rstevens@aquaticXtremes.com

This Scuba Diving Equipment List is for you as divers, non-divers, or soon to be divers to get a better understanding of each piece of equipment, what it is, what it does, and why it is important to us as Scuba Divers. Scuba Diving is the most equipment intensive sport that you can be a part of. Scuba Diving equipment is a form of life support system that keeps us alive while visiting an unknown world that we ordinarily wouldn't have been able to enter. It is for this reason, that your equipment must be of the highest quality.

Mask

A mask purchased from your local ‘mart' will not work for Scuba Diving. The rubber skirt around your high quality mask is soft and comfortable and made up of a surgical grade silicone to give it a form fit around your face, usually with double walled protection. The glass is tempered, so shatter proof in the event something impales the lens. Lenses are made of either one pain where there is no separation between the eyes or two pains. All Scuba quality masks should have finger wells for access to your nose for easy equalization of your ears and a comfortable mask strap. The rubber mask straps that come with the mask will work, but cause entanglements in the hair. A neoprene mask strap that slides on is better suited for divers.

Snorkel

Your snorkel is a piece of safety equipment and helps you conserve on your air supply while at the surface. In the event you have run out of air at the surface and need to make it safely back to the boat, your snorkel will allow you to swim comfortably at the surface, face in the water, without exerting more energy then needed. Snorkels come in a variety of styles, but for scuba diving, a few components are key. A Divers snorkel should have a flex tube so that while the mouth piece is out of your mouth, it will hang flat along the side of your face and out of the way of your regulator. A purge valve is a good idea to have to get any excess water out. And a dry snorkel will allow waves to go over your head and not let water in through the top, a good thing to have when out in the ocean where larger waves can be a hassle.

Fins and booties/socks

Fins are your mode of transportation while diving. Most fins have the option of Open Healed that allows for you to buckle your foot in and offer a quick release to allow for easy disconnection, or Closed Heal (Full Foot) where you slide the fin on over your entire foot. If diving with an open heal fin, you will need to wear a dive booty to protect your foot from the rubbing of the band at your ankle. This is a benefit because when you are not wearing your fins, your booties double as shoes to allow you a non-slip surface on boat decks and protection from rocks or the hot ground. If diving with a full foot fin, the use of a dive sock will offer protection from redness and blisters associated with the rubber from the fin rubbing on your foot. The styles of fins vary from a full blade to a split fin. On many occasions, divers will carry more then one set if fins with them, depending on the type of dive they are doing.

Exposure suits

While dry suits keep out every bit of water you come in contact with, wet suits actually allow the water in. Once the water is in the suit, your body heat warms up the water inside, keeping you warmer then what you would be without one. Exposure suits come in a variety of thicknesses depending on the temperature of the water and are made of a stretchy material called neoprene. Many divers will wear an exposure suit in warmer water, not for warmth, but for protection from surrounding conditions, such as cuts and abrasions from coral or stings from jelly fish.

Weights/Belts

Weights come in two main styles, hard and soft lead. Hard lead is a solid piece of lead and when dropped will hurt what it comes in contact with, be it the boat deck, pool side, or your feet. Soft lead, however, is made of tiny shot pellets and sewn into a bag of heavy mesh material. The amount of weight you carry with greatly depend on the type of water you are diving in, your body type, and what type of exposure suit you are wearing. The saltier the water, the higher your body fat percentage, and the thicker your wet suit, the more weight you will need to get you down. Weights are carried in either a belt or in the pockets of a Buoyancy Compensator with an integrated weight system.

Buoyancy Compensators (BC)

Buoyancy Compensators, or BC's, are worn as a vest and have the tanks strapped on your back. BC's will inflate and deflate to allow you to either go up or down in the water to achieve neutral buoyancy. It is of high importance that you purchase your own BC while diving. You should know how your BC works and what everything does so that you would be able to use it in the case of an emergency. Rental BC's do not offer that sense of security.

Regulators

The 1 st Stage Regulator connects to the tank at the valve and breaks down the air into a more breathable pressure. The 1 st stage Regulator has high and low pressure hoses coming off of it that connect to your BC for inflation and deflation, your submersible pressure gauge to let you know the air pressure remaining in your tank, and two 2 nd stage regulators, one that you will breath off of and the other as a back up in case your scuba diving buddy has run out of air or you have an equipment malfunction on your primary 2 nd stage.

Tanks (Cylinders)

Many non-divers believe that the air we breathe as divers is 100% Oxygen, but rather it is the same air that we breathe here at the surface (20% Oxygen, 80% Nitrogen, and other mixed gasses). Scuba Tanks come in a variety of sizes and pressures to suit the divers' needs. Tanks are made out of either Aluminum or Steele. Aluminum tanks are cheaper, but hold less air and have the potential to corrode faster. Aluminum also becomes more positively buoyant as air is being used, so an extra pound or two of weight may be needed. Steele is much heavier, so weight could actually be taken away. Steele tanks can hold more air due to the thickness and strength of the metal.

Accessories

Accessories are not just to make a scuba diver look good, but also to add protectiveness and security to their dives.

Knives will allow you a sense of protection, but are more commonly used for cutting or getting out of unforeseen situations. Lights are needed on night time diving, but also highly recommended during day dives to bring out the colors lost. Underwater hunters also use lights to look into holes and crevices to find their catch. Slates are used to communicate to other divers when hand signals just aren't working. Retractors will keep all of your scuba quality equipment close to your body and stop them from dragging in the sand while Flags and signaling devices keep you seen and heard from the surface of the water.