Buying Kit for the Young Diver - advice please.

[MATTBIN]

Cheryl hi, my son learnt to dive at 15 and I was advised that as the ends of the bones are where the growth occurs it is unwise to rush them into 'deep' diving i.e >20m as the affects arent known. I'd go along with that advice. I also think that its up to the individual so please dont think I'm preaching.
Kit wise I bought my boy regs and a bcd as I didnt want to make do with hire regs, I wanted to know his were in top condition. I'm not suggesting hire stuff isnt, just that his own definitely would be. I didnt buy hime a dry suit for a while and when I did I bought second hand, it was crap quite frankly. I recently bought him another second hand suit and it was brilliant. I f I was going to buy him second hand again I'd definitely recommend getting a wel know brand, might be more expensive but it will probably be dry, diving wet is no fun in the UK, either intentionally or accidentaly. Yes they do grow out of the kit, but diving is expensive so its just a case of bite the bullet I'm afraid and enjoy the diving in proper kit. I'd go along with Dave on that point. You might have to limit your diving a bit but at least the nipper is warm and dry, which will hopefully avoid a visit to the pot. I also made sure Adam was self reliant in kit, so he got a computer, pony and self inflating smb and learnt how to use all of them. The pooter was so he could ascend at a safe rate rather than work out his profile or deco requirements. Nitrox is also a good course as I firmly believe its a much safer gas. I know this lot is adding up to a fortune and I'm sorry but you did ask.

Best wishes
Matt

[ScubaK@]

If you want to buy her kit, then best to start with things she won't grow out of, Regs, Computor etc, and wait for suit, BCD etc.

Good Luck

K@

[cheryl t]

Thanks for all the advice everyone

[Tony F]

I've only just caught up with this thread and everything seems to be covered.

However, having worked with my daughter through her training started when she was ten I have three pieces of advice related to getting the best out of all concerned:

1 - Make sure the child is warm
2 - Make sure the child is warm
3 - Make sure the child is warm

Honestly, everthing else will follow so long as they've warm. They'll be more positive, more confident, more comfortable, happier and learn more easily. If that means wasting a bit of cash on a wetsuit or drysuit that'll not last long it's money well spent.

School wetsuits in the UK really don't cut the mustard for little ones in my experience.

[Paul Oliver]

Lots of good points, to me the regs are the priority and then warmth, not much between them. But also don't push on the depth, a year or so as an OW diver to 20m sounds good for a kid.

Get a decent BC, you get a fair bit of growth in them (I know having put on 4 stone since leaving the Army, and still able to use my old BC), but not too big so she can slide out of it (not that difficult with 1 shoulder buckle undone).

Good luck with getting her into diving