What gear of your own you will need will depend stacks on where you are going to be learning. If you are learning in the UK, such as, then you will need cold weather scuba gear whereas go to Mexico or Egypt and a lot less is needed.
Also, the dive centre or instructor that you are using will also dictate what gear you need. If you are learning with a small club, their stocks of gear to lend you might be small, whereas a holiday spot dive centre is likely to have everything that you might need.
So, apart from the demands of your trainers, a lot is down to personal preference and what you want to buy. But, I do recommend buying for yourself the more personal items on the divers inventory. These will include:
Scuba thermals
Strangely enough, not something you encounter in the tropics! But if you are diving in cold water, such as Northern Europe, then you will almost without doubt be learning in a dry suit, even in the summer. These are much warmer with the correct layers underneath. You can wear jeans and t-shirt, but I would not advise that.
Just a cheap set of thermals from anywhere will provide a good base layer and if you will be scuba ample in winter, then you may want a proper undersuit to compliment these. But, buy at least two pairs of thermals. During training, and leisure scuba, you will nigh on undeniably dive twice a day. If you get a leak in the cuffs and the thermals get wet, then a spare pare make you more comfortable.
Mask and snorkel
These are, in my opinion, an essential for all divers. Find a mask that suits your face shape and is comfortable and buy it for yourself. Masks do come in slightly different shapes and sizes, so make sure that you get one that fits you perfectly and avoid the risk of picking a less than perfect mask at the dive centre.
Fins
Again, something else that is quite personal to the diver is the fins (not “flippers” in diving circles). Longer fins will suit the diver with stronger legs, whilst some divers may prefer features as for instance split fins.
If you are ever likely to be using a dry suit then buy fins with heel straps rather than the closed foot variety. But with these you will also need to buy yourself a pair of wet suit boots to wear under the fins when you are not in a dry suit. This is to prevent the heel strap from rubbing on your ankle.
And that is round it for the beginner diver. Maybe invest in a nice holder for your scuba log, but gear for example BCDs, regulators and guages are not needed, unless your instructor cannot provide them and the location you are diving at cannot assist. But these are pricey pieces of gear.
Author Resource:
Written by Keith Lunt. If you want to know more round diving equipment , then call into the website. Or to read loads more useful diving articles, call into the scuba weblog .
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