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Before taking up scuba diving as a recreational sport, it is important that you get yourself the necessary scuba equipment and gear. There are many options available but if you’re a beginner, it’s best to start from the basics such as the mask, fins, snorkel, and weight belt, then move on to advanced sets later.

The Basics:

The diving mask allows you to see underwater through the glass plate in front. Most diving masks are constructed in such a way that a user can breathe out into the mask. This prevents the “squeeze” during the descent caused by pressure. Choose a mask that properly fits your face and forms a seal. Most scuba diving masks come with a rubber or silicone “skirt” that creates a watertight seal with the diver’s face.

There are several types of diving masks such as full face diving masks that allow underwater verbal communication, diving helmets using surface supplied diving equipment etc. Prescription masks are also available for people who wear prescription glasses.

The Fins allow you to move freely underwater and should perfectly fit the feet. It should neither be too tight nor too loose which can hamper swimming capabilities, be very uncomfortable and even dangerous while taking a dive. The snorkel lets you breathe at the surface without raising your head from the water, and should be no lesser than 30 cms in length. The weight belt helps you maintain buoyancy so you should consider getting one if you’re a beginner.

Diving suits like Wetsuits and Drysuits provide thermal insulation and prevent complications such as hypothermia. Remember that water conducts heat 25 times faster than air from the body. So, choose a suit depending on how warm or cold your diving water is going to be.

Scuba Sets:

There are two main types of scuba sets – open-circuit and closed-circuit.

Most scuba divers use standard air – 21% Oxygen, 79% Nitrogen – for their open-circuit scuba sets, which is much more cost-effective than using mixtures such as heliox and trimix. The open-circuit scuba set (also known as Aqualung) itself is quite simple so is also cheaper and more popular than other types. Basically, the user breathes in from the set and out to waste, with the gas cylinder worn on the back. There are 2- and 3 backpack cylinders open-circuit scuba sets available.

Closed-circuit scuba sets use rebreathers. In this system, exhaled air is reprocessed by the rebreather to make it fit for re-inhalation. This can be very economical for people who need to take long dives. The three types of rebreathers include oxygen, semi-closed circuit and fully-closed circuit rebreathers.

Accessories you should consider:

Regulator and Buoyancy Compensator (BC) – The regulator, which carries the air from your cylinder, should be equipped with a gauge and second mouthpiece. The Buoyancy Compensator, such as such as a back-mounted wing or stabilizer jacket, is crucial for neutral buoyancy to control depth.

Dive watch: Electronics like a dive watch comes in quite handy when measuring your time and depth underwater. A dive computer is also available for the same purpose which is more accurate but more expensive.

If you plan to really move head with your scuba diving adventure, consider getting other useful accessories such as underwater light, a surface marker-buoy (SMB), a knife, and a compass etc. Experienced divers, Scuba Dive centers, websites, magazines, etc will all be able to assist you when searching for the right scuba diving equipment and accessories.

There is always one key question On every shoppers mind – how cheap can I get it? This is true of airsoft guns too. We all expect to be able to get the best possible deal with anything we buy today. Fortunately investing in an airsoft gun doesn’t have to break the bank – you can get some exciting models at very attractive prices.

The quality and features of your airsoft replica will depend on your budget. There are three basic types of airsoft gun – in order of expense they are:

Spring
These are the cheapest airsoft guns you can get. An internal spring shoots the pellet from the gun. They’re single shot guns which means you’ll need to cock the gun each time you want to fire one of the plastic bbs. This can get annoying at times but these guns can be purchased for just a few dollars.

Gas
Gas powered models add one immediate feature – automatic fire. With a gas powered airsoft rifle or pistol you don’t need to cock the gun each time because it has a gas charge built in. These are far more powerful than most spring airsoft guns and slightly more expensive. This extra power comes at an added expense – the gas needs to be refilled. This can be achieved with co2 cartridges or a portable hand pump. For the added expense gas airsoft guns definitely feel more like the “real thing”.

Electric
And finally the electric airsoft gun. Also known as AEG (Airsoft Electric Gun) these are the top of the range when it comes to airsoft guns. Each AEG has a tiny but very powerful motor inside which powers the firing mechanism. There is still a spring inside an AEG but this is controlled by the electronic motor to achieve high rates of fully automatic fire. One of the really neat things about this type of airsoft gun is that it can be loaded with miniature paintballs. A word of warning however – if a paintball breaks inside an AEG it can clog up the entire firing mechanism meaning you’ll have to strip the gun down and clean it.

So with airsoft guns it’s best not to focus on the word cheap. What you’re looking for is value for money and the features that suit you most. You can buy an airsoft gun for less than $20. That doesn’t make it cheap – just very good value for money. Regardless of the cost of your airsoft gun once your friends see your new “toy” they’ll want one too!

Owning an airsoft rifle is the dream of every kid who just never really grew up. When we were kids we wanted the ultimate toy – a pellet gun that looked like what we saw in the movies. Airsoft rifles can fulfil that need – there’s just something about them that turns grown men into kids all over again. Hundreds of thousands of airsoft owners all over the world can testify to this.

Airsoft rifles may look like toys to some people but when you pick one up you suddenly realize that they’re anything but toys. They mimic the real thing so closely that most airsoft guns are now manufactured with an orange flash at the end of the gun barrel. Why? So that both police and army personnel can tell the difference between a real gun and an airsoft model!

Although airsoft rifles may look and feel somewhat like the real thing that’s where the similarity ends. Airsoft guns are non-lethal because they only fire a 6mm plastic pellet. These are available in variety of weights as well as in glow-in-the-dark and paintball variants and are ideal for tin can or home target shooting.

The neat thing about airsoft rifles are that you can own just about any rifle or assault rifle you can imagine – from the old Thomson submachinegun to the far more modern H&K G36 special ops assault weapon. You can buy a standard sighted rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun, sawn off shotgun, assault pistol and also standard carbines. Heck you can even own the Marine M-41A assault rifle from the Alien (TM) movies – it’s a modifier kit for an M4 airsoft rifle but having this option is still incredible and a real bonus for the airsoft fans who also love sci-fi.

Once you’ve picked the model you want you then need to choose what type of firing system the gun will have. Airsoft guns can be purchased in spring, gas and AEG (airsoft electric gun) variants with AEGs offering the highest firing rates and usually the highest pellet velocities. Certain spring powered airsoft rifles can outperform electric airsofts in single shot power however – so bear this in mind when you’re buying your new gun. Spring powered are the cheapest, gas powered are next up from there and finally AEGs top the table in terms of cost (but also in terms of features and fun).

Words can’t really express the feeling of excitement you feel when you get your first airsoft gun. There’s hours of fun target and tin can shooting ahead of you. Have fun with your gun and stay safe!