Post-Dive Gear Care

Dive gear rarely dies of old age. It dies of dried salt, baked-in sun, and getting stuffed away wet. Ten minutes after each dive roughly doubles how long your kit lasts. Here's the routine.

The one rule that covers everything

Rinse in fresh water. Dry in the shade. Store dry and loose.

Salt crystals grind at seals and zippers. Chlorine and UV eat neoprene and silicone. Damp gear in a closed bag grows mildew you'll smell forever. Beat those three and your gear keeps diving.

Item by item

Mask & snorkel

Rinse, shake dry, store in a hard case so the skirt keeps its shape. Keep silicone out of direct sun and hot car trunks — heat is what turns a clear skirt yellow and brittle.

Fins

Rinse off salt and sand (grit chews up foot pockets), then dry flat or hang them. Don't leave them bent under a heavy bag in the sun — blades take a warp and don't fully forget it.

Wetsuit

Rinse inside and out — sweat and salt live on the inside too. Every so often, a dedicated wetsuit shampoo keeps the funk down. Dry it inside-out first, then flip and finish the outside, always in the shade.

Hang it folded over a wide hanger — a thin wire hanger creases the shoulders permanently — or store it flat. Never sun-dry it. And never, ever ball it up wet in a bag between trips.

Boots, gloves & hood

Rinse and dry them fully. These hold water and turn into a mildew farm faster than anything else you own.

Dive computer

Rinse, dry, store away from heat. Mind the battery contacts and keep an eye on the seal.

BCD

Rinse the outside, then the part everyone forgets: the inside of the bladder. Push a little fresh water in through the inflator, swish it around, drain it out through the dump valves. Salt sitting inside corrodes the guts. Store it partially inflated so the bladder walls don't stick together.

Regulator (rented or your own)

Never let water into the first stage — keep the dust cap on and dry before you rinse, and don't press the purge button while rinsing the second stage. Rinse, dry, coil it loosely, and get it serviced once a year.

The travel version

Can't do the full routine on a liveaboard or at the hotel? At minimum, give everything a quick fresh-water rinse in the sink that night. Salt sitting on gear for days does far more damage than one dive's worth.

Where to store it

Cool, dry, dark and loose. Not compressed in a bin. Not baking in the garage. Not sealed away damp. Give it air and shade and your kit will outlast several dive buddies' worth of "why did mine fall apart?"

The payoff: gear that performs when you need it, holds its resale value, and doesn't surprise you with a torn seal at 60 feet.