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New Diver Geared Up!

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

jimqpublic

Love snorkeling in warm water.
May 4, 2006
188
12
108
Hi all,

Just thought I'd tell about my gear setup. I'm taking the PFI class in two weeks and I'm hoping to spend some time this weekend snorkeling to get used to the equipment.

Diveskin/Oceanos 5 mm nylon outside, unlined two piece suit. I'm hoping this is already on the way and will get to me by next weekend.

For the rest I decided to support my local dive shop- Pacific in Long Beach, CA run by Tom Murray. Tom was very helpful to a new diver with lots of ideas in my head from the web. In the end I got slightly different gear than I was looking at online and spent around 10% more for the convenience of shopping locally. (Of course I also paid tax which made it 18% extra, but I can't blame the local shop for that).

For that 10% I started a positive relationship with a local shop, supported local business, and most importantly got fins and a mask that fit properly. I tried on three different masks and found one that fit much better than the others, so it was a good call.

-Mask: Aqualung Sphera. Fit was way, way better than the other models in the shop- though he didn't have the Omer line.
-Snorkel: Basic large bore with a drain valve in the bottom. Not convinced here but it was cheap.
-Fins: Riffe (Omer foot pockets) He had the Riffe & Cressi Gara 3000 for about the same price but suggested the Riffe/Omer were probably slightly better.
-Socks: 3 mm
-Belt: Rubber with plastic QR buckle
-Weights: 4x3# for 12 pounds. Tom suggested for the class I'll probably use 9#, for shallow diving I may want 12#. He only had 3# and 5# weights.

The only things I looked at but didn't buy were a knife or linecutter and a dive flag & anchor for my kayak. There's always another day.

Jim
 
Ok, now you are dangerous!
Congratulations on a basic gear kit. Time and personal preferences will modify it but you have the basics. You will want a dive computer, I use a D3 but they aren't made anymore and probably just as well. The Omer footpockets will give you choices on fin blades once you move away from epoxy blades to carbon fiber (later, later...). The leads sound about right. Ideally you will tune your bouyancy to be neutral at 33ft when fully geared and in your wetsuit. It takes a little more with a 5mm. Even with my 3/2mm I use up to 11# of lead plus a couple pounds in rubber (footpockets, snorkel, weight belt, dive knife) when I am not diving for performance and am trying to get the most swim for the least energy.
The Sphera mask is a nice choice. Lowest internal volume of all commercially available masks - last I heard. I use one. Its easy to equalize without much air and won't vacuum your eyeballs out of the sockets if you take your time equalizing. The only drawback with the Sphere is that the plastic lenses scratch so get a good box and babysit your mask whenever it isn't on your face.
A basic J snorkel is all you need. If you are really confident, you will want the shortest one you can find that just reaches the back of your head. I use a little longer one.
Ok, now you are basically geared to go into space...its a hostile environment but if you do it right you will hardly notice that.
Good for you for going and doing it. However it goes you will be glad you did.
If you start on your tolerance tables now you may surprise yourself. Keep us posted.
I had a great swim with some dolphins and a manta ray, yesterday. Check out my journal here on DBn. Dives like that make the whole effort worthwhile. And hey, if you like it, you can come here to Hawaii and dive some more. I have room and access to great Hawaiian water...
Lungfish
 
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