Certification is costly

[boulderjohn]

Years ago a beginning tech student expressed dissatisfaction with his current gear. He had bought all of the gear when he got OW certified, and everything he had bought had been recommended to him by the shop where he had bought it. They told him every piece was the best you could buy, and now he was not happy with what he had. He started to tell me what he had, and I stopped him and then told him what the rest of his gear was.

He was amazed. How could I know?

Well, I was with that shop until they switched to the agency mentioned in my previous post. I talked earlier about the strategy of getting OW students to buy all their gear before finishing their OW instruction. Another part of that strategy was to identify specific gear that would be part of that purchase. You were to tell the student that each piece was the best you could buy, but the real reason for the choice was to get the maximum markup. The idea was to identify specific items that had good markups to begin with, and if you maximized the number of purchases of those items, the company would give a further dealer discount and thus increase the markup per item.

The shop had just completed identifying the specific items when I left. If I had stayed, I would have been required to purchase those specific items and wear them when I instructed, telling the students that I had selected those items because as an instructor, I wanted only the best.

 

[icechip]

Diving either has priority or it doesn’t.

This.
Well said, Marie.

 

[Omb]

If I had to do it again, I would just go through a $300, 3 day program at a tropical mill.

 

[Scubster]

I still haven't bought my own diving gear. Got certified back in '98 in the US with rental gear, all included in the price of the course.

I stopped diving for 10 years or so a few years after getting certified. Had I put a lot of money into buying gear early on, it would have been wasted.

I've only recently gotten a dive computer and will probably buy my own mask, just because it's nice to have. Might end up getting all the necessary gear eventually. But it has never been an issue not having any. The more you dive the more it makes sense to invest in things.

All my three kids are OW certified. I was sure my eldest was going to be a keen diver, but she has had a lot of ear issues diving over several years, and that has put her off of it. My middle child doesn't absolutely love diving and only the youngest has turned out to be a regular, enthusiastic and a very skilful diver. You just never know early on how keen you will be after a while.

 

[Celt]

Don’t know why people buy new gear when it can be bought so cheap used. A lot of times when makers update the gear it’s done to save money and the previous model is better quality. When I hear the sales pitch “ it’s safer” I get suspicious.

 

[divinh]

Koh Tao, Thailand, circa 2009...

OW with 4 boat dives, rental gear and 4 nights accommodations, ~$300 USD
AOW with 5 boat dives, rental gear, ~$240 USD
Fun dives with boat dives, rental equipment ~$30/dive USD

 

[divinh]

Don’t know why people buy new gear when it can be bought so cheap used.

New divers don't know how to evaluate equipment, whether it's still viable or needs extensive repair.

 

[Still Kicking]

New divers don't know how to evaluate equipment, whether it's still viable or needs extensive repair.

Absolutely! Here are some of the costly used purchases i see on a regular basis:

Regs from out of business companies like Dacor for which parts are no longer made.

Regs from companies like Oceanic where the plastic purge covers have deteriorated to the point where they crumble when depressed, and parts are backordered for six months or more.

BCs that have supposedly never been dove where the elbow shears off from the bladder with minimal effort.

BCs that are too big or too small for the user, inappropriate lift for the diving they plan and worn out Velcro weight retention pockets.

Computers like Suunto that have bad depth sensors and are stuck in eternal deco.

Drysuits that need new zippers/valves/seals/extensive seam repair and after hundreds of dollars of work still fit like crap.

Pre 1990 aluminum tanks that virtually no shop will touch.

Wetsuits so old that the neoprene is dried out, stiff and permanently compressed.

It's depressing to tell people who think they got a great deal that they have wasted their money. I hate doing it.

I love a deal as much as anyone but when gear packages start at under $800 and come with a warranty and free service it makes little sense to buy used unless you really know how to evaluate what you are getting.

Sadly, some of the people who learn they bought junk try to recoup their losses by selling it on Craigslist to the next unsuspecting diver.

 

[Wibble]

Absolutely! Here are some of the costly used purchases i see on a regular basis:

Regs from out of business companies like Dacor for which parts are no longer made.

Regs from companies like Oceanic where the plastic purge covers have deteriorated to the point where they crumble when depressed, and parts are backordered for six months or more.

BCs that have supposedly never been dove where the elbow shears off from the bladder with minimal effort.

BCs that are too big or too small for the user, inappropriate lift for the diving they plan and worn out Velcro weight retention pockets.

Computers like Suunto that have bad depth sensors and are stuck in eternal deco.

Drysuits that need new zippers/valves/seals/extensive seam repair and after hundreds of dollars of work still fit like crap.

Pre 1990 aluminum tanks that virtually no shop will touch.

Wetsuits so old that the neoprene is dried out, stiff and permanently compressed.

It's depressing to tell people who think they got a great deal that they have wasted their money. I hate doing it.

I love a deal as much as anyone but when gear packages start at under $800 and come with a warranty and free service it makes little sense to buy used unless you really know how to evaluate what you are getting.

Sadly, some of the people who learn they bought junk try to recoup their losses by selling it on Craigslist to the next unsuspecting diver.

Years ago a beginning tech student expressed dissatisfaction with his current gear. He had bought all of the gear when he got OW certified, and everything he had bought had been recommended to him by the shop where he had bought it. They told him every piece was the best you could buy, and now he was not happy with what he had. He started to tell me what he had, and I stopped him and then told him what the rest of his gear was.

He was amazed. How could I know?

Well, I was with that shop until they switched to the agency mentioned in my previous post. I talked earlier about the strategy of getting OW students to buy all their gear before finishing their OW instruction. Another part of that strategy was to identify specific gear that would be part of that purchase. You were to tell the student that each piece was the best you could buy, but the real reason for the choice was to get the maximum markup. The idea was to identify specific items that had good markups to begin with, and if you maximized the number of purchases of those items, the company would give a further dealer discount and thus increase the markup per item.

The shop had just completed identifying the specific items when I left. If I had stayed, I would have been required to purchase those specific items and wear them when I instructed, telling the students that I had selected those items because as an instructor, I wanted only the best.

And the lesson is... Novices are exploited as they've no idea what's needed and for some strange reason they trust their instructors.

Sad.

 

[Marie13]

Koh Tao, Thailand, circa 2009...

OW with 4 boat dives, rental gear and 4 nights accommodations, ~$300 USD
AOW with 5 boat dives, rental gear, ~$240 USD
Fun dives with boat dives, rental equipment ~$30/dive USD

And how much did you spend to get to the cheap classes?