WHEN DIVER ASKED ME TO WRITE about my favourite kit, it made me realise that it's not just a matter of favourites, but the very personal question of why.
Fundamentally, my favourite kit is just that because of the way it fits together, how I use it once assembled and, in many circumstances, how I kit up.
Being of the fairer sex (now that's probably just made every diver who knows me choke on their breakfast) I realised that to do the sort of diving I wanted to do, I needed kit that works for me, both in its configuration but also when donning it.
So I'll put my kit in perspective by going through it as I get ready for a dive, and explain why it's so important to me.
I like to be prepared and kit up in a leisurely fashion for all my diving. When I might be doing up to five hours of decompression, one item I cannot do without is my nappy! And it's not just any type but, after much testing, it has to be Tena Slips, in their most absorbent variety!
SUITS
I have several undersuits that I'll swap around depending on the temperature, but my drysuit is probably the most important part of my kit, and an item I consider part of my life-support system.
I always think about redundancy and carry bail-out gas, additional torches and so on, but there's no bail-out for your suit, so it's an item I believe you should make a top priority.
Having tried several varieties, I have found that, for deep diving and long decompressions, O'Three Ri fabric suits are fantastic.
They're robust, flexible and warmer than any tri-lam, giving me the security I need on a long dive.
Even when we dived HMHS Britannic in Greece, Kevin [Teresa's partner Kevin Pickering] and I used these suits and they were brilliant.
TRANSPORT
A trusty Crocodile box carries all my ancillary kit and doubles as a table.
It fits under most dive-boat benches, where I put smaller items that I need to put on later.
REBREATHER
My Ambient Pressure Inspiration rebreather is the best tool for deep diving. I've had one since 1999, and it's paid for itself in gas within that time.
One small mod that I made while on my course has stayed with me since, and that was putting on my stainless-steel harness with its one-piece webbing. It's this combination that really works for me. Not only is the steel an easy way of distributing weight, but the one-piece webbing means that I simply wriggle in and out of it.
In addition, my emergency bail-out cylinders are very easy to get on and off, I don't need anyone to help me do this, and they lie in line with my body as I swim, making me as streamlined as possible.
TORCHES
Torches and reels are undoubtedly among the most contentious items in diving.
Divers seem to have love/hate relationships with them and I guess I'm no different.
I use two torches on most dives. When we're filming I use a Kowalski wide-beam HID that's balanced with our video lights, to fill in the illumination without looking odd. I clip this onto my crotch-strap, and use it when needed.
The other torch is a small Custom Divers umbilical that I've had for years. The battery is clipped onto the side of my backplate, totally out of the way, and the hand-piece is clipped onto a bungee over the counterlung T-piece part of my rebreather.
The bungee keeps it tucked out of the way, but I can grab it and unclip it if I want to use it.
I have used and abused both of these torches, and they've been wonderful.
REELS
It's the same story with reels. I had two Dive Rite reels ever since I started diving more than 16 years ago, both modified with bungee to lock them. Unfortunately, the one I had attached to my delayed surface marker buoy went missing last year, and the new Dive Rite model simply didn't fit my purpose.
Instead, I turned to Custom Divers, and now use one of its small pocket reels.
COMPUTER
The Inspiration has a decompression computer that works for me, and as a back-up I trust my gas VR3.
However, I still keep laminated decompression tables, created using Gordon Henderson's Gradient Factor deco program, in my drysuit pocket as a back-up.
I've never been bent or broken using any of these, but decompression algorithms are absolutely personal, and I'll even change the one I'm using depending on my physical and mental state on the day I'm diving.
FINS
Last but not least, my 16-year-old Mares fins don't fit my new drysuit boots, and the latest Mares fins are like buckets on my feet, so I'm hoping to find something that will last equally as long at this year's London International Dive Show!
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