Taking care of your equipment

Hello again!

Taking care of your SCUBA equipment is an essential part of SCUBA diving responsibly. Without proper care, your regulator can fail, or your BC could stick to the open position, having you rise up rapidly, etc. you get my point. For a complete guide on taking care of your equipment, go to this website:

http://www.articlesbase.com/scuba-diving-articles/take-care-of-your-scuba-gear-and-it-will-take-care-of-you-851713.html

It describes in detail how to clean your BC, regulator, and wetsuit. Take care of your SCUBA equipment, and it will take care of you.

The next blog post will be about deep diving, and the dangers associated with it.

Happy Diving!

SCUBA Sam

The Mechanics of SCUBA Equipment

Hi all!

Understanding every single piece of equipment in SCUBA Diving is vital to learning to dive. Here are all the pieces of equipment used in diving, and what they do. We'll start from the bottom, up:

Booties: keep your feet from getting cut, or getting cold.

Wetsuit: Keeps your body warmer than the outside water.

Gloves (optional): Keeps your hands from getting cut, or cold.

Tank: Provides the air you breathe underwater (not pure oxygen).

Regulator 1st Stage: Brings the pressure in the tank from about 3000 to about 150 psi.

Regulator 2nd Stage: This is the mouthpiece that you breathe air out of.

Buoyancy Compensator (BC): Allows you to sink, or float.

Lead Weights: This is what makes you sink. You can put these in your BC.

Octopus: This connects to your 1st stage. It is a second regulator that you or your buddy can use in an emergency situation.

Mask: Puts a layer of air between you and the water, allowing your eyes to focus clearly.

Hood (optional): Keeps your head from loosing heat underwater.

And there you have it! Everything you need in order to go SCUBA Diving. The next post will be about taking care of your equipment.

Happy Diving!

SCUBA Sam

Finding used SCUBA Gear

Finding used SCUBA gear can be a tedious task to the untrained eye; when really, it is quite easy! My recommended site for used SCUBA gear would be:

http://www.craigslist.org/

Try it out; just find your city, and search "SCUBA" in the searching box. I bought my set off craigslist.org, so I'm sure you can to. Another site to look at would be:

http://www.ebay.com/

Although it has gotten some bad reputations lately, I still think that it has a huge seller market. Although, whenever you buy used gear, ALWAYS get it checked with your local dive shop. You don't want to figure out that the regulator valve is corroded 40 feet underwater! If possible, even get your used regulator overhauled (it's about $50). Although it's expensive, it's totally worth it.

Tomorrow's post will be about the mechanics of each SCUBA piece of equipment.

Happy Diving!!

SCUBA Sam

Getting Certified

Getting certified, although it sounds like quite a process, is really quite simple. The first step in getting certified is to find a local dive shop. You can visit the website below to find out where the closest one is for you:

http://www.divingfinder.com/

Once you find your shop, head on in, and sign up for a class. There are a few types of classes you can take; here are some examples:

Open Water Certification; allows you to SCUBA dive underwater without a dive master.

Travel Certification; allow you to SCUBA dive, but only with a dive master on site.

Advanced Certification; allows you to go into deeper waters without a dive master.

I would recommend the Open Water Certification course; overall, it offers the best value for your money. Now, go out and take the class!

The next post will be on finding used SCUBA gear, and the warning signs you have to watch out for.

Happy Diving!

SCUBA Sam