UK Equipment considerations

[Phoenix]

Evenin' All

I wonder if any of you vets might be able to help me with a bit of eqiupment confusion, I am wondering what are the main items of diving kit that you generally need to suply yourself (the stuff that many places don't rent out) and what are the good brands and what are the bad brands? (as i have no clue)

Also I have been reading about Dry Suits, Wet Suits, and the different techs involved in both, and I wonder what sort of considerations need to be made for UK diving?
Alot of people have suggested Dry Suits, but I have found them to be amazingly expensive (atleast, to me at the moment anyway)
Also what if you wanted to dive in multiple different climates? from the tropics to the cold scottish waters?
would a 7mm suit (wet suit not dry) be too warm for the tropics? or would a 5mm be too cold for the UK? I would rather not have to buy two wetsuits! (it's going to be hard enough to find one that fits anyway! lol)

Im guessing from alot of places I have looked at online that most laces require you to have your own

Mask
Fins
Snorkel

Anything else I should consider? sorry for the newbiefied questions all, thanks for any help

 

[Shaun]

As you say, some places expect you to provide your own Mask, Fins and Snorkel. But many don't, at least, whilst your doing your intitial training.

My advice would be to try out as much kit as you can during your training to see what you like, what suits you. After all, you could spend a whole heap of cash on something.. only to find a different manufacturer or model suits you better. That will always be the case anyway.. there's always something around the corner to tempt your wallet.

Consider (some) second hand kit perhaps. Bit like buying a second hand car - the first owner takes the sting out of the price. And if you bide your time you can usually find someone who has rushed out and spent a mortgage worth on kit only to find that 3 months later diving is not for them! Have a look on eBay, but do some serious homework first.. some kit goes for more on there than it cost new! Unbelievable.. but that the nature of auctions I guess.

>>Dry Suits, Wet Suits<<
Its all relevent to your comfort zone, and what type of diving you intend to do. I nearly always dive in a dry suit here in the UK... but last weekend a 7mmm wet suit was perfectly comfortable (for me) in the Kentish Channel.

As to the different techiques.. a dry suit needs a bit more training. As you say, they are a lot more expensive too. IMHO spend you cash on getting qualified, whilst knocking the preverbial out of the schools kit.. and as I said before.. trying to find what you like - and obviously just as importantly, what you don't.

>>Also what if you wanted to dive in multiple different climates?<<
Like all things, there's no single solution. Otherwise we'd all be diving wearing 'em.

>>would a 7mm suit (wet suit not dry) be too warm for the tropics<< Could be.. depends on the water, the diving and you.
>>would a 5mm be too cold for the UK<< Would for me.

And remember wet or dry may affect your foot size of Fins - it does for me anyway.

>>I would rather not have to buy two wetsuits!<<
Consider going for layers... farmer John, jacket etc. Then you can pile it on, or peel it off accordingly.

Mask was my first must buy item.. only coz I cant see with my prescription lens!

 

[Phoenix]

Excellent thanks for all your help mate! much appreciated
my only concern with the suit was that im quite hard to fit for (large in both height and width), its going to be quite a pain to find someone that sells a suit my sizes let alone has them available for use at training, I will look into that dual layer thing you mentioned

Thanks for your help Shaun
More questions to follow I am sure!

 

[Shaun]

Second hand dive bargains can often be found at the following UK sites
www.ukdiving.co.uk/ukdiving/classified/sell.htm
http://www.e-diver.co.uk/ads/ads.php3
http://listings.ebay.co.uk/aw/plistings/list/all/category19302/index.html
www.loot.com/

 

[builderbloke]

hi Phoenix first kit to buy is a good mask spend some time chooseing it go to a dive shop and try them all on when i bought my first mask i spent well over an hour trying diffrent ones on

the exposeure suit shauns idea about the farmer john is probebly going to be the best for you , you get a 7 mil wetsuit with a 5 mill shorty for about £ 150- £200 leave the dry suits alone til you absalotely sure diving is for you


plus ive got a dry suit that would fit you and youll get the best of both worlds as its a dry suit but i get out soaked when i use the stupid bloody thing ;-0
anyway mask fins snorkel and boots there gunna cost you at least £100 and if u dont want to dive you can still snorkel in them and youve not wasted your money

untill then just use your clubs kit

nearest dive shop to you that i know of is mikes water front warehouse in chiswick www.mikesww.com

 

[Belushi]

Most of the stuff you will learn about dive gear will be from other divers.
But joining a local club, with like minded people is a great way to meet people, and gen up on some serious gear gossip.

As the other boys have said, your mask is the most important piece of kit. I have had mine for 5 years, changed my prescription in it twice, and the strap on it thousands of times, but it still fits, and although it has biological experiments in the bottom, it is my old mate.

As for a suit, second hand is an excellent choice. Most clubs will also have a second hand board as well.

Although the british diving scene is mainly British Sub-Aqua Club based, I am not advocating joining the BSAC primarily. Most reasonable dive shops will have a club attached that has nothing to do with PADI or BSAC or any of the other dive organisations, just a social club.

As a recommedation, try Adventures in Diving, they are in W London somewhere. Scubababy and I are going to Malta with them,and they seem thoroughly professional ... so far. They have a club, and offer diving trips etc. The head honcho also seems like a guy you can sit and chat with. Always a huge bonus.

We are not all the same shape, some of us are the proper diver shape. You know, chest dropped, stomach is resting muscle etc, others are tall and skinny. So maybe made to measure will be the way to go.

If you want cheap made to measure suits, then try Solent Divers in Portsmouth. Its run by a miserable, cantankerous old sod called Cliff, but if you insult him back he will be quite happy to deal with you. his son Alan is the GM(and the real boss), but as Solent Divers have been around for 40 years, Cliff, must be doing something right. the suits are good quality, and hard wearing. It is an experience that all southern divers should try ... visting Cliffy even if you don't buy anything!!!ut:

 

[budgy]

A dive Club has its problems, but a good club is the best place to learn to dive well. The training is provided by volunteers who receive no remuneration, the system expects that those who are trained in due time, will commit themselves to training others. This training requires a regular commitment from you, one night a week at a local pool and open water diving takes place on weekends. If you can't or won't go diving on weekends particularly Sunday's, a dive club is not right for you, try a professional dive school.
If you go the club route, I would try your local BSAC club and talk to the Branch Diving Officer about learning to dive. The nearest one may not be the best for you, or have training nights that suit you, so visit a few clubs within commuting distance. The branch diving officer will probably arrange a try dive for you. When you meet the club members try to find out if the club have enough qualified instructors who are willing and active to carry out instruction and assesments. At your stage its important there's enough equipment to lend a novice, check if the club has other assets such as a rib and a compressor. A well equipped club may be able to outfit you completely with borrowed equipment, the cost of equipment hire is often included in the membership.
Regarding equipment choice, if you think any piece of gear needs careful handling don't buy it. My choice now is to select stuff that can be manhandled by apes, as much of the gear I have bought in the past was too fragile. Wet suits divers are quite rare in Scottish water, some say 3mm for the tropics, 5mm for the Med, 7mm for Uk. I dive dry and wear a thick undersuit.

 

[Conor]

Hi all

been looking around the board and like the atmosphere, so I thought I would say hello and join in this discussion.

I'm in a similar position to Phoenix. I certified last year and due to the arrival of my daughter I haven't dived since

I am planning to do a scuba review and then have two holidays that will hopefully give me up to 20 logged dives culminating (if appropriate) in the AOW. I really want to get more into diving and hopefully dive in the UK, at least in the nicer weather (whenever that is).

I am planning to go to my local dive shop this weekend and pick up a mask, snorkel and fins, but was considering whether it would be wise for me to check out a wetsuit combination (7mm + 5mm shortie).

I was planning to leave the wetsuit and other purchases until I knew a bit more about what I wanted to do in the water, but from what has been said in this thread it seems that the combination may be quite a safe bet, covering some UK diving and year round med diving, would this be right ?

I have to confess I am one of those people who likes to have their own equipment, and planning this amount of diving this year seems to make it a good time to buy (at £5 per day for a wetsuit, 10 days = £50 which is a large chunk of the cost). I read somewhere that having your own wetsuit is better as it starts to mold to your shape and become more comfortable and stay warmer longer (is this true??)

I think I would like to log a lot more hours before I buy BCD, regs etc., and would like more experience before even trying a drysuit.

Please let me know what you think

 

[nickjb]

The real benefits of your own suit are that it will fit better to start with and will be warmer as the neoprene will be less compressed. We wont go into the 'pee' issue

If the company you are diving with charges extra for the suit then now is definitely a good time to buy. Most places, however, will offer a complete dive kit package so the savings from having your own suit wont be much, if anything.

 

[budgy]

I never tried a wet suit, I hear they are a bit cold, I have seen some people using them, but these days they are quite rare in this part of the world. I dive nearly every weekend throughout the year, with temp ranging between 3-10C. I hear the sea is warmer down South. If you talk nicely with the LDS they may do a rent buy deal, knocking off the money you pay in rental off a future purchase, my shop always offers me a discount. I am looking at getting an ex north sea immersion suit, they are the same as dry suits without the valves.