Scuba Diving Gear For Thrill-Seeking Divers

Looking for new scuba diving experiences to get the adrenaline flowing? Here's some dive gear that can deal with your next underwater adventure. Want our latest gear reviews? Check out the Gear section of our website.

For more diving gear guides, please visit:
Scuba Diving Gear for Warm Water Divers
The Best Underwater Video Gear for Scuba Divers

Scuba Diving Gear For Diving In Current

Whether it's a strong, steady flow that draws in swarms of sea life or a tumbling tide that's like a theme-park ride, current dives are pure excitement. But they also demand scuba fins with efficient power, thrust and control. Atomic's BladeFin has a long, soft-centered paddle blade with supporting rails that give it a powerful snap with each kick, creating maximum thrust with minimum fatigue. The foot pocket is supportive and comfortable, letting you work the fin hard without foot or ankle strain. Available in six colors.

Scubapro Hydros Pro scuba diving BC
The Hydros Pro BC from ScubaPro is rugged, streamlined and sleek. | Jon Whittle

Working your way through a ripping current is where you appreciate a BC that's rugged, streamlined and sleek. While the rear-inflation air cell of the Hydros Pro has abundant lift (40 pounds in men's medium, 36 pounds in women's), three retaining bungees along each side keep the bladder pulled in tight and streamlined. A pair of rear trim weight pockets helps you dial in your balance for perfect low-drag trim, and the Monprene harness components in the straps and integrated weights won't flap around, even in current.

Scuba Diving Gear For Cold Water Diving

Deep cold can be as hard on your scuba gear as it is on you — especially your regulator, which must be capable of preventing icing and free-flows in the conditions you'll be diving. The new MTX-R was designed to meet requirements of the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit for extreme cold-water use. The environmentally sealed diaphragm first stage has a specially designed end cap to help prevent freeze-ups, and the first and second stage have a series of metal fins to pull ambient heat from the water. The second stage, with a metal diaphragm ring, can be configured for left- or right-side hose mounting, and the MTX-R comes with short and long exhaust tees.

Bare X-Mission Drysuit for cold-water scuba diving
The X-Mission's lightweight nylon rip-stop trilaminate material makes for one rugged drysuit. | Chelsea Pomales

Far from the warm waters of the tropics you'll find some of the world's most incredible scuba diving, but you'll need the right dive gear to experience it in safety and comfort. Bare's X-Mission drysuit is made from rugged nylon rip-stop trilaminate that's lightweight and heavily reinforced at wear points, with heavy-duty boots to resist damage for years of diving. A telescoping torso, internal suspenders and adjustable elastic waistband make for a comfortable fit and keep the suit trim in the water to reduce drag. The diagonal front-entry zipper aids donning and doffing, and a pair of roomy thigh pockets with drains and internal bungees provides space for accessory gear. The X-Mission also is available in a wide range of sizes and made to measure for both men and women so you get a comfortable fit.

Scuba Diving Gear For Shark Diving

Why tell your friends about that crazy shark dive when you can show them? SeaLife's new DC2000 simplifies capturing high-quality still or video images. With advanced features, such as a 20-megapixel sensor and RAW and JPEG imaging capabilities, it's also easy to operate and has diver-friendly controls. There are four underwater shooting modes, with three digital color-correction filters. Features such as continuous burst shooting and image stabilization help you get the shot even when the action gets hectic. The Pro Duo combo includes the Sea Dragon 2300 auto light for vibrant video, the Sea Dragon flash for stills and a set of Flex-Connect grips with a tray.

Cressi Ace scuba diving BC
The back-mounted Cressi Ace BC is designed for a stable and comfortable fit. | Jon Whittle

The new back-inflation Ace has a harness with a one-piece cushioned pad that extends down the back to low on the lumbar and out the length of the waist straps for a very stable, comfortable fit. Rear trim pockets on the tank band let you adjust your balance whether you're in swim position or perched on your knees. The back-mounted air cell allows unrestricted freedom of movement, but unlike most rear-inflation BCs, the Ace has zippered cargo pockets located outboard of the integrated weight pockets. At about 8 by 7½ inches and almost 2 inches wide at the bottom, they're big enough to safely hold a variety of accessories.

Scuba Diving Gear For Night Diving

Night dives let you dial your own level of thrill, from an after-sunset dip on the house reef to an adventure with 3,000 feet of black water beneath you. In either case, the i750TC dive computer puts all your critical dive info where it's available with a glance at its full-color OLED screen. The flagship of Aqua Lung's computer line, the i750TC has wireless air integration, a three-axis digital compass and an extremely intuitive three-button control. It can manage three gas mixes with three transmitters and separate PO2 set points, and has Bluetooth connection so you can download dive logs and control settings from your phone. $999 USD; aqualung.com

Scubapro Nova 2100 Spot/Flood dive light
The Scubapro Nova can handle dive and video light duties with its dual 15-degree spot/65-degree flood capability. | Jon Whittle

This versatile 2,100-lumen light can handle dive and video duties with its dual 15-degree spot/65-degree flood capability. The one-button control lets you select from five power levels (including two spot/ flood combos) plus emergency flash and SOS flash modes. The rechargeable battery burns for 55 minutes at full power and is housed in an isolated compartment to protect the electronics from water intrusion. Just a shade over 5 inches long, the Nova 2100 has a corrosion-resistant anodized aluminum light head and a reinforced polycarbonate body, and it's waterproof to 328 feet (100m).