Cheap Bastard Divers

[viceroy]

Add to that one AT&T customer service rep who I kept on the phone for an hour and a half after AT&T bought out my cellular carrier and wouldn't honor my original contract. A co-worker and I double teamed her until she coughed up 1500 anytime minutes a month for each of us! And we both kept that for several years until our respective phones died! Then I switched to Verizon!

She kept telling me that they'd be happy to let me out of my contract. Considering that was back in the days when you had to pay a startup fee and buy the phone and I was only 2 months into that contract, I wasn't biting!

And this has what to do with the cost of diving?

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

Very often, cheap is thrift that has turned rude.

Very well said!

 

[Rhone Man]

Buying second hand gear makes good commercial sense in a sport with such a high drop-out rate after initial certification.

 

[ReefHound]

You’re the one who needs to start reading because I never had thesis to begin with! All I stated was that due to warranty considerations, some gear is best bought new with the warranty still intact and that with the price of repairing old gear out of warranty plus the cost most folks want for their old gear, it usually isn’t really much of a deal! Tanks and wetsuits are not usually repaired and rarely come with any sort of warranty!

You started talking about used gear by saying that you have "never" bought "any" gear secondhand. That sounds pretty absolute and across the board to me. Nevermind that you disproved it later conceding to having bought tanks and wetsuit used. BTW, tanks do require annual service. It all starts with the tank. If there is crud in the tank that blocks the valve or clogs the filter it isn't going to matter how good your regulator is. Hopefully, you opened the tank and actually inspected the interior rather than trusting someone's annual sticker.

To buy new or used is a personal situation depending on your knowledge and patience and what's available. Maybe you're hard to fit and have fewer options. Maybe you need it now and can't wait for the right deal. Maybe deals in your area are not as good. Maybe it's best for you to buy new but that's not a universal conclusion.

 

[MeiLing]

You started talking about used gear by saying that you have "never" bought "any" gear secondhand. That sounds pretty absolute and across the board to me. Nevermind that you disproved it later conceding to having bought tanks and wetsuit used. BTW, tanks do require annual service. It all starts with the tank. If there is crud in the tank that blocks the valve or clogs the filter it isn't going to matter how good your regulator is. Hopefully, you opened the tank and actually inspected the interior rather than trusting someone's annual sticker.

To buy new or used is a personal situation depending on your knowledge and patience and what's available. Maybe you're hard to fit and have fewer options. Maybe you need it now and can't wait for the right deal. Maybe deals in your area are not as good. Maybe it's best for you to buy new but that's not a universal conclusion.

If you read back, I did not start out with the premise that everyone should buy their gear new. I had said that some gear is better bought new due to warranty considerations.

My reasons for adding the fact that I had bought a few items used and forgotten that I had was just to show, that at times, depending on the item and price, good deals can be available.

There's no black and white here of what anyone should do. There's a lot of grey and each should decide what is the best deal for them. However, it pays to be informed as to what the pitfalls are with going either route.

So obviously, I agree with what you have stated in your last paragraph. What I had originally stated, was that with the cost of what a second hand seller usually wants for gear, in my experience, and the costs of having it maintained out of warranty, oftentimes buying new is a better option than buying used for for some gear. However, that's just my experience.

Yes, I do know that tanks need annual servicing. However, they don't come with a warranty. In the case of my used tanks, they were only a short time out of VIP, etc. and I happen to know the person who did that work. My husband worked in the dive industry for 7 years. I do happen to know a thing or two about it.

 

[MeiLing]

And this has what to do with the cost of diving?

It has to do with someone in a previous post who tried to brand me as a niave, uninformed consumer who doesn't know how to get a bargain.

And the original topic of this post was not about the cost of dive gear, but it was about someone trying to make the premise that, because divers want to get the best deals that they can, that divers are a bunch of cheap bastards.

 

[cavediver001]

Yep I'm cheap Im doing this for fun and if I have to spend all my spendable cash on just this one activity then I have to quit. I have been diving since I've been 12 and basically just consider this swimming. If the dive shops could remeber this and stop trying to screw all the divers then pepole wouldn't bitch and complain. They always try to sell me something I cannot afford. I tell them exactly what I want. For example a 75 dollar BC. They only show me a $300.00. I ask about used equip. They say they only do that 1x a year. Then when I see them out diving they get upset when I show them 4 BC's I purchased on ebay for less than $115.00 1 for 25 1 for 30 1 for 40 and my favorite the one that I've been diving for 5 years now for a whopping 20 bucks. I have 3 children and so far only 1 is certified. but when we go on vacation they all go with me. I watch where I take them and I have to leave my wife and the 2 girls topside so the BC's make nice floaties for snorkeling. When I started diving BC's were considered optional. Now the dive shops want to sell 300 floaties! Maybe if they were charging a more apropreate amount maybe they would make more sales and in the end more money. Dont get me wrong I do beleive in everyone being able to make a living but lets get real how many divers are diving for fun and how many are diving pro. the pro's can afford the nice 300 boyance compensator but for me and my family and my cavern diving I would like a nice floatie that works and fits comfortably.

if you look around I have found that there is a lot of scuba gear that was bought on the whim and now its a year or 2 and never been used but instead of 450 for a dive computer I can get it for 50 bucks and the original batteries are still good

 

[hasueppy]

Divedoggie,
For the comparison I have two boys that ride Dirt Bikes and play Ice Hockey, my activity is Scuba Diving oh and lets not forget the Kayaks in the back yard..... To me the start up cost are the same, indulgence in these activities locally will keep the expenses to a minimum, however travel will always increase the cost. I am thankful to be able to enjoy these activities, and if the wallet gets tight then we eat out less and rent movies at home......Therefore we can enjoy everything we can while we can......and don't forget to smile......
Kind Regards,
Hasueppy

 

[Ed L.]

Check out the price of a one day lift ticket at any major Ski resort and compare it day of diving on a charter.

 

[Aussie scuba chick]

I'm a student and have had to figure out ways of keeping costs down. Where I live, it costs around $150-200 + per person per chartered dive. My buddy and I dive together so that ends up costing quite a bit. We decided to bite the bullet and invested in a rubber ducky (zodiac), which cost $2000. It has a 25 hp engine, is great to dive from, is also convenient and very cheap to run. I estimated that without the boat we would have spent around $7000 thus far on chartered boat dives compared to around $2500 on the boat (including maintenance, repairs,fills and fuel). Given that we have our own equipment, can fill our tanks for $10 per fill from which we get two dives, we can dive extremely economically.