Gear List

Let’s talk gear

Scuba Gear Recommendations List

This list is meant to be a guide to the gear we use as professionals and recommend to our students. These recommendations will sometimes include a best value or “bang for buck” option along with a “best” option as well. Dive gear is an investment and sometimes budgets aren’t limitless, so we have also chosen some of the areas that are worth compromising for the diver on a more limited budget.

What dive gear do I need?

We are here to set future and current divers up for success not to sell courses and gear. The First step to buying gear is determining what type of diver you are. We separate diver in to two types: Travel Divers and Local Divers

Travel Diver
– Divers who travels to their dive locations
– Fly to their dive sites
Local Diver
– Divers who dive where they live
– Drive to their dive sites

Travel Divers

Travel divers do not necessarily need to own a full set of gear. Travel divers typically do not dive as frequently as local divers therefore the upfront cost of a full set of gear will take much longer to justify. Also, if you are like us, you like to travel as light as possible and a full set of gear is just too cumbersome for airports. Often times local dive shops have gear that is good enough for the 2-4 dives you will do on your trip. We recommend that every travel diver owns the following:

Mask
Dive Computer
Wetsuit (depending on location and time of year)

For the Avid Travel Diver

Occasionally there are travel divers that are active enough that having their own gear makes sense. Look for our BCD and regulator recommendations for travel divers below. They will be indicated with a *Travel Set-up*. Both of our fin recommendations make good travel fins.

Local Divers

Local divers will eventually want to have their own full set of gear for several reasons. After about 30 Dives a diver would have spent more on renting gear on the South Florida market compared buying a full set. Also, diving is about finding the best set up for you and consistently diving it over and over to perfect trim and buoyancy. This becomes difficult to do if set up is different each time gear is borrowing or rented. For the divers who will not buy a complete set all at once we have listed these in the order of priority to buy first.

Mask
Dive Computer
Fins
Wetsuit
BCD
Regulators
Tanks
Scuba Mask

Fit is King

A mask is the first piece of gear that should be purchased, and is a gear requirement for our Open Water Course. The most important thing about a scuba mask is how it fits YOUR face. There isn’t a one size fits all solution here and you can’t spend your way into a good fitting mask. Part of our service is to meet up with your at a local dive shop to help pick out a good fitting mask for your course. This is one of the few pieces of gear that we don’t have a specific recommendation on. It doesn’t matter the brand, price, or material quality if the mask doesn’t seal well it won’t work well.

Dive Computer

After a good fitting mask a dive computer is the next most important piece of equipment. Dive computers provide the real time safety information during dives, calculate required surface intervals, and much more depending on the model chosen. We put this as the second piece of equipment to buy and this is a gear requirement for our Advanced Open Water Course. A computer can only be useful to the extent that the diver knows how to use it. Having your own computer and knowing how to navigate and leverage the features will ensure that the dive settings are always correct and you can find the planning information you need to dive safely. Avoid 1-button computers and look for computers that are at a minimum Nitrox compatible. Our suggestions below FAR exceed the needs of a new diver and will give plenty of room for divers to grow in their scuba training without ever needing to upgrade.

Garmin Descent MK3i

We consider this to be the best dive computer on the market and is our recommendation if budget is not a factor. This is air integrated capable if the added feature is something divers are interested in.

Garmin Descent G1

We consider this to be the best dive computer for the price on the market. This is our “bang for buck” choice and is a great and affordable option that has more than enough capacity to grow in.

Fins

There is more to fins than just having added aqua-propulsion. In general there are two types of fins: full-foot and open heel. At Concord Divers we prefer to stick with open heel fins and the diving environment will dictate what our recommendation is. we love to be barefoot as much as possible so for open water diving in the summer, diving off of a boat, or sandy beach shore dives we recommend the Aqualung Storm fin. It has a foot pocket designed for a barefoot and allows us to feel the sun and our feet to dry in-between dives. All other circumstances we recommend having some kind of diving shoe and going with the RK3’s.

Aqualung Storm

Our favorite summer fins! We love that these are a barefoot fin while still keeping a heel strap. Best for warm weather diving off of a boat or sandy beach.

Apeks RK3

Our favorite open heel fin for colder dives and times when foot protection is needed (i.e. diving from a sharp coral shore, shark dives, wreck/ cavern penetration diving.) For 1mm-3mm wet suits We suggest the original model. For 7mm wetsuits – drysuits we suggest using the “HD” model

Wetsuits

Wetsuits provide exposure protection. This means protection from cold water temperatures, sharp wrecks, fire coral, and stinging aquatic life. Even in the warmest of water, we suggest wearing a full wetsuit if any penetration is planned. a 3mm is the most versatile wetsuit and is the thickness we recommend buying first if diving off of the warm Florida Coast. For places like the California Coast we’d recommend starting off with a 7mm. At Concord Divers we dive Florida, The Keys, and The Caribbean year round. Typically you will see us in a 5mm during the winter and a 3mm the rest of the year round.

BARE Reactive

No matter what thickness our first recommendation is the BARE Reactive. It has a 2 layer system that includes an internal fleece lining that helps keep heat circulating during the dive.

SEAC Sense

SEAC is more known for their free diving gear but we’ve found that their SEAC Sense wetsuit comes at a low price without sacrificing quality. SEAC has done a great job of choosing materials that are abrasion resistant at high wear areas. This is our “best bang for buck” recommendation for divers on a budget

BCD’s

Single Wing Set ups

We dive single wing set ups therefore we recommend single wing set ups over the weight integrated “jacket style” BCD’s. There are a couple benefits to single wing set ups. It is purchased by pieces which may seem intimidating at first to put together but that allows for it to be set up EXACTLY how you like and if you have a component that breaks a whole new BCD doesn’t need to be purchased (we are looking at you BCD Bladders). It also allows us to dive with a stainless steel backplate, which starts to give us better and more even weigh distribution across our back instead of very isolated spots. Lastly they are much more streamlined than the jacket style BCDS. Much of the weight required to dive comes from the increased buoyancy from the material and bulk of the BCD. More streamline = less weight = better and more comfortable diving.

The Wing

As a general rule most single wings are made of similar materials and designs so deciding between brands will mostly come down to price, customization, and very nuanced differences. We have experience with Apeks therefore that is the one we recommend.

Apeks WTX-D18, WTX-D30, WTX-D40

Made of super tough Cordura and coming in 3 different sizes this BCD is built to last for ten’s of thousands of dives. Our owner, James, bought a WTX-30 as his first BCD and 9 years later that is still his main set up. As a general rule try to dive with the smallest wing needed. The number next to WTX depicts how many pounds of lift the BCD has

General Rule of thumb:
WTX-18: smaller frames/ Kids
WTX-30: most people
WTX40: larger frames

Apeks WTX-D18 PSD, WTX-D30 PSD, WTX-D40 PSD *Travel Set-up*

PSD Stands for Public Safety Diver. This is constructed just like the traditional WTX wings but with a more aquaphobic material. These are great as travel wings becuase of how much faster the dry. Apeks claims the material is more abrasion resistant than the 1000D Cordura but we’ve found that Cordura is all around a tougher material to puncture/ rip

The Backplate and Tank Adapter

3 types of backplates: Stainless Steel, Aluminum, and Carbon Fiber. For our Local Diver setups we recommend Stainless Steel backplates and for Travel Diver setups recommend Aluminum backplates.

Stainless Steel

Best for Local Divers

Replaces need for weight
great weight distribution
Heavy to travel with

Aluminum

Most economical for Travel Divers *Travel Set-up*

Lighter than SS for travel
Affordable compared to carbon fiber
Extra weight needed and weight distribution not as good as SS

Carbon Fiber

Lightest for Travel Divers *Travel Set-up*

Lightest option
Requires most additonal weight
4x price of other options

Tank Straps

The shape of a cam band buckle never would seem so important until you have wet cut up fingers from switching your gear over between dives. We look for simple and easy cam band designs that avoid complicated threading, plastics, and sharp edges.

Scubapro Supercinch Tank Buckle

The Scubapro is our favorite buckle on the market

HOG Quickfit Tank Strap

Similar in shape to the Scubapro Supercinch but with a different claps design and half the price. For the diver looking to save money in places without sacrificing important quality

Harness Systems

From one long single strap to padded harnesses with quick releases, there plenty of options to choose from for your dive system. We find usefulness in having the quick releases and some padding in the pressure areas.

Apeks WTX Harness

A little pricey but we love how comfortable the Apeks WTX harness system is

Dive Rite Transplate Harness

A “best bang for buck” option. This doesn’t come with a back pad but even buying one ontop of this harness is more cost efficient.

Weight Systems

For comfort and weight distribution we try to have our weight spread between a stainless steel backplate and, if necessary, tank band weight pockets. This means that we do not dive with ditchable weights. We have also included a good streamline ditchable weight system for the diver wanting to take the added precaution.

Halcyon Trim Weight Pockets

Very streamline and great durable materials that wont corrode and are tear resistant. we like to mount these on each side of our top tank strap.

Hollis 5lb Non-ditchable pockets

A little bulkier than the halcyon options but still made from great material and at a more affordable price. We would still mount these on each side of the top tank band

HOG 5lb Drop Weight Pockets Small

A good ditchable weight option to put on either side of the waist straps. We only recommend this for divers who aren’t comfortable diving without ditachable weights

1st-Stage & Primary 2nd Stage Regulators

The qualities we look for in regulators are number of High Pressure (HP) and Medium Pressure (MP) ports, ease of breath, and adjustable venturi valves to help prevent the free-flow.

Lets talk DIN vs Yoke

For those that are Local Divers and own plan to own their own tanks DIN is the best option. For Travel- set ups or for Divers who plan to rent tanks for a while then we recommend Yoke

DIN

Better & more secure connection
More popular in Europe
Not good for divers who are traveling or renting tanks

Yoke

Quicker to get on and off
More popular in general
Best for travel set-ups or people who don’t own their own tanks
more prone to o-ring blowouts

Aqualung Legend

Great set of Regs without getting too expensive. Not only does this meet all of the criteria we look for in a regulator but it also has the Auto-Closure Device (ACD) technology that protects the 1st stage internals from any accidental dunking without the dust cover on.

Apeks XL4 OCEA *Travel Set up*

Quickly becoming an industry favorite, the Apeks XL4 OCEA is a great all around diving regulator and shines as a lightweight more compact travel regulator

Apeks MTX-R

We included this only as a recommendation for those Divers that are looking to do cold water diving. This isn’t the type of. diving that we do at Concord Divers but if that is what a Diver is interested in then this is the regulator for it!

Octopus

If an extra $100 isn’t a big deal we suggest purchasing the matching Octo for your 1st-Stage and Primary 2nd-Stage regulator. For those on a tighter budget this is a great place for cost saving

Apeks Egress Octopus

This breaths a little better as its Aqualung variant and they are at the same MSRP

Console/ Guages

Every Diver should have a mechanical redundancy with their Submersible Pressure Gauge and we would also recommend a mechanical compass along with it

Apeks Pressure Guage and Compass

Tanks

Purchasing your own tanks is typically the end of the gear acquiring journey. Tanks can generally be divided in to two types: Steel and aluminum. Ask a diver who dive’s steel tanks and they will tell you a hundred and one reasons why they love steel tanks over aluminum. Mostly the benefits come down to two aspects. steel tanks are heavier and are negatively buoyant even when empty and the material is stronger than aluminum therefore a 80cf aluminum tank and a 100cf steel tank are very close in size. With that said our recommendation is still to go with aluminum tanks. If you dive the set ups we suggest it replicates the same weight distribution of a steel tank and we’ve found that how easily steel tanks corrode and how cumbersome they are to lug around isn’t worth the extra air for each dive. There are good reasons why almost every dive shop keeps aluminum tanks as the majority of their rental stock. Most aluminum tanks are made to the same general quality so we suggest to just find the best priced for good condition when looking to buy irrespective of brand.

How to Buy
If buy brand new the average price is $250. Tanks are certainly something that can be found on the secondhand market. We suggest to only get tanks that have a current VIS and Hydro inspection.