Absolute best cave diving equipment

[Perdinnc]

I am searching for the absolute best cave diving equipment that money can buy, if it was not a concern.

I want to know what drysuit, wetsuit, underclothing, BCD, back plate, harness, fins, mask, torches, sensors, computers, communication gear, rebreather, etc...
Which rebreather is being used by navy rescue divers and SEALS? I heard Draeger, but which model?

I am trying to obtain a number of opinions on this topic! Your input is much appreciated.
Lastly, I want to get my friend certified for cave diving who is recommended in the United States for instruction and why?

[BaitBucket]

I am not a cave diver but have some knowledge on the topic. My answer would be depends. Are you diving backmount or sidemount? Sumps or springs? How accessible are the sites? I would just find some cave divers who are doing the type of diving you want to do and see what gear they are using.

[Squirrel Girl]

I recommend you go to
http://www.cavediver.net/forum/forum.php
for more extensive information. However...

You will get a lot of pushback. Is the person open water certified? As BaitBucket said, there are a lot of questions about what kind of cave diving one might want to do. KISS is a rebreather being used by many cave divers, but someone is NOT ready to dive one if one has little experience at simpler diving first. A person should, at minimum, take a cavern course and talk to their instructor.

[FW]

I have to agree with BaitBucket, it all depends. One point, the Navy uses obsolete rebreathers. For small passages, the KISS rebreathers are good. I use a SideWinder. For drysuits, you want one that is sturdy, because caves are rough on the material. I have an SFtech, It has Kevlar reinforcement. As for undergarments, it depends on what temperature water you will be diving in. I use Weezle Extreme Plus in cold water, and Weezle Compact in Florida. I use a 7mm wetsuit in sumps, since walking in a drysuit gets really hot. You want reasonably stiff fins. In backmount, you want heavy fins, to counteract the weight of the tanks on your back. In sidemount, you want lighter fins , or you will be tail heavy. You want a low volume mask, so if you flood it, it is easier to clear. I use Shearwater computers, with Fischer ports to connect to monitor my rebreather. We use hand signals, and wet notes for communication. Are you British? We call "torches" lights in the US. I use BigBlue dive lights, mostly the TL4800P. For instructors, you first need to decide which instructor. Some specialize in backmount, some in sidemount. For a list of NSS-CDS instructors, see here: https://nsscds.org/instructor-listing/

[BaitBucket]

I didn't really want to comment on the rebreather because I have no dive experience with them, take my advice with a grain of salt, but as Forrest said the Navy ones wouldn't have much use in a cave. I've assembled a few KISS units just going by the checklist, they are very simple, but they work. If you're using it only for cave the sidewinder and sidekick seem quite popular, though I have friends who use the backmount units as well. Again I am no cave diver, merely some kid on the internet who has observed others. At the end of the day you should probably just consult your instructor.

[CaveManmark2]

I have found this website with some information about gear.
https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/out ... iving1.htm

[Squirrel Girl]

I have found this website with some information about gear.
https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/out ... iving1.htm

As a long-time cave diver, I would not recommend that site for anything more than a very high-level, brief description of cave diving.

[NSS64284]

This is just like asking what is the "best" car. Are you single (Ferrari), transporting four kids (Honda), going offroad (Toyota), and so on.
My advice is learn to cave dive, buy what you need then, as time goes by and you discover what type of cave diving you like, buy the gear you need for that.
There is no "best".