How To Choose Scuba Diving Gear

Hi. I'm Howard Payne. I'm an instructor with Dive Wimbledon.

We're a 5 Star IDC Centre here in Southwest London and I teach both recreational and technical diving and I have been diving for about 8 years and today, I'm going to give you a little bit of advice on equipment and how to scuba dive. Okay, let's look at how to choose scuba gear. I think first and foremost, one the most important thing is to actually find a dive centre with people who dive, I know it sounds obvious, but lots of instructors and people that are regularly diving and use them really to guide on what you're buying because those guys do the stuff all day, everyday, they know what to look for, they'll probably have some favourite bits of kit themselves and they'll probably be the best advisors or help that you can get when you're trying to choose equipment.

In terms of the brands, here at Dive Wimbledon, we stock Scubapro, we stock Suntow, Cressy. You're not going to go far wrong with the major manufacturers like that. There's about half a dozen really big kind of manufacturers in the scuba business and if you're choosing equipment from any of them, then chances are you're probably going to get something that's good but again, I would stress just work with an instructor at the dive centre where you're buying stuff from and they're going to advise you and because the chances are that they're going to be teaching you to use that equipment, they're not going to be trying to sell you something that doesn't work because they'll just inherit the problem.

Other things to bear in mind, obviously, fit is really important. Just take a look at this a second, Steve, you know if you're buying a BCD for instance, having something that's really comfortable particularly with women, you know something that's the right size that fits you. They do specific BCD's for women that are more comfortable and more flattering to kind of female shape if you like.

So getting something that fits comfortably is really important. That also applies to waxing, some boots and gloves and hoods. Just spend a bit of time working with the guy at the Dive centre just to help you with that.

You can see that Scubapro there, I keep mentioning that they're probably one of the biggest brands and I'd certainly recommend Scubapro gear. They pretty much don't make a bad piece of equipment. Most people when they're starting out, obviously it's a lot to buy, so perhaps first thing that most people will invest in would be something like a dive computer because they'll find that makes diving a little easier and more fun.

Also, perhaps a set of their own regulators because you know, vitally important safety equipments, so people like the reassurance of having their own regs. They can get them serviced and then they know they're going to work fine. So just a few ideas there about what to look for when you're choosing scuba equipment. .