Mask:
The most important thing here is the fit (naturally). Test by placing the mask over your face with the straps well out of the way, then breath in fairly hard through the nose and let go of the mask – it should stay on without the aid of the strap, indicating a snug fit. Even if you find most masks fit nicely they’ll all still feel a little different, so try as many as possible until you find one that feels the most comfortable. If you can’t find a comfy one in the first shop you go to, don’t just buy one that was OK, go to some more shops. It’s vital that you choose a decent mask as otherwise you’ll end up with leaking issues or uncomfortable mask squeeze while diving.
I’d personally recommend going for a mask with a clear silicone skirt, low internal volume and a minimal frame as this gives better peripheral vision, but this really depends on how much you want to spend as these masks are typically more expensive (~£35+)
A ‘slap strap’ / ‘strap wrapper’ (neoprene pad) can be added to the mask strap to increase comfort and make it easier to put on.
If you need corrective lenses, some masks can be purchased with these built in (check with the shop).
Snorkel:
Not much to say here, most come with purges / valves which help when clearing water. It’s worth looking for folding snorkels that can be placed in BCD pockets and ones with quick release attachments to the mask strap.
Fins:
Open-heel fins are a must. There are a variety out there and what you choose will depend on your budget. More expensive fins will generally give more thrust for less effort, so it’s worth spending as much as you can on a decent pair. Cressi make a good range of mid-priced fins (~£40 – £50) with comfy and supportive foot pockets, handy for shore diving. A dive shop will be able to recommend fins depending on your swimming ability and preferred finning style, for example Mares Quattro fins are a common favourite among divers preferring the frog-kick method but may be difficult for novice divers or less strong swimmers using the standard kick method due to their stiffness.
Split fins can be up to 40% more efficient than traditional bladed fins so you may want to check these out. They do tend to be a bit on the pricey side though.
Make sure you buy a spare fin strap and buckle! These have a tendency to break at the most annoying moments.
Weights / Weight Belt:
The amount of weight you’ll need will be ascertained when you have purchased your suit and attended a pool session (contact Liz to organize a session). It can be bought as lumps of lead ready to be threaded onto a standard belt or as pouches of lead shot. Kilos and pounds are used so make sure you buy the correct amount! (Best to avoid online stores for lead as postage will cost rather a lot).
Weight belts come in standard form of a simple buckle and belt, cheap but can have issues with sliding weights and they lack comfort. Sliding weights can be sorted by using weight retainers. Belts with velcro weight pockets can be bought, they’re quite a bit more expensive than standard belts but offer more comfort and the ability to use shot pouches as well as being far easier to put weights on / take weight off.
If you’re also buying a BCD, it’s worth investigating integrated weights.
Semi-Dry vs Dry Suits:
For UK diving, many people recommend the use of a dry suit due to the temperature of the water. However, while in the water, they don’t really offer an advantage over a snug-fitting semi-dry in terms of thermal insulation, it’s out of the water where they’re at an advantage. Dry suits are expensive (£350+) and tricky to get used to (buoyancy wise). Semi-dry suits are far less expensive (£140+) and have much less of an effect on buoyancy, but you can get pretty cold when out of the water in a wet semi.
Semi-Dry Suits:
Semi-dry suits are generally 2-piece, the base layer being a full length suit and the top layer being a shorty style suit. The base layer has seals at the wrists, ankles, neck and sometimes back (along the zip). It is commonly said that the suit functions by trapping a layer of water between the suit and the body thus keeping the wearer warm. However, this is not technically true as heat will be continuously lost to the water in the suit, so it won’t actually keep you warm but rather delay the onset of coldness! A well-fitted suit with good seals will mean that once water is in the suit, it stays in – this prevents flushing where the warmer water leaves the suit and cold water enters. The insulation is provided by the bubbles of air within the neoprene, however as the depth increases during a dive (thus the pressure increases) the bubbles are compressed and lose their insulation properties. A thicker suit will have more bubbles and will be more buoyant, requiring more weight.
As with masks, the most important issue here is fit. A thick suit will be next to useless if it continuously flushes.
Be prepared to spend an hour or two trying on different suits to find one that fits best and again, try a couple of shops before settling on a suit. You should be looking for a 2-piece suit with a minimum thickness of 5mm for the main suit, possibly 7mm. I’ve found that my 5mm 2-piece (main and shorty are each 5mm) has been ideal for British waters as it’s more flexible than a 7mm and the only time I’ve been a bit chilly was during a dive at Meadfoot in February with the water at 6 degrees C (it is a very snug fitting suit!). With a 5mm 2-piece, you’ll also be able to use one of the suits in warmer waters abroad, a 7mm is a bit thick for this.
Suits are fabricated in different ways, for example many British suits are made from large single pieces of neoprene, while Italian suits tend to be made up of many patches sewn together. The single suits are generally more hard wearing due to them having less joins and seams but can lack movement. The patch suits give more movement and are generally more comfortable but lack some strength around the joints (however, I can’t say that this has been an issue with my Cressi suit as the stitching is very tough).
Other things to look out for are suits with titanium linings which help reflect a little heat back to the wearer (usually around the seals) and fleece (sort of) lined suits which help keep you a little warmer but are mostly just more comfortable to wear and stop neoprene rash / irritation from occurring.
If diving from a boat (specifically a RIB or a small hard boat with no cover) I highly recommend purchasing a splash proof / wind proof jacket that can be worn on top of the semi. This reduces the effect of wind chill when returning from a dive site. The sort worn when kayaking or sailing are ideal.
Dry Suits:
There’re essentially 2 types of suit used for sports diving, membrane (trilaminate) and neoprene. Membrane gives better movement but lacks insulation, while neoprene is less flexible but is a better insulator.
Neoprene suits do however come in 2 forms, uncompressed and compressed (technically ‘hyper-compressed’ is a third form). Compressed suits have more in common with membrane suits as they are a lot thinner (~4mm) than uncompressed (~8mm). Hyper-compressed neoprene ~2.5mm.
You’ll certainly need a thermal undersuit whichever dry suit type you go for, probably a slightly thicker one if you have a membrane suit or a hyper-compressed neoprene suit.
Ankle weights are a good investment for dry suit owners. They help avoid the rather embarrassing ‘stuck upside-down’ situation.
BCDs
As with all dive kit there is a huge range of these so it is important to decide what sort of diving you want to be doing before you but a BCD.
If you are planning to do most of you diving abroad it is a good idea to find a reasonably light weight one which will not take up too much of a baggage allowance, however invariably with these the weight is traded for the lift so if you want to do more technical or deeper diving a more robust BCD or even a wing (where the air is only in the back) would be a better purchase.
In my opinion one of the most durable and long lasting BCDs is the Buddy Comando made by AP Valves, these are the same as the clubs BCDs and so are also great as the setup will be the same.
Regulators
Similarly to the BCDs it is important to think about what sort of diving you are planning on doing
Light weight regs are great for diving on holiday and many companies now make ‘travel regs’ specifically for this
You might also like to think about getting regs which are designed for colder waters if much of your diving is going to be in the UK as this will help to reduce free flows
Regulators can cost anywhere from around £300 to many thousand so once again much of this comes down to how much you are willing to spend and what you want them for.
The best advice I can give is to talk to divers, diving shops and research online to give you an idea of what is good and what you really need.