Scuba Gear – Scuba Equipment

What SCUBA equipment should I buy?

I’m a beginner diver. I’m interested in purchasing a regulator with octopus and guages and a BC. I dont know what brands would be the best. I live in Erie pa so I will be making cold water dives.

Zeagle is a newer BC company, but they make great quality BC`s and most of them are weight integrated so theres no need for a weight belt. They`re also very reasonably priced.

Dacor is also a great name brand that as been around forever. They make both BC`s and regulators. You best bet is to go into as many dive shops you can and check them out try them on. Some BC`s fit differently than others and some regs come set up a little differently, but you can usually change the way your regulator is set up. Such as a vertical or horizontal configuration.

I`d also recommend looking into buying used gear, mainly on craigslist.com or ebay.com A lot of times ppl will become certified but then cant equalize their ears or dont like the sport after a while so they buy new gear and then sell it for a really cheap price. You can also look into buying used rental gear from any dive shop that rents out equipment. However, rentals are usually a little more beat up than that 1 or 2 time diver that doesnt dive anymore.

What scuba equipment should I buy?

I’m a beginner diver. I’m interested in purchasing a regulator with octopus and gauges and a BC. I dont know what brands would be the best. I live in Erie pa so I will be making cold water dives.

I believe you would get some better answers if you posted in other outdoor activities.

Scuba Diving – When ascending, are you able to inhale, or only exhale???

A friend told me today that when ascending from a dive, you cannot inhale from your regulator, because of lung over-expansion. He said that you can only exhale by blowing slow bubbles until you reach the surface. Is this all true??????????????

The main rule is never hold your breath while ascending and never ascend too quickly. You should always ascend slowly while breathing normally, you can breath in and out, as you still require oxygen in order to maintain your conciousness. You can however blow longer breaths to purge the excess volume. What you shouldn’t do is hold your breath on ascent as this will cause problems.
I was told these rules, which are easily available online:

1.Never try a dive you’re not comfortable with. During descent, you should gently equalize your ears and mask. At depth, never dive outside the parameters of the dive tables or your dive computer (information that helps you avoid decompression sickness).
2.Never hold your breath while ascending. You should always ascend slowly while breathing normally.
3.Become familiar with the underwater area and its dangers. Learn which fish, coral and other hazards to avoid so injuries do not occur. Be aware of local tides and currents.
4.Never panic under water. If you become confused or afraid during a dive, stop, try to relax and think the problem through. You can also get help from your dive buddy or dive master.
5.Never dive without a buddy.
6.Always plan your dive; then always dive your plan.
7.Be sure that your diving equipment can handle the dive you have planned and that the equipment is working well.
8.Don’t drink alcohol before diving.
9.Never dive while taking medicine unless your doctor tells you it’s safe.
10.Diving can be dangerous if you have certain medical problems. Ask your doctor how diving may affect your health.
11.Cave diving is dangerous and should only be attempted by divers with proper training and equipment.
12.If you don’t feel good or if you are in pain after diving, go to the nearest emergency room immediately.
13.Don’t fly for 12 hours after a no-decompression dive, even in a pressurized airplane. If your dive required decompression stops, don’t fly for at least 24 hours.

ways to clean a rented scuba regulator?

I recently rented some Scuba Gear for a dive and the regulator mouth piece.. i wanted to make sure its not dirty and gross. Plus i want to make sure that i got all the previous spit from that last user off. How would i clean the mouth piece of the regulator so its truly clean and it wont damage or change anything and the rental place wont know . please help

You can take germophobia too far you know. Every dive centre I’ve worked for made sure that all the gear was washed thoroughly after it was returned. A good slosh in the rinse tank, followed by hanging it up to drip dry, is more than sufficient to clean the spit out.

However, if you want to make absolutely sure, a general rule would be, don’t wash the mouthpieces in anything you wouldn’t put in your mouth. I would suggest you soak the second stages in a weak solution of antibacterial mouthwash (e.g. listerine) overnight. If you do that, and then rinse the mouthpieces out with fresh water, you can be reasonably sure that it’s clean enough to use.

Although I should point out, as soon as you jump in the sea with it, you’ll be exposing yourself to far higher levels of bacteria than what might have been on the mouthpiece in the first place…

What would be a good regulator set to go with my sherwood luna bcd?

I have just recently bought a sherwood luna bcd and need the regulator, octopus, and everything to go with it. I have been looking for a reasonably priced set but im not sure what will fit with my bcd, will any sherwood regulator set work? Or do I need something specific? I just took up Scuba diving this summer so im not that familiar with everything yet. Any help would be appreciated!

You don’t need to stick with any particular brand of gear. You buy for functionality and fit for the type of diving you plan on doing is all. Just because you have a sherwood bc doesn’t mean you’ll find a sherwood reg set you’ll feel comfortable with. You may find another manufacturer’s reg that’ll fit your needs better. Then again..you may not.
Your best bet is to shop around and preferably try some of sets before purchase. Take an experienced diver with you if possible and keep in mind the type of diving you plan on doing. Let the shop staff know all those particulars as well. They and your pal will be able to narrow down a selection for you that’s appropriate to your budget, current gear compatibility and diving.
For instance, my wreck gear is from no less than 7 different manufacturers. It all works well for what it’s supposed to be. Colour coordination is not something I put preference on. What works well does.

Indonesia Diving Liveaboard

What scuba equipment should I buy?

I’m a beginner diver. I’m interested in purchasing a regulator with octopus and gauges and a BC. I dont know what brands would be the best. I live in Erie pa so I will be making cold water dives.

First and foremost you need to know that no company can afford to make bad scuba equipment. I suggest you stay with brands that are recognized worldwide because you may decide to move somewhere else someday and you would like to know that there is someplace nearby that can service your gear. I work at a scuba store Visibility Unlimited which sells and services scuba equipment along with teaching scuba to people. We sell both in store and online at http://www.visibilityunlimited.com. If you are thinking about purchasing online from a store it is a wise idea to see that they are listed as a dealer for the particular brands they offer. This is easy to check by simply going to the manufacturer websites and checking their dealer sections. I personally prefer Oceanic because they are represented throughout the world. http://www.oceanicww.com and I have found them to be very customer friendly.
Since you will be diving in colder water the regulator should probably be a diaphragm first stage with an environmental seal such as the Delta 4 fdx10 http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/CTGY/Scuba-Regulators-Octopus
or the Neo Regulator
http://www.oceanicww.com/p_regulators_neo.html
or the GT3 CDX5
http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/PROD/Oceanic-GT3-CDX5-DVT-Regulator
I would suggest going for a dive computer over gauges because they are more accurate and easy to use. Read some of the descriptions here.
http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/CTGY/Dive-Computers-Gauges

For the BCD, go with something that is suitable for cold and warm water diving such as the Excursion or OceanPro BCD
http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/CTGY/Scuba-BCD

This will give you flexibility should you decide to go to a warm water destination on a vacation.

The alternate air source I like is the slimline as it is compact and works when handed upside down or right side up.
http://www.visibilityunlimited.com/page/scuba/PROD/Oceanic-Slimline-Octopus
I have only given you a sampling of what I like, the ultimate decision is up to you. There is nothing wrong with asking questions or comparing different companies. Many stores and online retailers also offer packages that may help save some dollars. It can get confusing at times but most of the manufacturer sites and even our website try to keep the technical jargon to a minimum.

Precious Souvenir (thinking About Going Diving for the First Time)?

Scuba / Spare Air question?

So I’m sure alot of people might find this a silly question, but basically I’ve always wanted to be able to breathe underwater. But I don’t live in an area where there is any good place to do any scuba diving, not to mention that scuba gear is way too expensive. I don’t have enough money to buy Scuba Gear or travel anywhere to do it.

What I’ve been trying to find out for a long time is if there is any way I can actually get a very cheap device to play with. I basically only want to use it as a pool toy, and not much more. I’d never be going deeper than 10 feet tops, and I’d never need more than 10 breaths at a time.

I just found about about the "Spare air" system that looks like exactly what I need although its definely very pricey, and I can’t figure out how much it costs to refill, or if there is any way to perhaps put a schrader valve in the tank, or hook up some other modified tank, so I can refill with a foot pump, or one of those little 12v electric compressors ( I know it will never get up to the true psi, but enough for 5-10 breaths would be good.

For what I’m looking to do (basically just stay under water longer at the pool), is this my best bet, or is there a cheaper option.

One other question on a side note. Before I even found out about this spare air, I actually started building my own device. I used some pressure rated pvc (up to 250psi), to make the tank, and a schrader valve to fill it with my foot pump/electric 12v auto compressor, and it has some air hose leading to a blow valve to blow air in my mouth. Along with a pressure guage and also a regulator I can adjust down to any psi so the air doesn’t blow in my mouth too fast.

Haven’t used it yet since its winter, but it seems like it will work, seems like I’ll get about 5 breaths off the tank if its filled to 120psi, its just so clunky though. Is there any other plans out there for something similar, or a way to cheaply modify my device to have a regular regulator type thing instead of my blowgun valve?

Also, judging by the way my device is made, are there any safety concerns I need to know about? Like I can’t get the bends in 10 feet of water right? And the air from my foot pump or 12v compressor is safe to breathe right? Since neither makes exhaust or takes oil.

Thanks.

A reputable dive shop won’t sell you that Spare Air or Odyssey EAS unless you cough up a C card. They have to look after their own skins. The issue is the fact that you’re attempting to use a compressed gas underwater. That actually requires some training, specifically on how a compressed gas behaves in the human body, how cylinders are filled and storage/handling precautions.
I bet that PVC tank you made has some glued fittings. PVC glue is a carcinogen. You’ll be breathing that in. The air you’re using from that compressor isn’t filtered. A normal compressor used to fill scuba tanks filters the incoming air and the compressor itself is designed such that no hydrocarbons from the piston area are introduced into the tank. I bet that foot pump of yours still uses some form of lubrication. The automobile one has grease in there for sure. Again, you’re breathing the stuff and it’s also a possible fire and explosion risk, but granted, given the tank pressure you’re dealing with, it’s low to the point of non existent but it’s still there and given the right conditions it could happen.
As for the "bends", that’s a depth over time issue.
I’m not comfortable answering the rest of your question regarding improving your device, because if you actually went ahead and used it and anything happened, believe it or not, I could be held partially responsible. So could anyone answering it. Honestly, for the price of that EAS, you could take a course and rent gear anytime you wanted it. You pool bottom time would be in the hour range, not minutes.

Edit: To answer Mike’s further query on this. Yes, he’s missing the second stage. What he has now is the equivalent example of what we’d normally consider an "end the dive NOW" situation. A free flow or a no flow on demand. There’s no demand valve( second stage reg) which is what makes this set up a brief hazardous experience amongst other pitfalls. This "blow valve" of his after ( what I assume to be) his first stage reg, may just be a simple on off valve or no valve at all, hard to tell in the way he’s worded it. That’s as far as I’ll go on the construction of this rig.

Scuba mask-off problems?

Today I did my first confined scuba dives. It was great, except when I took my mask off underwater. When breathing normally through my regulator, my nose keeps on blowing bubbles, whether I’m inhaling or exhaling. My instructor says he has never seen something like it. What is my problem?

I don’t think that there is actually physically anything wrong with you. It might just be a delay from your previous exhalation from the air in your sinus cavities. In scuba you are taught to inhale deeper and exhale a little more than normal. As long as there is no pain in the sinus area as you descend there shouldn’t be a problem.
You may notice this by breathing in through your mouth and exhaling through your nose and mouth at the same time. The time it takes for the air to be exhaled through the mouth is shorter than the length of time to exhale through your nose.
As long as you aren’t having water going up the nose you are probably the envy of those who have mask clearing problems.