Beginner equipment recommendations?

[spearit]

once bubbled...."I would also like to hear equipment/hype/fads I should stay away from. For instance...Split fins; great for straight shots, but due to 'vortex' action, they kick up a lot of silt and crud so they are poor for local lake diving and caverns, etc."

OH GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!

That's brainwashing bullsh** by some divers and shops who believe you should only kick by frog foot style for the rest of your days and you should only be in jet style paddle fins. What hogwash! Everything depends on your kick. Those same paddle fins are the ones that throw all the silt in the vis when THEY flutter kick. There is no right and wrong. I've seen many split finned divers out there with far better form and no silt throwing when close to the bottom far more than paddle divers. I've seen splits do the frog kick, though not as efficiently as the paddles. I've seen the paddles not near as efficent as the split fins. I've seen divers BACK UP easily in BOTH.

Want to avoid fads and hype, stop listening to those who think there's only one way of doing things and find those divers and shops that think its okay to go it YOUR way as long as you COMMUNICATE before, during, and after each dive with your fellow buddies.

There are many of us divers out here who have 20-30 years of diving under our weightbelts and even in our NEW SPLIT FINS and OLD JACKET STYLE BCD's - we blow the skills of the 'mouth' divers out of the water!

Learn about all the styles and figure out that you are never going to be completely correct and perfect in every piece of gear you purchase or use, nor does every piece have the to be perfect for every scenario. It just has to be safe and comfortable.

Want to avoid the bs/fads/and hype, don't plan cave diving if you are never going to be in a cave.