Tiggs

Anyone dive here? i have lots of questions about gear and stuff......any good forums?

T

Simon C

BSAC have their own forum. Sorry, you'd have to google for it. I'm at work and don't have the url to hand.

dmc1980

Ive never really looked for a diving forum, I dive though. What would you like to know and ill try my hardest

Flatcapdriver

Tiggs, if you are looking at getting some of your own gear then let me know as I have fins which have barely been used, snorkel and mask hardly used and a wet suit only used once which will fit someone around the 1.89m/90kg mark. Mask you'll probably want to buy your own but the rest may be useful.

Fosters

i use www.scubaboard.com

they even have an acronym for Local Dive Shop (LDS) - took me a week to work it out

I'm waiting til the october dive show before getting new kit.

Tiggs

the dive show is the week i am away diving!

i will check out the forum though.

my main question was....assuming a budget sufficent to get some but NOT all the gear i need what should be a priority before going on hols to finish my OW and do some additional dives.

i will be diving at 5* PADI centres so can i assume the rental gear will be good? and in the Maldives so warm weather (i hope?)

Mask, fins & snorkle i have..


do i need wet suit, BCD and reg or just hire it there?

long term plan is to dive about twice a year ONLY in warm water (to avoid the GW's and the chilly sea!)

dmc1980

Hire it all when you are there. It just adds weight to your luggage, and really, if your only divig twice a year there is no point in buying the stuff. The gear should be serviced every year etc so really you would be better off hiring it.

Tiggs

even wet suit? considering the low cost and ample room in the bags (dont need many clothes to go to the Maldives!) is there not a benifit in taking my own as opposed to some skanky old thing they hire?

Fosters

wet suit yes - everyone p!sses in them

and a dive computer - Suunto Vyper is a good one. coming up from 30m, it's good to know your ascent rate isn't too high without having to do mental arithmetic.

I'd hire the rest.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Padi divemaster here but i aint dived for a few years due to fluid on the ears waitng for hossy to sort it

Robbie200

http://www.diverforum.co.uk/index.shtml
http://www.yorkshire-divers.co.uk/forums/
http://www.bsacforum.co.uk/
http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/

Should keep you busy for a little while.

I always take a wetsuit, mask and computer. Everything else just hire whilst on holiday.

Do sommetimes worry a bit after I saw a second stage hose come away from the first stage whilst a trainee was diving. Fortunately they were only at 2m.

Daz34

I agree. Rent the stuff but buy a wetsuit. Otherwise it isn't cost effective - especially if you are only gonna be a bi-annual warm water stripey fish diver

If you do decide to dive in the uk, then is the time to seriously consider your kit options, so that if you get more technical the kit won't be a limiting factor.

Tiggs

serious question......is diving in the UK any fun????

my plan was open water finished off in Maldives + a few extra dives, Seychells next spring, South Africa later in the year.

cant say cornwall or bournmouth sound that good?

Bottomfeeder

Me, SAA Club instructor....PM or mail me fella

Bottomfeeder

Learn to dive to at least open water level here in the UK - then you'll dive compitently anywhere in the world - especially those naby-pamby 'blue water' sites

Daz34

Diving here can be awesome. Get a good day and a decent wreck dive and it is as good as it gets. You can go down the south coast, say Portland, jump on one of the regular hard boats to ferry you out to the site, and be diving something that was torpedoed in WW1.
The downside of course is that the weather plays up & the day gets cancelled, hopefully before you travel there.
Or you might get to dive after a rough ride out to the site, but the visibility is ****e and then on the way up you catch the end of slack water and find out what it is like to be in the wet equivilent of a wind tunnel
As has been said though, you can dive anywhere after here. Your kit has to be up to it though which means more expense. Tougher dry suits that won't rip, regs that work in cold water, decent lighting and some form of redundancy.

4X4BOB

Prob a dumb *** question, but do you have to be able to open your eyes under water as part of the training for scuba diving?
Off to the Maldives next spring with wifey and want to try the diving, possibly doing the basics in the UK first. But wifey says at some point you have to do something along the lines of taking your mask off and opening your eyes while you clear your mask, or something like that.
Is that true?
I am extremely sensitive about my eyes and cannot bear anything in them (act like a big girlie). There is no way I can open them under water, I have tried and failed many times, its the same with contacts, I couldn't stand touching my eyes. So if I have to do that as part of Scuba training I may as well not bother booking a course.

Bob

Bottomfeeder

You'll need to be able to open your eyes underwater

4X4BOB

Bugger, looks like I'll have to stick with snorkelling, I can swim underwater for upto a minute before I have to come up for air maybe longer if I'm not swimming fast so will have to make do with stuff nearer the surface.

Bob

Tiggs

get a grip!

just learn to open your eyes...when you first do it it may feel weird but once done it will be simple enough.

if your wife fell in a pool and you had to open your eyes to get her off the bottom or she dies would you? of course you would...so its not a physical thing...and your eyes arent bothered (they are covered in water right now!) so its all in your head!

I have a phobia of being eaten by a huge shark....again, all in the head - just get a grip!

T

ps- to the cold water divers - sounds grim! sorry but its Indian Ocean/Red Sea for me!