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Diving Equipment: Choice, Maintenance and Function is a guide to how diving gear works. It is completely independent of brands – focusing instead on the design, technology and practicality of the equipment options available for scuba and other types of diving. Former Head of Education at PADI Sweden Jonas Arvidsson details the choices that divers are faced with, and gives tips to help ensure your gear will last. If you want to better understand diving kit without having to dismantle it, then Diving Equipment – with its colourful illustrations and explanations of the hidden inner workings – is the answer. Although it is therefore of obvious benefit to newer divers, Diving Equipment will also be of interest to the experienced. Divemasters, instructors, those in need of a refresher and curious non-divers are all likely to find out things they did not previously know. This book covers a wide range of diving gear options including: accessories, BCDs, computers, cylinders, drysuits, fins, gauges, masks, rebreathers, regulators, sidemount, snorkels, stages, torches, weights, wetsuits, wings and more…
Although many of the dives we make are in tropical regions, Diving Equipment has an international perspective. It covers a range of conditions; discusses laws and regulations in different parts of the world; suggests what to look out for and what to ask locals about. Anyone who asks technical questions will often be directed to have a look at equipment manufacturers' websites, but those have limited descriptions of how equipment really works. This book aims to plug the gap. Diving Equipment also includes some less common and older items for interest and historical comparison, and finishes with some speculation on what the future might bring.
This English-language second edition which has been completely re-edited and enhanced. Originally published in Swedish in paperback and ebook, and in English as an ebook.
1. Introduction
2. Preparation
3. Care and Maintenance
4. Mask, Snorkel and Fins
5. Thermal Protection
6. Buoyancy Control Device
7. Breathing Apparatus
8. Instruments
9. Weight Systems
10. Accessories
11. Technical Diving
12. Speculating on the Future
Index
Jonas Arvidsson is a former Head of Education at PADI Sweden, dive centre owner and PADI Course Director. He translated nearly all PADI training material into Swedish and has also instructed in Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand. A former biology and chemistry teacher, Jonas is now a writer, illustrator and translator.
"A must-have for newly qualified divers, but this excellent book shouldn't be dismissed by those with more experience as a publication on the basics – it offers far more than that. The vast majority of us would benefit from a deeper understanding of the dive-gear on which we rely so heavily, what it does, how it works and how it should be used and maintained. This volume delivers such information in spadeloads, and should be on every diver's bookshelf"
– Diver magazine
"Some books you read and pass on, but this is one to keep and refer back to for many years to come"
– British Diver
"One of the few diving titles out there that everyone should own and, in my view, should be a required text for those diving professionals working in instruction, supervision or sales"
– Steve Warren, INON UK
"First thing I have to say about this book is that every sports diver should have one [...] Diving gear is not cheap and can become a serious investment, so knowing what to choose and how best to ensure its long and reliable life is to my mind definitely worth the cost of this book"
– Scubaverse
