Essential Scuba Gear & Advice for Advanced Scuba Students

Essential Scuba Gear & Advice for Advanced Scuba Students
Handy gear and training advice for scuba divers about to engage in Advanced scuba diving training. Here we discuss gear recommendations for Wesley, a viewer, and Patron of the channel. Thanks for the chat, Wesley!
If you have an idea for a scuba chat or questions, send me a message and maybe we can make it happen.
#aowtraining #nitroxtraining #scubatraining #aowtrainingpadi
00:49 Wesley Diving Background to set the table
03:27 Choosing a Spool size/type 15m/50ft, 30m/100ft, 40m/130ft, 50m/160ft
10:39 Nitrox Analyzer (Should I buy?)
13:07 Dive Computer Needs - What features? (Average depth nice) Shearwater Peregrine Dive Computer
20:11 Exposure protection choices
27:23 Prescription mask vs. Contact lenses (Gauge reader mask Amazon link)
amzn.to/2TtJw8U
31:00 Buddy signaling device & Buddy skills
35:46 Fin choice
42:40 Training progression options and choices
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Jim
Big Dog, DDT
DiscoveryDiversTokyo.com
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[@lyfandeth]

One catch to owning a nitrox tester, is that you have to buy new elements for it. (Annually?) So while I'd rather trust my own gear...too expensive unless you are using it weekly.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

And those O2 sensors are expensive...

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

For spools you'll want about 1.5x line for the deployment depth. So, a 15m spool is for deploying from a depth of 10m. 30m for 20m depth. 45m for 30m depth. 60m for 40m depth. Prepare your spool (unless you're getting one of those fancy Apeks spools). Tie a large 30cm/1ft long leader, a small loop halfway up the leader, and a small loop at the end of the leader. This will make your life a lot easier when you're using it. Nitrox analyzers are often available in dive centers where you're having your cylinders filled, and also on most charters. If you're a frequent diver you can buy one of your own. O₂ sensors have a shelf life of about 1-1.5 years, and cost around $100. So keep that in mind as a recurring cost. Always carry a light. The longer wavelength lights like red, orange, yellow, get absorbed in deeper water, so everything looks green/blue/black. A light brings back the color in the dive. They're also great for pointing stuff out and looking into crannies. For frog kicks, the Jet fin design is probably the best. The buoyancy of the fins is only a factor for your trim. If your legs are floaty, get a (slightly) negatively buoyant fin like the Scubapro Jet or the Apeks RK3 HD. If your trim is pretty much spot on, the regular RK3 is probably your best option.

[@psarmstr]

Always carry a bolt snap, it also makes a great noise maker in the odd circumstance when you need it (either click it or, if that doesn't work bang on a tank). Knives: z knife is better than a blade for most circumstances (nets are an exception, know your environment), pulling out a bladed knife is also dangerous. You don't want to accidentally cut yourself (or others) just because you need to get someones attention.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

Great tip on the bolt snap!

[@Maritime007]

I wear contacts. Hydrostatic pressure will keep soft contacts on underwater with your eyes open. I've done lots of swimming underwater with eyes open and mask clearing drills and have never lost a contact. I'm told it's more likely with hard contacts but I've never worn hard contacts...not sure if they even still exist.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

OK, Paul. If so, I just learned something. Thanks for adding that!

[@lyfandeth]

@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo Hard contacts still exist for special purposes. Soft contacts *can* flop out if you get water in the mask. Surfacing & trying to re-install one is fun. (Not.) And every competent eye doctor will warn you to remove & sterilize them ASAP after the dive. Ocean soup can cause severe infections with porous contacts.

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

30m finger spool, plastic, that’s neutral in the water. It won’t rust, it’s plenty of line to reach the surface with even a slight current, and if you drop it, it won’t sink to the end of the line. A “reel” is different than a spool, and really only necessary for penetration dives (caves, wrecks, etc.).

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

At this point in your personal development, I’d advise to be cautious about a desire for too much information. The cressi computer is just fine. Computers that offer too much information for a person not experienced enough to make sense of it all intuitively can quickly find themselves over saturated with information, making that information practically useless to them, and doesn’t help them grow any better as a diver. Wait until you’re roughly 200+ dives in before considering something more complicated. Becoming “task saturated” can quickly lead to spatial disorientation.

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

Pre-planning to the minute, +\- 30 seconds, every aspect of a tech dive beforehand, and writing it all down, and following the plan, along with 3 backups, is still the norm. It’s what I was taught and still do. Computers are fallible.

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

Wear at least a 3mm full body, even in 75 deg water. Remember from your basic course you lose core body heat faster in water due to conduction. We know medically that even a few core body temperature degrees lost during a dive will take at least 24 full hours to recover. If you get chilled on the first dive, a surface interval will not be enough time to recover, and you will risk hypothermia on the next dive, and if not, definitely by the third.

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

Japan has the same oceanic stream as the east coast on the Atlantic. In the northern hemisphere, the ocean currents all rotate clockwise. So just like the east coast, here in japan, we benefit from tropical water temperatures being brought up along the coast from down south.

[@ArmyVeteranAJ]

You don’t dive with contacts. It will be bad. LOL! For a cheaper option, I did know a guy that took an old pair of glasses, cut them in half, and superglue them to the inside of his mask on the sides of the frame. LOL!

[@lyfandeth]

In the 80's and early 90's, no one heard of a frog kick. And dolphinning was still rare. (Burns energy, but covers lots of ground fast.)

[@OrenNoah]

Wes: Leave the tank banger at home. James HATES them! He even has a video where he steals one from another diver who abused hers. In fact, you should probably never speak of them in James' presence ;-)

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

I'm with you, Oren...hopefully that message came through clear...and some tips on how/why to remove the need for that level of attention-getting.

[@retireeslife4013]

Interesting, I've been an AOWD for several years and dive all over the world. Buy a quality spool 50 is fine, nitrox is not necessary you are limited on depth with 32, regular aluminum 80 with compressed air is 21 percent and allows for max depth for rec diver. I do recommend a good dive computer with nitrox compatible. Have TWO!!!!!DIVE LIGHTS and they don't need to be big just dependable. Lastly two dive knives located in two different places in case of entanglement. The very last thing is dive dive dive that is what helps you decide what you feel the most comfortable with. Enjoy Brother it's a world only a few ever see.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

This is some great advice, Rick. Thanks for enriching the comment thread.

[@Teampegleg]

32% has a MOD of 116 fsw, and if you want to go deeper you can switch to 28% which has a MOD of 132fsw. How much deeper do you want to go without helium?

[@retireeslife4013]

@@Teampegleg you are correct. However when diving around the world 32 or 34 premixed is what is offered. When you add in the 250.00$ class and the extra to get nitrox unless you think it makes you feel better. Then don't waste your money until you get a few more dives under your belt was my comment. It wasn't to say don't do it but he's just getting started. He has a long way to go .

[@retireeslife4013]

@@Teampegleg btw 32 has a mod of 111 31% has mod of 116

[@Teampegleg]

@@retireeslife4013 I disagree, for me I was able to quickly use the extra bottom time that nitrox was able to bring. And when you factor in that you are often paying $50-60 per a dive, getting up to 50% more bottom time can add up quickly. Blending 28% is easy, 1,900psi 32%, top with air to 3,100psi. Though TBH it would be rare that I would advocate that, going much below 100 feet without helium isn't the best idea IMO. I've used 28% exactly twice. Anyways should have actually put the 32% through my calculator. I rarely calculate MODs when using standard gases. Air based mixes have a MOD of 100 feet except in some rare circumstances.

[@remcovanhal6336]

Man! Thats awesome!! I want to visit James for a tech course some day!!

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

So would I, but looking through his pricelists, that kinda puts it out of my reach.

[@lyfandeth]

The rate of ascent indicator is the only thing I really find valuable in a dive computer. The rest, you could plan on paper, and worst came to worst, you'd have a more conservative dive.

[@lyfandeth]

Noisemaker: the metal hilt of my knife against my tank. If you've ever been wrapped by a ghost net...knives are still damned useful.

[@OrenNoah]

BTW, James is SDI/TDI. SDI is recreational. TDI is tech.

[@hanswurst6680]

Hmm, my buddy got his tank filled with a different Nitrox mix than he asked for at a dive shop that was allegedly testing their mixes. I think it is better to control and not trust...

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

Oh, agreed, Hans. No trust here...everyplace I get nitrox from has a tester available at the pickup up. In fact, you have to use their tester to be able to accept the tank.

[@adam211086]

I wear contacts for diving, never had an issue. I remove them for the dive if I know we are going to be doing mask drills of anymore than partial flood, otherwise they stay in.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

HI Adam...sorry to be vague...I meant to say a lot of the training exercises Wes might interact with in the near future would require mask off, hence not great for contacts. Thanks for adding your experience.

[@michaellambert2976]

I'd really emphasize that new divers focus more on improving their fundamental skills and defer worrying about what type of fin they need to perform a perfect frog kick until after they learn proper finning techniques. I doubt very much that someone with only 20 dives is able is able to control their buoyancy and trim enough to allow them to gracefully deploy an smb at any depth so a conversation about spool length seems really premature. I think new divers believe that gear makes a bigger difference than it actually does and they try to fix problems with their technique by buying gear that makes them look more "tech". I agree with others who have recommend that your guest focus on increasing his dive counts above anything else. At the point you need to purchase a bigger spool because you plan to use it on a dive, upgrade it... but for now, just focus on staying trim and avoiding silting the dive site up for your buddies. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqXXZ6h7obGJo80

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

Another great comment, Michael. You're right, I should have given more attention to this fact. Appreciate, as always, your contribution to the conversation. Thanks for posting the link. That is a solid channel, which I included in my recent 7-channel roundup.

[@Teampegleg]

Well first things first, you have way too many ads setup. I got one every three minutes on my phone, where I normally listen to videos like this while driving, it was so bad that I had to save the video to watch later on my computer where I have an ad blocker. James is a TDI/SDI instructor. The Cressi Leonardo should provide more information, if you get the PC download kit you can download your logs into various dive logging software. I would bring gloves, there is a good chance you will end up in Key Largo. Many of the mooring lines are infested with fire coral. Spool length will depend where you are diving, but I bring a 40 meter spool to South Florida for rec diving. If you end up doing a drift dive, I typically blow my bag at 60 feet as I am coming off the top of the reef, or get blown off the wreck. At a 2 to 1 ratio that means I should bring at least 120 feet of line, which means a 40 meter spool. Having the extra length is nice because with the fast currents we sometimes see if you aren't able to blow your bag immediately the crew might not see it and be able to track you. Thanks to the modern thin line being used more often these days it isn't horribly big.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

TPL, good to see you again, sorry on the ads. It's the usual default setting on my upload, so not sure what the diff might be. I'll look into that. Great observations and advice here for Wes and others. Thanks as always for your valued comments.

[@Teampegleg]

@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo Been busy trying to learn how to dive in a drysuit. After a video is processed you can go and adjust the mid-roll ads. IMO no more than one every 5 minutes is the closet that is tolerable.

[@jonnieinbangkok]

"What's better...backplate or wings"...it's kinda good to have both 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Dude with barely 20 dives is buying a tec set-up and doing the "long hose" thing...probably can't even handle a slight current yet!

[@leopoldbloom4835]

No need to be so condescending to a new diver. Certainly, for quite a while a more recreational setup would do for him, but there’s nothing wrong with starting out with equipment that will accompany you for a long time. Go Wesley! 👌🏻

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

I'm with Leopold below. In my first couple years, I wasted money on 3 successive BCs until I ended up with BP/W. Not for everyone, certainly not only tech, but a very reasonable choice in the estimation of many experienced divers...YMMV, and thank for the comment.

[@Maritime007]

I much prefer a back plate and wings. I personally would recommend it to anyone. They're very versatile...allowing you to customize as your diving progresses. I believe on average you get more lift with a wing over a recreational BCD which is not a bad thing. I've never liked the squeeze you get when you inflate a recreational BCD. Particulary if he's considering going on to tech diving learning on the setup he has now does not have any drawbacks. Even though I was not really a tech diver I took tech training which I figured allowed me to dive at recreational limits much safer. If something went wrong I had the skills and equipment to self rescue.

[@DiscoveryDiversTokyo]

@@Maritime007 I'm with you, Paul, great observations. Here is a video on my BC evolution, in case you might be interested kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIrPq4iMlrmBn68

[@jonnieinbangkok]

@@leopoldbloom4835 This guy should be buying dives not expensive dive gear he doesn't know how to use. The most important thing for him right now is to gain experience and hone his dive skills. I didn't buy any any of my own gear until I had around 40-50 dives under my dive belt and knew I was going to continue in the sport. It's a disservice recommending new divers go out and buy their own gear when 1) They may find out scuba diving is not really their thing and 2) They don't have the knowledge about which type of setup (rec or tec) is best for them. But hey, have at it, because people buying expensive new gear and then quickly leaving the sport is the reason I can get slightly used kit off FB all day for 50 cents on the dollar.