by Lea Miller

Created on: June 15, 2010

Buying scuba equipment is an investment. You want quality gear that will last you for years. You want it to be comfortable and pleasing to the eye, but don’t lose sight of the fact that it’s also life support. You will be using it to visit an environment that doesn’t support air-breathing humans.

Start with asking yourself some questions about what kind of diving you expect to be doing. Tropical warm water gear is not the same as cold water gear used by divers in the Great Lakes. Diving from a boat is not the same as diving from shore. Due to the restrictions on baggage for air travel these days, more divers are looking at weight when choosing gear. There are thousands of products out there, but if you buy one that doesn’t work for your dive destination, you haven’t made any progress.

Start with the basics. Every diver should own his mask, snorkel, and fins.

Masks are designed to enclose the eyes and nose to accomplish two things, to provide an air space in front of the eyes so the diver can see clearly and to allow the diver to adjust the pressure by breathing through the nose into the mask. Everything else is just details. Not all faces are the same size, and not every mask fits every face. Try out several masks by placing the mask on your face without using the strap and breathing in slightly through your nose, then continue breathing using your mouth as you would while wearing scuba gear. If the mask stays on your face, it’s a good fit. Then you can look at the lens shape, the color, the type of strap, and so on.

A snorkel allows you to breathe at the surface without using air from your tank. Some divers use a snorkel that is nothing more than a tube with a mouthpiece at one end, but most people will be more comfortable with a snorkel that has a purge valve below the mouthpiece. If water comes into the snorkel, this valve allows the diver to simply exhale, and the water is pushed out the bottom valve with very little effort. You can also purchase a snorkel with a valve at the top that keeps water from splashing into the tube, but that’s not as important.

There are two basic types of fins. One type has a rubber shoe that your foot slips into, and is known as a full foot fin. Adjustable fins have an open heel with a strap, and are intended to be used with dive booties. If you will be diving only from a boat, full foot fins may be fine, but if you will be doing shore entries over rough terrain or rocks, you will want

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