Scuba Diving Equipment

There's a lot of pressure on us guys to play the role of a guy. This is true with scuba diving too. Don't believe me? How many guys do you see with pink fins? That's right. None. This pressure also comes to bear when new divers (male) have to decide between dive knife or sea snips. Women have it easier of course. If they choose the knife they're cool. If they choose the snips, no problem, they're women after all.

Like cellphones, dive computers have evolved from brick-sized devices to something not much bigger than a sports watch. And even though they're smaller, they pack more computing power than ever before. If you're a recently minted diver, you probably already own basic equipment, but just as I did when I certified, you likely have held off on dropping the big bucks required for a dive a computer. I recommend that you start saving!

I copied the following checklist from the PADI Open Water Diver Manual. I figured having this list online would be easier than taking my copy of the manual everywhere I go

There's no question that scuba diving is an expensive hobby. The expense is on-going too with every dive requiring a fee for the divemaster, the boat, and the tank(s) of air. One question that I think most divers contend with is, me included, is whether it is better to buy or rent. I think the answer depends on the particular item being considered. For example, I don't think anyone but the most enthusiastic diver should buy scuba tanks and that's assuming diving doesn't require a flight somewhere. Here's my take on other scuba diving equipment for warm-water diving.

If you haven't bought any scuba gear yet, you may be in for a surprise. And if you have bought gear, you've likely already realized that it is an expensive sport. In fact, I don't know any other popular activity that costs as much. And it's not just a one time cost when you buy your gear. Instead, there are on-going costs every time you go out for a dive such as the boat ride and an air-filled tank.

Divers have at their disposal a broad spectrum of tools for signaling at the surface. In some cases, when a diver is not too far from the dive boat, a simple arm wave or waving a fin in the air can be sufficient to draw the attention of the boat crew. But when a signal must be sent over a greater distance, better tools are needed. Some of the more common tools carried by divers include marker buoys (safety sausages), air- and lung-powered horns such as a whistle or Dive Alert and signal mirrors. The effectiveness of signaling equipment is often dictated by the type of diving in which divers are engaged, and the local environment where the equipment might be used. A thorough training program will impart to students a basic knowledge about the selection and use of these important safety tools.

One of my other hobbies is photography. Not the fancy-schmancy black and white slightly tilted stuff you see in galleries, but rather just photos that capture the things I've done and seen. And, of course, there's a lot to do and see underwater so almost immediately after deciding to learn how to scuba dive I started to think about what kind of underwater camera I wanted.

Scuba diving, like other hobbies, is one full of decisions. Just about every piece of equipment brings with it options for you to pick from and unfortunately the decision often isn't easy.Items like BCs or dive consoles should be researched because of their price tags. But even with small ticket items, like a dive knife or sea snips, you want to get what's most appropriate for you. Well today, I'm looking at one of the small items you're likely to buy -- mask defog.