Other gear changes, some mentioned above...
Lights are so much better now thanks to LEDs and high capacity rechargeable batteries.
Wetsuits have gotten easier to put on thanks to stretchier neoprenes.
Fins.. not much here except for nearly unbreakable and easier entry spring straps as an upgrade to rubber straps.
Masks.. nothing much, although the trend is to lower volume.
Tanks. Aluminum 80s have pretty much taken over as the standard in warm water locations. But steel and other sizes are still readily available.
Computers. Yep, almost everyone dives with computers. Most open water recreational divers no longer figure out bottom times in advance, they let the computer tell them how much time is left at the current depth and shallow up if they want to extend it.
Console versus wrist mounts. Divers are going back to their roots here. Console are still the most common way of carrying your computers and gages, but wrist-mounted had made a big comeback. Except the watch has been replaced with a computer.
Air integrated ("AI") computers. A small percentage of divers have replaced or augmented their SPGs with a small radio transmitter that attaches to an HP port on the first stage that broadcasts to their computer. This offers precise pressure and flow data, gets all your important data in one place, and lets you remove a hose from your regset (unless you want to keep an SPG as a backup). But it's expensive and adds one more thing to go wrong.
Knives - gotten smaller if carried at all. EMT shears or line cutters that look like seat belt safety cutters are a popular alternative, especially for travel where there may be prohibitions on carrying a knife.
Cameras... Obviously digital has replaced film, but there's still the same range in price and size from the pocket cam to the multi-strobe rigs. I think more people carry a camera now because digital makes it easier to take images (if not necessarily good images). It's also not unusual to see people filming their whole dive with GoPro-type cameras in mask or wrist mounts.
SMBs - this may seem odd to you. It's now very common for divers to carry an SMB (aka safety sausage), usually with a small spool of line that allows it to be deployed during the ascent. I'd never heard of them when I started diving in 2000 and when I did it was considered something for advanced divers. But they are considered standard gear now. I'm still not sure why this happened, I suspect it was a reaction to concerns raised by the movie Open Water.
Octos - many divers have switched to keeping their backup reg on a necklace made of bungee cord or surgical tubing. If they need to share air, they donate their primary reg which typically is on a longer hose. This ensures the out of air diver gets a working reg and the donor knows exactly where the backup is.
Lights are so much better now thanks to LEDs and high capacity rechargeable batteries.
Wetsuits have gotten easier to put on thanks to stretchier neoprenes.
Fins.. not much here except for nearly unbreakable and easier entry spring straps as an upgrade to rubber straps.
Masks.. nothing much, although the trend is to lower volume.
Tanks. Aluminum 80s have pretty much taken over as the standard in warm water locations. But steel and other sizes are still readily available.
Computers. Yep, almost everyone dives with computers. Most open water recreational divers no longer figure out bottom times in advance, they let the computer tell them how much time is left at the current depth and shallow up if they want to extend it.
Console versus wrist mounts. Divers are going back to their roots here. Console are still the most common way of carrying your computers and gages, but wrist-mounted had made a big comeback. Except the watch has been replaced with a computer.
Air integrated ("AI") computers. A small percentage of divers have replaced or augmented their SPGs with a small radio transmitter that attaches to an HP port on the first stage that broadcasts to their computer. This offers precise pressure and flow data, gets all your important data in one place, and lets you remove a hose from your regset (unless you want to keep an SPG as a backup). But it's expensive and adds one more thing to go wrong.
Knives - gotten smaller if carried at all. EMT shears or line cutters that look like seat belt safety cutters are a popular alternative, especially for travel where there may be prohibitions on carrying a knife.
Cameras... Obviously digital has replaced film, but there's still the same range in price and size from the pocket cam to the multi-strobe rigs. I think more people carry a camera now because digital makes it easier to take images (if not necessarily good images). It's also not unusual to see people filming their whole dive with GoPro-type cameras in mask or wrist mounts.
SMBs - this may seem odd to you. It's now very common for divers to carry an SMB (aka safety sausage), usually with a small spool of line that allows it to be deployed during the ascent. I'd never heard of them when I started diving in 2000 and when I did it was considered something for advanced divers. But they are considered standard gear now. I'm still not sure why this happened, I suspect it was a reaction to concerns raised by the movie Open Water.
Octos - many divers have switched to keeping their backup reg on a necklace made of bungee cord or surgical tubing. If they need to share air, they donate their primary reg which typically is on a longer hose. This ensures the out of air diver gets a working reg and the donor knows exactly where the backup is.
. They're simple, cheap, and they work, nothing wrong with them at all.
