New dive kit

[hawkeye]

I have just started my OWD course and was woundering when i should start buying my own kit, And how much should I be spending on the out set. I know you can spen a lot of money on kit but what is a good starting point.
Most of my diving will be warm water so most of my gear will reflect that.

cheers

[Fathoms Down]

The best person to talk to about this is your instructor but I would recommend you get your own mask and snorkel as soon as possible and possibly a pair of fins (basic snorkling kit). Other than that, you shouldn't need anything until you've completed your OW course.

[Helen F H]

Im with Nick here on this one. I kinda rushed into the first purchase of my diving gear - luckily it was all decent enough stuff at a reasonable price second hand.

Mask - make sure it fits you well and you like the colour (makes it easier to find on a rib full of divers and kit)! Dont be tempted to spend a fortune on a posh one - get a cheapo one and if you decide later that you want a posh one, use the original as a spare. Dont forget to "toothpaste" it. New masks are very prone to misting up as they have a film of "stuff" on the inside of them. The slightly abrasive properties of toothpaste will remove it if you give it a bit of a rub.

Fins - same as above. Make sure they fit (and will fit over the wetsuit boots). Again have a good look what is out there. Do you really want a £100 pair of fins if you aint going to be diving that often? Slipper fins are abit of a bugger if you need to get in over rocks, so go for ratchet type ones.

Wetsuit boot are probably a good plan too. Mind you, they smell like nothing on earth after a few wears...yuck.

A good bag is maybe something to look at too. One of the ones with wheels are a damned fine idea, plus a zip off rucksack.

[Conor]

I'd agree as well. By basic snorkelling gear (good mask, Snorkel, wetsuit boots and fins).

Take your time in buying the other stuff, rent for a while and try as many different types as you can. Get an idea of what kind of diving you want to do.

You may start off wanting to be warm water only, but don't be surprised if the bug bites you and suddenly you want to dive year round in the UK.

Enjoy the course

Conor

[aclivity]

try this link: http://diveweb.oneandoneis2.com/guide/index.htm

Andy

[RobEllis]

Now I'm probably going to get shouted at here, but after my advanced (9 dives) I went out and bought all my own kit including a backplate/harness system which I made myself. I knew I was going to be doing this for a while, so I was happy with the 1.5k outlay. I do a couple of other sports with similar requirements and I'm happy I'll be doing this for a while.

I found having my own basic kit made my enjoyment of the sport that much greater - it's no fun when you have to hire different kit so many different times.

Worst thing of all to do is make uninformed choices, which is only a bit worse than making no choices at all. And, if you come to a point where you think you know everything about the kit you're buying, you've probably missed something!

I found the gang that hang on this forum incredibly helpful, and have never been slated for asking what I thought were stupid questions. So fire away, keep the costs down (i.e. you really don't need to spend £400 on a BCD and a £350 torch and clearance drysuits can be a bargain!)

Have fun - you'll be considering and buying kit for at least half the time you'll be spending in the water, it's part of the sport.

Rob

[hawkeye]

Thanks all for the great advice. have already bought mask/snorkel and fins.
did go a bit mad on the mask £49 TUSA but saying that its a great mask and I can replace any parts.