Get trained
This page explains what training agencies, standards bodies and diving medicine bodies publish. It is not a substitute for training and certification from a recognised agency, and it does not replace medical advice.
What damages dive gear
A 2015 PADI blog post by Danielle Schofield lists nine things that destroy dive gear: sun, sand, salt water, chemicals, poor storage, inattention, poor buoyancy, washing machines and taking things apart without training. Most of the care advice below follows from that list.
- Sun: PADI says ultraviolet light breaks down rubber and fabric, causing fading, brittleness and cracks, so gear should dry in the shade or indoors.
- Sand and salt: sand can lodge in cylinder valves, regulators and BCD inflator and dump valves, and salt water corrodes metal. PADI's answer is to rinse all gear in fresh water after every dive.
- Chemicals: PADI warns that pool chlorine degrades materials, that petroleum jelly can break down silicone and O-rings, and that alcohol, petrol, oil and some cleaners should be kept away from gear.
- Storage: PADI says to store gear only when it is completely dry, coil regulator hoses loosely so they do not kink, and hang fins or lay them flat so they do not warp.
Item by item
| Item | What the source says |
|---|---|
| Mask | PADI: black neoprene or rubber, including some fins, can discolour a clear silicone skirt if stored touching it. A new lens usually needs a manufacturing residue cleaned off to reduce fogging. |
| Wetsuit | PADI says a wetsuit is rinsed, dried and stored after each dive, washed occasionally with wetsuit soap and hung on a wide hanger; its 2015 post says a wetsuit should never be machine-washed or tumble-dried, and should dry in the shade, inside out as well as outside. DAN (2012) says UV and salt water make suits brittle, and recommends a fresh-water rinse and drying somewhere cool and shaded. |
| BCD | PADI says a BCD is rinsed inside and out with fresh water after each use, dried out of direct sun, and stored partly inflated in a cool, dry place with weights removed. SSI says the maker's service schedule should be followed. |
| Dive computer | PADI says a computer is rinsed in fresh water, kept out of direct sun, protected from drops and stored cool and dry, with batteries handled as the maker instructs. |
| Fins | PADI says fins are hung or laid flat so they do not warp. |
| Regulator | PADI says hoses are coiled loosely, and that a regulator with an internal problem goes to a certified technician (see below). |
Regulators: rinse or soak?
Rinsing a regulator is where published advice conflicts. Regulator maker Oceanic, in a care guide we saw only as a search summary, says the first stage should be rinsed with its dust cap sealed and never soaked, that the purge button should not be pressed during rinsing so water stays out, and that it should dry out of the sun. An Australian dive shop's service page, also seen only as a search summary, prefers soaking the regulator while it is pressurised from a cylinder. We could not open either page to confirm the wording. The manual for your own regulator, and the service centre that looks after it, are the authority here.
Where owner care stops
Everyday rinsing and drying is the owner's job. Internal work is not. PADI (2015) says a regulator with an internal problem should go to a certified technician and should not be taken apart without training. DAN Europe (2022) says makers usually require servicing and changes to be done by authorised dealers or trained technicians with approved parts and lubricants, and that non-original parts may void the CE marking and the warranty.
Makers also set service intervals. Mares' REBEL manual, for example, asks for inspection at an authorised Mares service centre at least once a year. Other makers' intervals, and where they disagree, are on regulators. Cylinders have their own legal inspection intervals, set out on cylinder inspection and testing.
Owning gear means owning its upkeep, which PADI counts among the trade-offs on renting or owning.
Sources
- PADI blog, things that can destroy your dive gear (Danielle Schofield, 31 May 2015)
- PADI, wetsuits
- DAN Alert Diver, wetsuits (Terry Ward, Q4 2012)
- PADI, buoyancy compensators
- SSI blog, scuba diving BCDs explained
- PADI, dive computers
- PADI, dive masks
- PADI blog, beginner's guide to buying a mask (Kacee S., 14 April 2015)
- Oceanic, regulator care (maker, search summary)
- Dive-shop service page, regulator care (operator statement, search summary)
- DAN Europe, regulators, CE marking and warranty (Guy Thomas, 2022)
- Mares REBEL regulator manual (maker)
- PADI blog, buying scuba gear (Sarah Wormald, 21 August 2016)