A frank discussion about dive equipment

Opinions are the authors own and do not reflect the official opinion of any others.

If you spend enough time on the internet you’re bound to eventually come across some heated arguments about equipment, both quality and configuration. The fact of the matter is that people spend a lot of their hard-earned money on their dive equipment and sometimes it is a hard pill to swallow that they may have made a mistake in their selection. Before purchasing any of your own equipment it’s always a good idea to talk to your instructor as well as get some opinions from other experienced divers. I also believe equipment should not have to be purchased for each level of diving , your equipment should grow with you not need to be replaced as you grow and money spent upfront on the right gear is money spent wisely

So, what I have done here is broken down a standard recreational scuba configuration and provided some insight into what I recommend and some suggestions on what you should be looking for in purchasing your own.

Shameless plug time: before purchasing your equipment from anyone else consider contacting me, in the vein of pure transparency, I’d like the opportunity to guide you in your selection, make a couple bucks and ultimately save you some of your hard-deserved dollars.

Masks

Let’s start with the humble mask, regardless of manufacturer a quality scuba mask should have some basic features. The first feature it should have is a tempered glass lens, cheap plastic lenses are inappropriate for diving and can indeed be dangerous to the diver (I don’t even let my kids play with them in the pool). The next thing you should look for is a mask with a low volume, this means there is a smaller airspace in the mask, this is better for a few reasons. The first being reduced visual distortion caused by refraction the farther the mask is away from your eyes the greater the refraction will be. The next being that low volume masks are easier to clear if they become flooded. Lets talk abut purge valve masks, I don’t like them for two reason, one the little floppy discs can become dislodged from their seat and cause the mask to flood and two they typically have a large volume of air inside them. Some people swear by black silicone skirts on their masks, this is what I use, but primarily because the masks I like to use come with them, I honestly don’t see any real advantage for the average diver over clear skirts which some people like because they say they feel “less claustrophobic”. Mask straps, I recommend using nylon/neoprene mask straps because they do not degrade like silicone mask straps and are way less likely to fail, I personally don’t use them because they rub my ears and that hurts and I like the way the silicone grips the back of my head, for people with longer hair I absolutely recommend using at a bare minimum a mask keeper to help keep the mask from becoming tangled in your hair. At least one company is making a mask with a ski goggle style strap, I’m still on the fence, but I have seen more than one person struggle to get the mask adjusted properly to provide a good seal. When it comes to frameless vs framed masks its ultimately diver preference, when purchasing a backup mask to be carried on dives I suggest a frameless mask as they are bit more forgiving to being squished into a pocket. Unfortunately, masks are one of those things that it takes a few dives to decide if they really fit right, a proper fitting and adjusted mask should feel like its barely there. Generally speaking, there are four masks that I recommend to divers, and they are the:

Scuba Force Vision II

Scuba Force One

Aqualung Teknika Two

Oceanic Shadow

Fins

Stick around diving long enough and you will see companies try to pass off some wild gimmicks to their customers, when it comes to fins there is perhaps no better example of this. Don’t fall for any of this crap! Fins should be rigid to semi rigid and not have any splits or features that increase the chances of entanglement. Fins should also have a metal spring strap, if you like a certain set of fins that do not have them already equipped, kits can be picked up to retrofit them. I’ve seen rubber straps and plastic buckles ruin more than one dive plus spring straps make putting fins on and taking them off just easier. Some of my recommendations are the :

Apeks RK3

Drive Rite XT

Scubapro Jet Fins and similar clones (May be heavy for some)

Buoyancy Compensator (B.C)

I think all divers should use a back plate and wing, there I said it. Currently for my students I utilize a harness and wing which is a close second. The reason for the harness use is the adjustability for various size students. When setting up a backplate a continuous piece of webbing is used. Wings should be sized according to the tanks. For single tank diving a wing no larger than 35lbs should be used. When selecting a wing it is important to choose a wing with a low profile to reduce drag. Winds should not have any bungees.

For webbing I recommend the Halcyon webbing the Hs make aligning both sided easy.

If you choose to go with a harness, I recommend the Scuba Force Comfort Harness, this harness paired with a 32lb wing is the setup used in my classes.

For the most part back plates are backplates, they are available in stainless steel, aluminum, carbon fiber and titanium, it’s important to ensure there are no sharp edges or burs in the places where the webbing passes through. Scuba Force, Halcyon and Dive Rite all make excellent quality backplates.

Regulators

Most modern scuba regulators are sufficient for recreational scuba diving. I do not recommend inflator alternate air source combo units. If you’re on an alternate air source the dive has already gone south, and you don’t need to compound managing your buoyancy by placing your controls in your face. I ascribe to the philosophy that you donate the primary regulator and switch to the alternate if you must donate to your teammate. The alternate air source octo is best worn on a necklace that keeps it easy to reach and out of the way.