Newbie Questions on buying gear

Hey All-

Turns out I may be a switch hitter. Been fishing off of the yak for a year or so and I just got my first taste of diving last weekend. Needless to say, I may be pissing my wife off with another hobby

So, I have a few questions about gear. I will be diving mainly monterey/ Santa Cruz counties.
What thickness suit? 7mm or 5mm? I am 6'1, 215 lbs with some natural insulation. any Recommended makes/models?

Thickness of booties and gloves. I assume there is a breakover point for insulation/ function for gloves.

I wear rx glasses. What are my options for goggles? contacts? prescription goggles?

Any Recommendations on quality middle of the road fins?


I know a lot of this stuff is very subjective. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Guys

David Furey

Thanks all

Use the search function, you will find all answers to your questions.
7 mill freediving suit (open cell) - any major brand will do. You may be able to get by with a 5 mill....but you wish you had a 7.
Booties and gloves 3-5 mill dependent on your tolerance to cold.
Check out local diveshop(s) for inventory and pricing.
Mako has a pretty darn good deal on a brand new 7 mill Yamamoto suits. You may want to check Freedive shop in Sacramento see what they have...
Craigslist, sperboard classified eth
Good luck

Thanks for the reply. Found the mako suit. It is a great deal. Will look for solutions for my eyes.
 I must suck at using the search function.. I try and always end up spending hours trying to find what I'm looking for.
Thanks
David Furey

Hey David!

The Mako 7mm is a great deal and they have great customer service as well...PM shark_bait to get first hand details of how they helped him out when he had an issue with one of their suits.

I use the 4mm high top booties and the 5mm gloves from Neptonics and they work great and are super flexible....you'll wear holes in them eventually but they are pretty tough:

http://www.neptonicsystems.com/argos.htm

http://www.neptonicsystems.com/Spearfishing%20Gloves.html

If you want to go over to Neptonics in santa cruz you can try them on, but I recommend calling ahead first to make sure they are there and not out diving. 

Have no clue about prescription masks...sorry...

The fins I use are these Mares Razors...pretty solid and work fine for me:

http://www.austinsdiving.com/proddetail.php?prod=420401

You can also buy those fins at AquaSafaris in Capitola, but not sure if their price is more or less than Austins...

You also want to make sure you have a floatline for your gun and a dive light to see back in holes/cracks.

This is the light that a lot of us use and it is really, really good:

http://www.austinsdiving.com/proddetail.php?prod=80102

Freedive Shop, Austins and Neptonics are all great places to order from and are all sponsors/supporters of our DOTY competition.   

You are welcome to borrow any of my gear to try out whenever you want...I also have a couple different guns that you can try and see which one you like best...

Post a hook up next time you want to go out and I bet you'll get some guys to come along...

Any other questions just let us know!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the reply. Found the mako suit. It is a great deal. Will look for solutions for my eyes.
 I must suck at using the search function.. I try and always end up spending hours trying to find what I'm looking for.
Thanks
David Furey

If you can swing it get a prescription gogles, I used to wear contacts (before lasics) and when you get a bit of water on your eyes (and you will) the salt gets stuck on your contacts and it burns like hell, you will try to get some tears on your eyes but it will be a misserable day.

Jim!

Thanks for all of the info! It is giving me a better idea of where to start. I will definitely start posting in the hookup section when I am ready to roll. I may take you up on your offer for gear too. I have found great prices on the internet but I will try and buy most of it locally to support the friends and neighbors.

Luis-
I have looked into the RX mask. I will probably end up going this route.

Florida freedivers shop will work with you to get RX lenses for any mask they can.
http://flfreedivers.com/index.php/masks-1.html?limit=all

Leisure pro can get a few omer and cressi as well.

Thanks for the info gents. See you on the water.


David Furey