Beaver Sports

Beaver Sports was established in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in 1982 and has been supplying and manufacturing diving equipment ever since. This is the part of that range Oyster Diving stocks: reels and delayed surface marker buoys, a drift hook, a line cutter, cylinder carrying gear, ankle weights and the small accessories that hold a rig together. Mostly entry-level to mid-range kit, and mostly the sort you use on every single dive.

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Beaver Sports, in short

Beaver Sports has been part of British diving since 1982, working out of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. The range Oyster Diving carries is not the glamorous end of the sport. It is reels, buoys, clips, straps and cutters: kit that does one job, does it in cold water and salt, and stops needing your attention once it is clipped on.

You can see the priorities in the materials. A rust-free stainless steel double-ended bolt snap on the Beaver Digi Line Finger Reel. 316 marine grade stainless steel hardware on the Beaver Cylinder Carry Handle. High-tensile nylon on the Beaver Snorkel Clip, marine-grade silicone on the Beaver Personal Mouthpiece. Corrosion is what finishes off small dive kit, and Beaver specifies against it.

Reels, buoys and being seen from the surface

This is the biggest part of the Beaver range we stock, and for most divers it is the reason to be on this page. Surface signalling gear is bought in the hope that it stays routine, and has to work on the day it is not.

Reels and spools

The Beaver Digi Line Finger Reel is the pocket option: a 7.5cm micro spool in 15m, 30m or 45m lengths, with a high-grade polymer body and a stainless steel double-ended bolt snap for clipping off. The Beaver Puffin Mini Wreck-Line Reel is the heavier tool, carrying over 40 metres of high-strength nylon line with a breaking strain of over 80kg, plus a thumb-operated ratchet and a quick-release rust-free stainless steel retaining clip for laying and recovering a line properly.

Surface markers

Three options, and they are genuinely different. The Beaver Surface Marker Tube is the simple one: 112cm of heavy duty bright orange with a self-sealing inflation valve and an elasticated cord so it rolls up small. The Beaver Delayed Surface Marker Buoy adds reflective strips, an inflation valve you can feed from a regulator or alternate air source, and multiple attachment points. The Beaver Delayed Surface Marker Buoy With Reel is the complete kit: 181cm of 75D TPU coated nylon with Solas reflective tape, a single-moulded polymer reel in an elasticated pouch, and a 15-metre line that changes from orange to yellow at around 5 metres so you can find your stop by eye.

Holding on, and cutting free

The Beaver Drift Hook, Line, and Pouch gives you somewhere to hang in current: a 2-metre adjustable line in 25mm nylon webbing with a 5mm 304 marine grade stainless steel hook, in a nylon pouch with a D-ring so it rides on a harness or BCD. Its opposite number is the Beaver Trigger Line Cutter, a combination serrated and surgical rust-free blade that can be used with 5mm gloves on, which is the only test that counts in UK water.

Cylinders, trim and the small fixes

Moving cylinders

Two answers to the same problem, which is that lifting a tank by the valve strains the seals and your back. The Beaver Cylinder Carry Handle bolts to the cylinder neck with an Allen key and lives there, fitting most cylinders above 5 litres with a standard 39.5mm neck, with 316 marine grade stainless steel hardware. The Beaver Cylinder Carrying Strap moves between tanks instead: heavy-duty webbing with a moulded rubber handle and an adjustable buckle, fitting diameters from 135mm to 210mm. Own your cylinders and the handle makes sense. Dive on hire tanks and the strap does.

Trim and comfort

The Beaver Ankle Weight is aimed squarely at drysuit divers fighting floaty feet. It is supplied as a pair, roughly 0.6kg per weight and 1.2kg for the pair, in heavy duty nylon covers with adjustable side-release buckles. The Beaver Personal Mouthpiece is the other comfort fix: marine-grade silicone you soften in hot water and bite to shape, which takes the ache out of a long dive. The Beaver Octopus Plug is soft rubber with locking wings and a heavy-duty nylon clip, so your octopus stays stowed but still comes out when you want it.

Travel and snorkel fittings

The Beaver 232 Bar DIN Female/A-Clamp Adaptor converts a DIN first stage onto A-clamp cylinders, which is worth its space in a bag if you dive abroad. The Beaver Snorkel Clip and the Beaver Snorkel Loop both keep a snorkel on the mask strap: the clip is high-tensile nylon with a quick-release action so the snorkel comes off without unbuckling the mask, and the loop is a clear high-tensile polymer band that fits most snorkels.

Buying Beaver from Oyster Diving

Beaver kit tends to get bought alongside something else: a reel with a new BCD, a carry strap the week you finally buy your own cylinders. It sits at the entry-level to mid-range end of the shop, which makes it easy to under-think. Try not to. A reel that jams or a buoy that will not hold air becomes a problem at exactly the moment you have no spare attention for it.

If this is your first surface marker, buy it with a reel or spool and deploy it a few times somewhere shallow and forgiving. If you already dive with a bag on your D-ring, the rest of this page is a list of fixes for the small annoyances you have stopped noticing: an octopus that will not stay stowed, a snorkel sliding off the mask strap, a jaw that aches after an hour. Ask us if you are unsure which reel or marker suits the diving you actually do.

Frequently asked questions

Which brands does Oyster Diving stock in this collection?

One: Beaver Sports. This is a brand page, so everything listed here is Beaver Sports kit, from the Huddersfield firm established in 1982. What we carry covers reels and delayed surface marker buoys, the Beaver Drift Hook, Line, and Pouch, the Beaver Trigger Line Cutter, cylinder carrying gear, the Beaver Ankle Weight, and the small accessories — the Beaver Octopus Plug, Beaver Snorkel Clip, Beaver Snorkel Loop and Beaver Personal Mouthpiece.

Should I buy the Beaver Digi Line Finger Reel or the Beaver Puffin Mini Wreck-Line Reel?

It comes down to how much line you want and where it lives. The Beaver Digi Line Finger Reel is the compact one — a 7.5cm micro spool in 15m, 30m or 45m, with a stainless steel double-ended bolt snap, so it clips to a D-ring and disappears into a pocket. The Beaver Puffin Mini Wreck-Line Reel carries over 40 metres of nylon line with a breaking strain of over 80kg and adds a thumb-operated ratchet and a quick-release rust-free stainless retaining clip, which suits wreck lines and marking a shot. If you only need to send a bag up from your safety stop, the finger reel is usually enough.

What is the difference between the Beaver Surface Marker Tube and the delayed surface marker buoys?

The Beaver Surface Marker Tube is the simplest: a 112cm bright orange marker with a self-sealing inflation valve and an elasticated cord so it rolls up small. The Beaver Delayed Surface Marker Buoy is the fuller version, with reflective strips, an inflation valve you can feed from a regulator or alternate air source, and several attachment points. The Beaver Delayed Surface Marker Buoy With Reel is the one to pick if you do not already own a reel — 181cm of 75D TPU coated nylon with Solas reflective tape, a single-moulded polymer reel, and a 15-metre line that changes from orange to yellow at around 5 metres so you can find your stop.

Do I need the Beaver Cylinder Carry Handle or the Beaver Cylinder Carrying Strap?

Both fix the same bad habit — lifting a cylinder by the valve, which strains the seals and your back. The Beaver Cylinder Carry Handle bolts to the cylinder neck with an Allen key and stays put; it fits most cylinders above 5 litres with a standard 39.5mm neck and uses 316 marine grade stainless steel hardware. The Beaver Cylinder Carrying Strap is the better choice if you move between tanks, including hire cylinders — adjustable heavy-duty webbing with a moulded rubber handle, fitting diameters from 135mm to 210mm.

What does the Beaver 232 Bar DIN Female/A-Clamp Adaptor do?

It converts a DIN first stage so it will work on an A-clamp (yoke) fitted cylinder, at 232 bar. Keep one in the kit bag if you travel to places where A-clamp cylinders are the norm — it is a small thing to carry, and the alternative is turning up at the boat with a regulator that will not go on the tanks.

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