you on the yak and keep adding weight so that you still float at the surface with and breath ex-hale, but sink when you hit about 20' down.  So start light and add as you go. your objective is to be able to sit on the bottom without having to hold on as your body tries to float up. I'm diving with a Marseilles rubber weight belt from Neptonic Systems and really like it.
   you"re also going to need booties and a stringer for your fish.  Arogs booties are my favorite and the fish stringer styles are personal preference really.  i like the stringer that is a wire that ties off to your belt and you just string the fish onto it through their gills, but i have friends that like the classic metal loop you just pin them to. Another key item is a dive light.  The lings really like to hide way back under ledges and rocks so you need to see way back in there.  i really like my Princeton LED.
  well if you have more question feel free to ask and I'm sure others will chime in with what works best for them! good luck and remember, try it all on and resist just buying on line without holding it in your hand s first!  see you in the water!

Steve
 

All really good advice from Steve!

Regardless of what brand maks/gun/fins/light etc you end up going with the info above is solid IMO.

I also agree 100% about trying out diving BEFORE you buy a bunch of gear....from being on here you know how many guys have loaded up on all the gear, tried diving once, realized its not for them, and then all the gear is posted here for sale. 

Good for other divers looking to get deals on lightly used gear but not such a good game plan?

Anyway, best of luck and post up if you have any more questions.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Awesome write up Steve indeed. Jim I am certain I'm going to love diving, I used to dive on muddy rivers back home 50'-70' without gears, I scoop mud for manila clams and used my hand for Freshwater prawns. I got a PM from Matt that also hooking me up. THANKS MATT you are truly a class act  . All I need now is some rope. I will get my abalone tag this year. Hopefully, I get to use them. THANKS so much.

Sounds good dude!

Let me know when you wanna get out and we'll go play around and try and find some fishies. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Sounds good dude!

Let me know when you wanna get out and we'll go play around and try and find some fishies. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Man, this is all your fault    I will I will need to get gears one at a time. I will start my part time time next week solely purpose is so I can buy the Revo 13 and Diving gears. Everytime after I see your video my boss ask me why do I turn Red, he doesnt realize I am praticing holding my breath hahahaha

I got dibs on future dive gear sale
j/k

Ditto.  And I'm not!!

I got dibs on future dive gear sale
j/k

Ditto.  And I'm not!!

Your welcome! I will shit on them first if thats the case

I was going to start a thread like this eventually...glad you got around to doing it for me Darius!   

A lot of good info here...thanks guys.  I am also getting into the diving scene.  I got hooked up on my first dive wetsuit from damanij/Matt, now slowly gathering other gear. 

I really didn't want a used wetsuit that someone peed on      so I bought that new, but I'm hoping to gather some of the other gear used.  If any of you guys have some extra gear that you'd like to sell, shoot me PM please.  Looking for ab gear (bar, gauge), belt & weights, gloves (Small - Med), boots/fins (something that would fit a size 9), mask, light, etc.   Sorry for the thread jack Darius.   

Man, this is all your fault    I will I will need to get gears one at a time. I will start my part time time next week solely purpose is so I can buy the Revo 13 and Diving gears. Everytime after I see your video my boss ask me why do I turn Red, he doesnt realize I am praticing holding my breath hahahaha

+1...my interest in diving is all thanks to your awesome dive videos Jim!

I got dibs on future dive gear sale
j/k

Ditto.  And I'm not!!

I will shit on them first if thats the case

That's a weird thing to say....

I got dibs on future dive gear sale
j/k

Ditto.  And I'm not!!

I will shit on them first if thats the case

That's a weird thing to say....

Not for Darius.