I just completed the confined water portion of my PADI rec certification, I'm working on getting my open water dives set up through my DSO, and I'll be doing my AAUS course this summer. I'm looking for advice on equipment.

I don't strictly have to buy my own equipment, but I don't really want to scrounge institutional equipment, and I'd like to have a set of gear that I'm used to for my fun diving.

If all goes as planned, I'll be spending a lot of time working in the water, so I would really prefer equipment that is no-frills. I've done a fair amount of backpacking, and if that's taught me one thing, it's that the bells and whistles always break.

My PI strongly recommends a backplate and wing BC for various reasons. The only thing I know for sure is that I despise the Sherwood jacket-style BC that I did the confined water course in, and I don't think I want a weight-integrated BC unless there's a compelling reason to get one. I found adding and removing the weights to be supremely irritating when compared to a weight belt. Ideally, I want something that will support both single and dual tanks without having to buy two backplates. I've heard good things about Deep Sea Supply, but I don't really know anything about equipment.

Because I'm a broke grad student, this will also be my personal equipment for fun diving (I love the water, so I plan to do as much diving as I can afford), and it seems like wing and backplate BCs are about $100-200 more than wing-style single-piece BCs... they are also probably heavier and harder to travel with? Weight doesn't really bother me - I'm a strong guy - but maybe there are other travel considerations I'm not thinking of?

Are there any other things I should know about equipment for science diving? I know that's a broad question, but I've been told, for example, that some computers might be better than others depending on the dive profiles I expect to be executing.

Other miscellany:

• I'm a strong swimmer. I'm in very good shape, but I'm probably carrying more muscle than is ideal for diving. shrug
• I'm told I'll be diving mostly with steel tanks, fwiw.
• I may want to pursue technical diving later in my life, but it's not necessary for my research (and I probably can't afford it) in the next few years.

This is stuff that I'll be talking about with my PI and my DSO --- I'm not rushing out to buy equipment, it's too cold around here right now anyway. I'm just looking for opinions and I'm curious to talk to other science divers in this sub.