SCUBA stuff

[Aaron]

Question #2 for the day...

I took a plunge today and signed up for my SCUBA open-water dive classes with some of the money I saved on my cancelled 2-day. I figured its a pretty good silver lining.

I know that there are probably better forums to ask this question but I like the crowd here and am certain someone will point me in the right directions. I need to buy the required setup (Snorkel, Fins, Mask, Boots, and Gloves) but don't want to buy crap that I will want to immediately upgrade after my first 2 dives. Do you guys have any suggestions on the brands/specific equipment that you would recommend? I know I can ask the dive shop, but like most places, I'm sure they will recommend whatever it is they carry. It seems to not be a bad idea to go in with a little bit of an unbiased background as to some of this gear prior to walking into a shop.

My plan is to dive casually, nothing to extreme. Maybe a few trips a year. It would be great to eventually get into some spearfishing, but who knows. Class first.