Buying your first dive equipment - the basics

If you’ve come to a point where you’re thinking of buying your first dive equipment, there’s a few questions you need to ask yourself before heading to the dive shop

Once a scuba diver has fallen in love with the underwater world, it’s natural that they feel the need to purchase their own dive gear – after all, it’s better to have equipment you’re familiar with and not rely on rental gear that has been used and abused by lots of other people.

When it comes to buying your own dive equipment for the first time, however, there are as many pitfalls as there are products, and every discussion about dive gear – one of the most frequently discussed topics on dive boats, around beer tables, and on web forums – comes with a whole world of advice from both dive professionals and know-it-all ‘expert’ divers.

You know the type – got all the latest dive bling and knows everything there is to know about everything, even though they can’t actually dive worth toffee but need to let the dive group know that they are superior in every way because they own the most expensive regulator.

Buying dive gear is analogous to buying a car – when you take them back to basics, all cars do fundamentally the same thing: they go, they stop, they turn around corners and have some switches and gauges to assist you when you’re driving.

If you want bells, whistles, auto-sport-mode-tiptronic-go-faster-alloy-wheels-auto-parking-cup-holder fancy pants stuff then fine, but remember that a flash car is not in any meaningful way going to get you to your destination substantially faster than a cheap runabout, neither will it make you a better nor a safer driver.

In fact, until you’ve mastered the basics of driving a car, some of that extra gubbins may well compromise your ability to drive in the first place.

Buying your first dive equipment series:

a complete set of scuba diving equipment — Owning a full set of dive kit is great, but it can be pricey – so is it really necessary?

You also need to take into account the purposes for which you are buying a car. Do you really need one or is it cheaper to use public transport? Are you travelling long distances or just tootling back and forth from work, school and the shops? Do you live in the city, the suburbs or miles away from civilization in the countryside? Is a two-seater sports coupé really appropriate if you’ve got three kids?

Questions to ask:

Where are you going to be diving?
How regularly will you be diving?
Is it more or less expensive than rental gear?
Where will you get it serviced and repaired?
Easy recreational diver or tempted by technical?

The same principles apply to dive gear: Will you be diving once or twice per year in the tropics – where it might be less expensive to rent some items – or every other weekend in a freezing cold quarry, where you will need specialist cold-water gear?

Are you travelling long distances to your dive destinations? Flying or driving? Are you happy floating about on the reefs or are you tempted by the ‘dark side’ of technical diving?

That’s a lot of questions, but the general rule of thumb for dive gear is to buy to your means – both financially and in terms of practicality. If money is no object then fill your fins, but if budgets are tighter, then entry-level gear will fulfil the most important requirements of resort-style recreational diving and doesn’t cost the earth.

Don’t be sold by an over-abundance of features which may be unnecessary for the type of diving you plan to do, and if you’re still uncertain, stick with what you know – at least for now – and buy gear that’s as similar as possible to the kit you learned to dive with. It’s basic, inexpensive, will be reasonably familiar, and is virtually bullet-proof, which is why dive centres use those bits of gear in the first place.

Should I buy my dive gear online?

Definitely not for your first purchase.

Unless you know exactly what you want, then no, you should not. You need to be able to try the equipment on for size and comfort. Wetsuits are an obvious example, but so are items such as BCDs where the size of BCD you need can be substantially different to the size of T-shirt you wear; an masks which may not fit the particular dimensions of your face.

Other products such as regulators need servicing which can only be carried out by authorised technicians, so if you buy a brand that your nearest dive centre can’t deal with, you may face a large bill having to send it off to somebody who can.

It also helps to get to know the staff at your local shop, who can provide advice and, perhaps, help you find diving clubs and activities in your local area.

Clearly, online ordering is how the world works these days, and with a bit of experience and knowledge then it might be more convenient to get hold of something that your Local Dive Shop doesn’t stock, or replace a mask you love but have broken.

First time round, however, do it in real life.

The first and most common purchases are masks, snorkels and fins. They are generally the most accessible and least expensive so let’s start there…

Mark 'Crowley' Russell

Crowley (known to his mum as Mark), packed in his IT job in 2005 and spent the next nine years working as a full-time scuba diving professional. He started writing for DIVE in 2010 and hasn't stopped since.

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