29 replies to this topic

[Diverbrian]

hmm.. well I bought two aluminum 80's.. that I dove once before my dive buddy turned them into stage bottles.. that was 2 years ago. Haven't seen them since. Any comment VADiver??

Would those be the double eighties that he wants to dive the U-352 with? LOL

I have several gadgets that I no longer see a need for and some things that I need to buy. An orange lift bag/marker buoy is high on that list. I have a Sealife camera that kept fogging up that I no longer use (oh, and it went through batteries like nobody's business as well). My other camera is great except that the housing isn't rated below 130 ft. and it has no room for a strobe, DOH!

I could go through the list, but there is a reason that I am extremely leery on checking out new dive gear purchases. This is the first year that I haven't had a major purchase of dive gear (YET!!). My buddy wants to get a rebreather in a couple of years and I am planning to dive one with her when the time comes. So, investing too much more in open circuit gear is becoming unlikely.

[devilgas]

hmm.. well I bought two aluminum 80's.. that I dove once before my dive buddy turned them into stage bottles.. that was 2 years ago. Haven't seen them since. Any comment VADiver??

Swim up behind him at Millbrook, unclip them and swim away :-)

[finGrabber]

hmm.. well I bought two aluminum 80's.. that I dove once before my dive buddy turned them into stage bottles.. that was 2 years ago. Haven't seen them since. Any comment VADiver??

Swim up behind him at Millbrook, unclip them and swim away :-)

that would work even better if she unclips and uses his scooter too!

[WreckGoddess]

hmm.. well I bought two aluminum 80's.. that I dove once before my dive buddy turned them into stage bottles.. that was 2 years ago. Haven't seen them since. Any comment VADiver??

Swim up behind him at Millbrook, unclip them and swim away :-)

that would work even better if she unclips and uses his scooter too!

I knew there was a reason I loved you guys so much!

DiverBrian -- yup, believe so! Perhaps you want to help me while we are down on the 4th of July. I'd be willing to give you one if I can get one back!

[Brinybay]

Most regrettable gear purchase was a Nite-rider headlamp. Talk about gear stress! The harness was not compatable with a hood and mask at all. The chin strap kept sliding up to compete with my regulator for space in my mouth, the on-off switch was impossible to feel with cold-water gloves, the cord that went to the battery pack would get tangled with anything and everything that came near it, there was no comfortable or practical place to secure the battery pack. I sold it to another diver, but he wanted it for bicycling, not diving.

Edited by Brinybay, 07 January 2007 - 01:28 AM.

[Latitude Adjustment]

Most regretable gear purchase was a Nite-rider headlamp. Talk about gear stress! The harness was not compatable with a hood and mask at all. The chin strap kept sliding up to compete with my regulator for space in my mouth, the on-off switch was impossible to feel with cold-water gloves, the cord that went to the battery pack would get tangle with anything and everything that came near it, there was no comfortable or practical place to secure the battery pack. I sold it to another diver, but he wanted it for bicycling, not diving.

I've got the same setup but the LED low beam version however I've never used it as a headlamp. I've got the wrist mount so the light is aimed the same place as the camera and yes I've got the bike mount too, the battery pack fits right into a water bottle cage. With the battery pack on my BP I turn the battery switch on before entering the water and use the switch on the light head to control which beam is on.

[Diverbrian]

hmm.. well I bought two aluminum 80's.. that I dove once before my dive buddy turned them into stage bottles.. that was 2 years ago. Haven't seen them since. Any comment VADiver??

Swim up behind him at Millbrook, unclip them and swim away :-)

that would work even better if she unclips and uses his scooter too!

I knew there was a reason I loved you guys so much!

DiverBrian -- yup, believe so! Perhaps you want to help me while we are down on the 4th of July. I'd be willing to give you one if I can get one back!

If you were to provide the distaction....

[Knitrofix]

My most regretable dive purchase was a dive kayak for 2. It's great when there of 2 of you to paddle it but it's a pain when there's only 1

[BubbleBoy]

Most regretable gear purchase was a Nite-rider headlamp. Talk about gear stress! The harness was not compatable with a hood and mask at all. The chin strap kept sliding up to compete with my regulator for space in my mouth, the on-off switch was impossible to feel with cold-water gloves, the cord that went to the battery pack would get tangle with anything and everything that came near it, there was no comfortable or practical place to secure the battery pack. I sold it to another diver, but he wanted it for bicycling, not diving.

I've got the little single-light sport model of this thing. Had all the same problems as you in the beginning but made the following mods to rectify most:

1 Ditched the head strap and attached the mounting plate directly to my dive hood.
2 Clipped the battery pack to the back of my BC so it rides just behind my neck.
3 Sortened the connetor wire to about 10 inches, so it just reaches over my head to the lamp. Added a small velcro strap to my hood to help secure the wire in position.
4 Attached a larger switch lever to the existing one with a small screw and marine glue. Makes it easier to feel when operating blind.

This all works much better now, although I still sometimes manage to get my mask strap tangled up in the thing.

I love the idea of a head lamp, but someone still needs to come up with one that has the batteries and lamp integrated into one streamlined unit that can be permanently attached to a hood or helmet.

[BubbleBoy]

Most regretable gear purchase was a Nite-rider headlamp. Talk about gear stress! The harness was not compatable with a hood and mask at all. The chin strap kept sliding up to compete with my regulator for space in my mouth, the on-off switch was impossible to feel with cold-water gloves, the cord that went to the battery pack would get tangle with anything and everything that came near it, there was no comfortable or practical place to secure the battery pack. I sold it to another diver, but he wanted it for bicycling, not diving.

I've got the little single-light sport model of this thing. Had all the same problems as you in the beginning but made the following mods to rectify most:

1 Ditched the head strap and attached the mounting plate directly to my dive hood.
2 Clipped the battery pack to the back of my BC so it rides just behind my neck.
3 Sortened the connetor wire to about 10 inches, so it just reaches over my head to the lamp. Added a small velcro strap to my hood to help secure the wire in position.
4 Attached a larger switch lever to the existing one with a small screw and marine glue. Makes it easier to feel when operating blind.

This all works much better now, although I still sometimes manage to get my mask strap tangled up in the thing.

I love the idea of a head lamp, but I agree someone still needs to come up with one that has the batteries and lamp integrated into one streamlined unit that can be permanently attached to a hood or helmet.

[Piz]

Well I have had my first dud purchase in a long time.
My old US Divers mask was getting a bit old & tired so I decided to retire it and get a nice new one with big lenses for greater visibility. After reading up on various different masks I settled on the Cresse Matrix, which felt OK in the store. However what I didn't realise was with the larger lenses it sits lower on my face and with reasonably high cheak bones this ment it sat slightly off my face and didn't seal above my lip. After 3 dives and having tried every trick I know to get it to seal (and having facial hair I know more than a few) I admit defeat. I think it will have to go and buy another one and next time pay more attention to how the mask fits rather than the technical information. Just goes to show that what sounds good on paper does not necessarally mean it works well in water.

[jextract]

My ex-wife was a diver ... I'm filing her under this category. Definitely the most expensive diving-related mistake!

[cmt489]

LOL Jamie! We were thinking the same thing. I was simply going to say the only regretful gear purchases I have made to date were the ones I made for my ex! He walked out with the stuff 20 days after he got it for Christmas. Had he left it behind at least I could have returned it... Bastard!

[Racer184]

My ex-wife wanted to go diving with me. So I took her tanks to get visual and hydrostatic tested. Then she had every excuse in the world to not go diving with me.

But that expense was nothing compared to what I spent for her boobs.

[ev780]

I regret spending money on those stupid dive shop clips when I could have spent half the money on stainless steel double enders at Home Depot or Lowes

Trust me, the hardware store clips are not the same. They are stainless. However, they usually aren't marine grade stainless. Also, the springs are certainly not up to par and will fail sooner rather than later. Been there, done that!

Well, that is true about marine grade products; it can be difficult to find a good outlet for such things in Dallas

does anyone know of a good mailorder outlet for stainless clips that don't have the "dive gear" supplement attached?

No "dive gear supplement" but a "boat supplement"...

www.westmarine.com

Has tons of gadgetry for sailors.

Edited by ev780, 08 December 2006 - 07:13 PM.