This is a question asked very often by people who are considering doing a diving course. The costs of an open water course are considerable even before adding gear and often cause peopleto think twice about doing the course.

The short answer is no. You can very easily do a diving course without buying any gear at all (most shops have gear for hire, even if they avoid telling you this) but it is really preferable to own some of the gear from the start.

So which gear should you aim to own?

Hard vs Soft..

Scuba gear can roughly be divided into Hard or Soft gear. Traditionally 'Hard gear' covers your BCD (Boyancy Control Device) and rig (regulators etc.) while 'Soft gear' refers to your mask, snorkel, fins (never flippers in diving, punishible by a round of beer ;) and wetsuit. There is some debate as to where the weight belt goes though personally I lump it with the hard gear. The last piece of essential equipment, namely the scuba tank, technically falls under hard gear but very few divers own thier own tank (more about why later).

Every diver should strive to have thier own Soft Gear at the very least. The fins, mask and snorkel will last for years and can be used for snorkeling as well. Fins that don't fit properly will likely cause calf cramps which are best avoided and a leaky mask is no fun. A wetsuit that fits will also go a long way to making your time underwater comfortable.

In addition, having your own gear means you save on hiring fees and are more likely to go diving!

It is not necessary to spring for any hard gear before doing a course... but beware, when the diving bug bites you will be rushing to own your own BCD and Regs!

Once you really get into diving, a dive computer should be high on your list of priorities. It will keep track of your disolved nitrogen (i.e. no more tables ;), but also things such as temperature, depth and safety stops.

A weight belt is quite cheap and will pay for itslef within a couple of dives, but the weight means I leave it home when ever I need to fly to a dive location.

The only piece of equipment I would not reccomend buying is a tank. It is a heavy, unwieldy piece of equipment that is really not worth effort. Besides it's size, it has to go for a visual inspection each year not to mention a hydrostatic test every third year whether you use the tank or not. On top of this you will still have to pay for air fills anyway! Believe me when i say it is a lot easier to just hire your tanks (which come with an airfill) then to go through the hassles of owning your own.