80 replies to this topic

[drbill]

Hmmm... I use whatever equipment is appropriate to the task and conditions.

Most of the "winter" season I dive a:

1 Seaquest OR Tilos 7mm one-piece full suit
2 ScubaPro X-Tek soft backpack with RecTek wings (even in cold water)
3 Scubapro G250/Mk10 DIN reg on main tank
4 Scubapro G250/Mk10 yoke reg on 13 cu. ft. pony
5 Apollo biofins
6 O'Neill booties
7 3mm gloves
8 Tilos 3mm hooded vest

In transitional seasons (spring and fall) I switch to:

1 Mares OR Tilos 3mm full suit OR custom M&B 7mm 3/4 suit (shortie legs but full arms) OR Mares 3mm shortie
2 Tilos 3mm hooded vest (if necessary)

When traveling to warm water I take

1 Mares 3mm shortie
2 US Divers Blades (original design, light weight)

For backup I keep

1 ScubaPro Classic BCD
2 ancient Seaquest BCD

And if I'm really daring... I dive with nothing at all (well except the mask and snorkel), although its hard to join the 5 fathom club with that gear due to increased O-2 requirements

Dr. B.

Edited by drbill, 20 April 2004 - 04:37 PM.

[Admiral Hanson]

Right, at least I am not feeling too embarassed with all the gear I own :

DRYSUIT : Otter Watersports 'Sports' membrane drysuit. I live about 10 minutes drive from one of the UK's premier drysuit making factory and shop. They give great service and make great suits.

A Northern Diver 4mm Compressed Neoprene drysuit, which I am not too keen on, but will be looking for them to 'amend' and see if I can't get some use out of it this season.

A Weezle Extreme Plus undersuit

A Body Glove 100g undersuit

A 'wooly bear' undersuit

WETSUITS : A 5mm 2 piece suit from a company called Decathlon. They are a European sports store chain and they do excellent suits.

3 x 2mm shorties (for pool work)

REGULTORS : 2 x Apex TX50 regualtors ... One main and one for a pony cylinder.

2 x Oceanic Delta regulators ... One main and one for the pony.

Both have a tripple console and a 10 foot long octopus hose

I've also got an old Sherwood just for the pool

BCDs :

3 x Buddy BCDs

FINS :

A couple of pairs of Avanti Quattros and a couple of other brands

2 pairs of wet suit boots

GLOVES :

2 x pairs of 'dry gloves'

1 pair of 5mm Body Glove wet gloves

1 pair of 'Beaver' warm water gloves

MASKS :

About 5 in total, including something that looks similar to the old Dacor 'bandit' mask

WEIGHTS :

Couple of 'normal belts', couple of lead shot weight belts and my current favoured one is a harness. (Easy on the dodgy knee)

COMPUTERS :

Aladin Nitrox Pro wit 'memomouse' to connect it to the PC

OTHER BITS AND BOBS :

Reels, Surface Marker Bouys, Couple of Snorkels, conventional camera, Olympus digital camera plus housing, Watches, Kit Hangers etc.

All of it is stored in the loft, the roof space above my apartment / flat.

[FreeFloat]

Okley dokley, looks like my turn.

When freediving:

- Sporasub H.Dessault longfins
- either a Cressi ultra-low volume or my Apollo Bio-metal low volume mask
- Body Glove 7mm one piece wetsuit with 7mm core warmer
- fin keepers
- sometimes my plain bottom-purge snorkel. Unlike Walter, when I freedive seriously for depth or time (always with a buddy!) I prefer to do breathe-ups on my back and just flip over immediately before diving. However when "touring" (snorkelling) for sights I do wear a snorkel. I attach it to the back of my mask so that it flips back into my slipstream (and not bobbing around attached to the side of my mask!) when actually swimming underwater.
- Dacor wrist mounted depth gauge
- rubber weight belt with square solid weights*

When scuba diving:

- Halcyon Pioneer 36# wing, 6# stainless backplate
- Genesis regs (Atlas seconds, I forget the model of the 1sts and am too lazy to go to the basement and look)
- 2 pc 'farmer john' style 7mm wetsuit
- 2mm Body Glove shorty wetsuit
- Bare 7/5mm hood
- 7mm Whites Kevlar-palmed gloves
- Mares boots
- Scubapro Jetfins size M (betcha didn't know they make them that small!)
- X-shorts (neoprene shorts with canvas pockets attached)
- Dacor wrist mounted depth gauge and compass
- Timex Ironman watch (fourth one so far, I 'drowned' another two and lost one)
- webbing weight belt with depth-compensating buckle and square solid weights*

Scuba Toys:

- Halcyon Helios 4.5 10W HID damn I love that canister light!
- 2 "Scouts" backup lights
- 4' 'sausage' SMB
- delrin spool with 100' of line
- sometimes an underwater disposable camera.
- 7mm neoprene Brooks drysuit. I don't dive this. Not even in (Canadian) winter. Only dived it twice on quarry tryout dives.

Stuff I own and no longer use:

- about a dozen glowsticks
- an unknown four-pane mask (found on the bottom) (NOT low volume)
- full-foot "Laser" fins, Cressi Frogs with homebuilt spring straps, and no-name full-foot thermoplastic fins (yes that's three pairs)
- a very gadgetty "dry" snorkel - the thing weighs a ton
- 5mm "beavertail" wetsuit jacket. Well maybe this fall I'll wear it overtop my shorty wetsuit. We'll see. I wore only the shorty all last summer.........

*Weights:
Enough to outfit a smallish dive shop. 3x 2lb, 2x 3lb, 2x 4lb, 2x 5lb, 2x 6.5lb. With these I can make up virtually any combination I could possibly need and probably be able to outfit a buddy, too

Edited by FreeFloat, 18 May 2004 - 11:15 PM.

[maninthesea]

Next

Snorkles-Don't have a use for one unless teaching OW. I think freediving is like building a house with hand tools. Nice concept but give me POWERTOOLS.

Now for the gear
Drysuit-???whats a drysuit
Wetsuit-If it is cold enough to NEED a wetsuit it is too cold to dive Yep I'm Spoiled
Regs-For single tank a Sherwood Maximus with Shadow plus oct. DiveRite console with compas and Pressure guage
For doubles- 2 sherwood Maximuses or is it Maximi? Same diverite console.
For the deco bottles 2 more Sherwood Maximus (see a trend yet?) with Pony guages. Green hose for rich mix Yellow hose for lean mix.
For single dives Dive Rite transpac harness with travel or rec wing depending on tank size.
For doubles either transpac and wing or DiveRite SS backplate with appropriate wing Single Rec, or Dual Rec wings.
Main Tanks
OMS dual Steal 125's or AL dual 100's or Al Dual 85's or Al Dual 80's or Single 120 with H valve or single 100 with H valve or Al C-80 with regular valve or Al 67 with regular valve or Al 53 with regular valve or Al 35 with regular valve.
Deco tanks
LP steel 45 or AL 40, or AL 30,
Also have a 19 & a 13 that seldom have a use anymore.
Mask Mares Target (got to love the low volume)Black silicon is a must Backup when carried is a Apollo with a Metal Frame. (Broke to many others)
A note on masks-If you are an avid diver and find a mask you REALLY like get an extra. By the time you break or lose your original they will have quit making the one you love
Fins-For boat dives Mares Full Foot Quatro's blow everything else out of the water.(come on over Walter I'll smoke you and the black bricks in any catagory :anna: )
For beach or guiding-Apollo Biofin splits one white one black(everyone can easily follow the guy with one white fin)
I have other fins but they seldom get used.
Lights-Each wing has a couple of chem lights ziped into it just in case. for primary
DiveRite wreck canister light with 10w HID 6degree beam or UK800R or UK light Cannon, Backup UK SL4 and or DiveRite Led light, and or UK MiniQ-40 (3 lights minimum on all penetration or night dives 1 light min on all dives) I also have many extra lights for friends
Dive Computers Two of the following depending on situation
DiveRite HE
Delta P VR3
Cochrane Comander Nitrox
Aeris Atmos Pro
Oceanic Versa Pro
Desert Star Deco Pro
Watch Citizen HyperAqualand
Camera Nikonos V
DPV Apollo When they finaly ship I will have a DiveRite arrow.
I have a lot of other stuff also
JIm

[stanner82]

Snorkles-Don't have a use for one unless teaching OW. I think freediving is like building a house with hand tools. Nice concept but give me POWERTOOLS.

I'll second that!

For my gear:
Wetsuit Comp (aka CHEAP) 3mm FJ.
Regs Scubapro Mk2/G500 w/SeaQuest octo. Plan on changing this config to Mk25/G500 w/R190 octo and the Mk2/SeaQuest for a 19cf pony.
BCSeaQuest Spectrum I, getting ready to upgrade to the new Oceanic Probe (lots of pockets and will accept a plate for dbls).
TanksAL80's but want to move to S119's (all the local dive shops out of stock until fall due to steel shortage).
MaskSeaVision w/pink lenses for most dives, and a SeaVision w/clear glass and opaque skirt for night and pool dives.
FinsScubapro Jetfins - old but reliable. The original standard.
ComputerOrca Pilot EAN - one of the first Nitrox computers that pretty much does it all. Want to get a backup - probably an Aeris Atmos 2.
Snorkelel-cheapo Mares purge model I picked up on clearance for $8.00 and keep in my dive bag for the odd occassion when I'm snorkeling.
Knifeblunt tip titanium blade - weighs virtually nothing and about as sharp a laser.
WatchCitizen Aqualand and Casio Illuminator.

That about covers it...as DL and Zen have said, comfort and fit are the most important factors followed by personal preferences.

[Daniel]

Wetsuit: 3 Mil Deep see jump, 7 Mil Dacor metaltec farmer john/jacket, 6mil boots, 6 mil hood and gloves, 2 mil henderson gloves for warm dives.

BC: Sea Quest Pro Qd+

Masks: Oceanmaster z2 with bifocals, Oceanmaster WATERLESS snorkel, it was free!

Fins: Cressi sub space frog one

Regs: Oceanic, with Mares octo

Computer: Mares RGB

Gauages: Oceanic

Dan
AOW