Snobal,
Glad you had a good time! It sure is fun, isn't it?
I can see how easy it is to get sucked into buying tons of new equipment and guns to be able to compete better. I've already found myself thinking those thoughts. However, I'm also thinking that perhaps first I should use my daily carry arm a few times to improve my abilities with it before I go chasing scores. I believe that was the original intention of the IDPA to start with.
I think that I will shoot my Kahr P9 next time as it is my usual daily carry, even though I prefer to shoot my Commander in .45. I know that my Kahr won't get me in the top scoring arena against all those larger high-capacity Glocks and others preferred for competition, but that's not why I decided to try IDPA anyway.
If I get as sucked into this IDPA stuff as I think I may, then there will be plenty of time in the future for the pure competitive aspect anyway.
Have fun and good shootin'!