Sunstar Equipment

Equipment Officer's responsiblities

The equipment officer is responsible for the club's diving kit, not the boats or training materials. As a club member you have paid for the kit and its yours to use but you should please bear in mind that others will need it too.

Each year the club aims to train around 8 new divers, and they will generally have the kit from spring to late summer. Initially it will be for pool training, and then for the open water training.

Obviously once diving starts there may be more pressure on the club kit.

The Equipment Officer will try(!) to keep track of the gear and manage its passage from one person to another, but, unless you tell him who you gave it to, don't expect him to develop telepathic powers. Once kit is issued to you by the EO it is your responsibility. If you pass the kit on to another club member it stills remains your responsibility until you inform the EO about the change of custodianship.

So the golden rules would be;

1. If you know you need the kit let the EO know ASAP
2. If you don't need kit you've requested let the EO know ASAP
3. Collect and return the kit yourself if you can.
4. Treat the kit as you should treat your own while you have it.
5. Be ready to pass it to another member, if they need it.
6. If you pass it on to another member let the EO know who it has gone to.

Club Equipment

The club has 8 sets of everything and a few spares, this does not mean they will always be waiting just for you so it pays to book ahead. The equipment is available to all club members and there is no charge, but you should be ready to give it up when someone else needs it. It is your responsibility to pick up and return kit and you must be prepared to pass it on if someone else needs it. Don't necessarily expect to get the same kit back.

For much of the year the kit will be with trainees whilst they are completing club and sports diver qualifications. They must give it up if you need it but have an absolute right (except in exceptional circumstances) to have it for pool sessions.

Regulators

The club has 9 seaworthy sets of regs. Some sets are newer than others, but most are Apeks TX40s which are very popular. Trying a few different sets will show you that regs are a very personal choice.

Stab Jackets

The club jackets are all A.P. Valves Buddy BCDs. These are just about the toughest you can get and are very popular throughout the club. Most of the Club jackets are medium size - this means pretty big, so if you are petite try to borrow the small Buddy Slimline.

Tanks

The club tanks vary enormously in capacity, size, weight and age. This won't matter for pool training but once you get to open water you will probably want to avoid the 8litre 200bar aluminium tanks in favour of the 12litre 232bar steel ones. Some of the later tanks have dual DIN/A Clamp pillar valves. Make sure you know what you have and if it is not appropriate for your planned dive let me know. The number of larger cylinders is limited but I will make every effort to make them available for deeper/longer dives. Hence the trainees will get the smaller ones for pool training.

Weights and belts

The club weights and belts are ordinary webbing and lead lump affairs. The club only has enough weight for pool use. If you need more for open water you should arrange it yourself. Before you take issue with this point imagine having to store and shift 8 24lb sets of weight!

Buy you own

The club does not have personal kit like masks, snorkels, fins, boots or suits so you will have to buy or hire your own. Galaxsea (01473 711818) and Diveline (01473 715533) in Ipswich are two places to give your credit card a serious pasting.