The most important consideration when looking for a scuba diving mask is fit. If the scuba diving mask doesn’t fit it won’t matter how stylish it looks or that it has the latest integrated technology. The bottom line is if the scuba diving mask doesn’t fit properly you will be clearing the scuba diving mask continuously throughout your dive and miss all the exciting attractions.

How can people find a mask that fits? The best answer is to start by consulting a professional scuba diver that has experience in fitting people with the right scuba diving masks. The best ‘on face’ test is to look up at the ceiling and place the scuba diving mask on your face. Inhale through the nose and the scuba diving mask should seal and pull onto your face. If air is leaking between the scuba diving mask skirt and your face chances are you don’t have a good fit.

How about those issue of lens fogging? What can be done to solve this problem? Lens can fog for a couple of reasons. The most common reason is that people don’t prepare the scuba diving mask for scuba diving after purchase. Most scuba diving masks come from the factory with a silicone spray coating the lens. This coating makes the scuba diving mask look new and shiny out of the box. However, this coatig must be removed prior to use or you will get fogging. You can purchase a mask/slate cleaning product designed to clean the lens of a mask. Your scuba diving mask can also get a build up over time from the water and may need to be cleaned often depending on use. I highly encourage any new scuba diving mask owner to clean there mask with this type of product before using the scuba diving mask for the first time. I know that Sheila would recommend this as well.

A second reason scuba diving masks fog is that people don’t use defog solution prior to scuba diving. The defog solution is different than the scuba diving mask cleaner. The defog solution should be applied to the scuba diving mask prior to each scuba dive.

Another reason worth noting is fogging occurs when scuba divers exhale continuously through there nose. Most people don’t even realize that this happening. If you have cleaned you scuba diving mask and have applied a defog solution prior to scuba diving and you are still getting fogging, ask you buddy to watch you to see if you are exhaling through your nose.

Make your next dive more enjoyable! Select the right mask, clean it and prepare it properly.

To rent:
1/BC ( you really ought to purchase though, $500 new)
2/Lead (to buy if using a 7mm wetsuit $30-$60 depending on if it’s bagged or solid)
3/Wetsuit (personal choice here, buy is $500 for a good 7mm plus booties and gloves $40/pair, hood $30)
4/Dive computer: (optional, to own they start at $300 for a simple model)
5/ Floating Dive flag, to own $30
6/Air tank-comes with a fill if you rent. To own $200 new)

Over the course of perhaps 20 dives or so, it becomes cheaper to own most of that gear. Rentals for a weekend for just the basics can be around $100 or more, depending on what articles you don’t currently own.

That’s it. Everything else you can rent once you’re certified.

If you wanted to own it all then this is what you’re looking at in addition to the above:

Lead weight: Varies and depends if it’s a soft pouch or belted lead. 40-200 bucks

BC: The sky’s the limit. 200 bucks to 2 grand.

Hood: 40 bucks

Gloves: 40 bucks

Alum 80 tank: 200 bucks each on average. They don’t lose value unless they’re at the end of their lifespan or damaged. Expect a scratched up, paint peeled tank to go for almost the same as a brand new one. May as well buy new. Get two.

Regulator set: Varies with make and model. 200- 1500 bucks with a basic console. Double that if it’s got a computer console.

Dive computer: Pretty well indispensable these days. Everyone should be diving with one. 400 bucks and up. I’ve seen one for 23 grand.

Dive knife or shears: Not a weapon. These are tools to get you out of fishing line, nets or electrical cables. Buy the best you can afford. 90 bucks and up. In knives I prefer blunt tip as opposed to pointy tip. It can be used to pry with and not break. It’s also a little safer. Some divers have poked holes in themselves let alone their wet suits.

Dive light(s): You’ll want at least one. Two if you’re even considering wreck or cavern diving. 130 bucks and up for your primary and 70 and up for your back up.

Wreck/Cave reel: 50-100 m length. Anywhere from 100-250 bucks.

A watch that can take a dive: This is your back up timer in case your primary timer or dive computer fails. I use a Timex Ironman looped on a D ring. Cost me 40 bucks and haven’t killed it yet, even on a dive to 170 feet that was beyond it’s stated limit.

A second exposure suit: Think you’ll only dive in one place or just in one season? Think again. You’ll want something you can use in the Carib and you’ll want something you can use at home.

A save a dive kit: About 40 bucks. These kits contain little items like tank O rings, fin straps, mask straps, nylon ties etc. Have one of these and you’ll rarely have to abort a dive because something small broke. That tank O ring ( 40 cent part) is the difference between you diving and you not diving. Sucks being 5 miles offshore and the only thing stopping you diving that reef is a 40 cent part after paying 70 bucks for the charter boat.

A Gear bag: A 50 dollar hockey bag (preferably on wheels) or a full blown dive case like those made by Armour @ 250 bucks and up.

There’s more but that’s an average gear kit for a responsible diver.

The cost varies by region and country. For example, in the Bay Area, Open Water (OW) certification averages $200. In Hawaii, it’s $475. In Mexico, it’s $350.

When looking at courses, you have to calculate the entire cost of the course. Some Local Dive Shops (LDS) offer a lower price to get you through the door, but there are add’l costs that are not advertised. The lower prices will just be the tuition.

Full Costs include
1. Tuition
2. Books and materials
3. Gear/tank rental
4. Gear purchase
5. Boat fees/park fees

2. What equipment should you buy?

You should buy as little as possible. A lot of LDS require you to buy "personal gear" which is masks, snorkel, boots, fins, and gloves (if you are in cold water). However, some LDS will rent you all the above too.

The only equipment that I believe will truly make OW certification easier is a proper fitting mask. A leaking or fogging mask will decrease enjoyment and increase stress levels significantly. Think of driving in the rain without your windshield wiper – no easy.

Everything else you should try to hold off until 1) you know you like diving and 2) you are more familiar with diving. First off, you don’t even know if you will enjoy diving and are able to do it. Perhaps you have equalization issues and cannot actually dive. If you had bought all your gear, that’ll be thousands of dollars wasted. Second, your diving will change over time. What looks good now will not be the same after you have 10 dives or 20 dives or 100 dives. In addition, what fits or looks good on land may not perform to your preference in the water.

Rent as much as possible.

3. What certification?

You will want Open Water certification (OW). You will hear PADI or NAUI or SSI, but these are just agencies. They all provide OW certification.

It lets biologists and interested people get close to undersea life.
Each dive has something unusual to offer.
It is a different world down there.
It is very educational.
It lets people work underwater easily.
It is a relaxing outdoor activity.
It helps naval research.

Thank you

I think you are talking about a dragger re breather, re breathers preceded open circuit scuba by several years and I believe were used in the second world war, these were oxygen based re breathers and are actually extremely dangerous to use below a depth of about 30ft or six meters oxygen becomes toxic at highish partial pressures 0.6 bar PP is generally the limit set for the use of oxygen as a decompression gas by military and technical divers. modern re breathers are very safe to use with the proper training and experience all diving Equipment is. It is designed for "down stream fail safe" which means if it fails it will fail delivering the breathing gas and "free flowing" all divers are trained to breath from a free flowing gas source. A water leak into a regulator generally is not a serious problem again all divers are trained to "breath past" a small amount of water in the regulator or mouth. should you have a major water leak into a regulator you would simply change to your alternate air source or "octopus rig" or that of one of your dive buddies. with a lot of these "shows" about diving it is quite often said that the breathing gas is oxygen. Oxygen is never used as a breathing gas by divers except in special and exceptional circumstances where it is used as a decompression gas after a very deep dive by military or technical divers. Pure oxygen is never breathed below six meters, a deep dive would be any dive of over 40 meters or about 120ft. an example would be the Lusitania of County Cork in Ireland the wreck lies at a depth of 90msw using special decompression schedules the ascent from this wreck takes about six hours! using open circuit scuba and a last deco stop of two hours at a depth of six meters breathing pure oxygen after a 20 min bottom time. The ascent time would be considerably shorter apparently using semi closed circuit re breathers such as the dragger unit.
Semi closed and closed circuit rebreathers certainly make deep diving easier but as to which is best I think it comes down to personal preferance, I cant see the point in using a rebreather for a 20 minute dive at a depth of 20 meters or sixty feet open circuit scuba is fine for this using compressed air as a breathing gas or posibly nitrox if you want to increase yor bottom time a little.

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