Diving is expensive

[RonzoTheGreat]

Hello and good day!
I guess I knew diving was expensive, but not to this extent. So I pose this question to all of your experience. I am currently moving my faber steel 119 single tanks to a doubles set-up for various reasons. I have learned all of my skills through PADI classes and building personal experience. I live int he northeast and am currently looking into drysuits (ARGH!) and will be "deepdiving", wreck diving, and eventually cave and cavern diving. I'm currently on a Halcyon set-up with a few OMS and Dive Rite editions to my gear. I feel great with just about all of my current gear and experience. But when researching the setting up of a doubles rig, even with the tanks already, there seem to be 2 schools of thought. Set them up my self and save tons of dough, or use my LSS and get hammered of have the assurance it was set-up properly. I mean, a couple hundred for a environmental reg and cold water second stage, another $150 for a pair of highland bands, another couple hundred for a doubles wing, another couple hundred for a thermo or halcyon manifold, another couple hundred for a padi intro to tech course .... ARGH!!!!!!! and possibly another few hundred into gas mixing classes.
So what's my question? being that I need to drop over a grand to get into these doubles, closer to $2000, Where does one draw the line at money spent to set-up all the doubles gear and just go semi or closed circuit rebreather? It seems one can get into a draeger semi closed for around $3000.
Also, I understand the importance of being exact and perfection oriented world of preparing the rebreather vs. the allowance for some neglect in using doubles or singles tanks as some have written hear, so please, if you decide to post on my inquiry, please stay away from this reason as an answer. I really don't feel you should be in the water at all with gear and other people if you aren't taking the safety side of it seriously. And lastly, if there is a better place to post this inguiry on the board, please direct me there.
Thank you much.
Ronzo

 

[Rick Inman]

I have learned all of my skills through PADI classes and building personal experience.

Wow, a lot of good questions here. Since all of your learning has been PADI and personal experience, I would highly recommend that you hook up with some local divers who have already addressed these issues and see if you can find some mentors.

Where in the northeast are you? The northeast is crawling with good technical divers.

(pm sent about moving thread)

 

[dkatchalov]

Why would you even consider going to a RB if you haven't even done intro to tech and don't even have experience with doubles?

Seems like too much too fast.

 

[The_DivePirate]

Why would you even consider going to a RB if you haven't even done intro to tech and don't even have experience with doubles?

Seems like too much too fast.

Excactly!!!!
You should at least learn the basics of decompression diving, heaven forbid anything should happen! Not exactly sure what your experience is, and not "agency bashing", but considering PADI has only recently come on board with the whole mixed gas thing. In that EAN was taboo up until the past few years, and they saw there was a market that was not going too go away, they figured they should jump aboard. I would suggest a course from either TDI/SDI or IANTD for some tec courses. Remember, "THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN". As suggested above, find some local tec divers and ask many questions.(why they decided too get into it, what was their path, and what are the risks involved) Being a tec diver myself, I'm not trying too drive you away, just trying too open your eyes too the risks involved and the path we have taken too get here. I started with an IANTD nitrox course> rec. trimix> adv. nitrox> gas blending, then a TDI/SDI extended range trimix course. All of this transpired in a 12/18 month period and somewhere in the range of 20 or so dives in my HOG twin setup.
The other thing too mention is that my diving in a single tank rig was quite accomplished, but when I switched to the doubles, I felt like a hermit crab in a new shell. Quite clumsy and way off of trim. All of this started after my 150th dive and has since progressed to my 350th dive. So, my biggest peice of advice is, "take your time" it's worth it! You'll have a lifetime too dive!! Like my signature says, "it's more than the fun of it"
Joe

 

[FIXXERVI6]

You don't draw the line

When you start down the "tech" road, the cost of the doubles is just a scratch on the surface.

When I first started diving I was like, just 60 feet, air, nothing fancy, tables, as simple as possible.

Now I'm on my second compressor, have 20 tanks in the garage not including my bank, 10 regulators, it never ends.

Yea I know I can't figure out why the hell I need 20 tanks either but when I go into my garage and think about it, it makes sense.

Technical diving has many more ways to kill you over regular OW diving, now stack on CC, thats that many more ways your hobby can kill you, point is thats a lot of complexity to be thinking about this early.

When you get going on OC if its not getting the job done then look at CC.

I have enough money in diving to probably buy 3 CC's or more, I"m all OC because its what works for the type of diving I do.

 

[dkatchalov]

Fixxer made a good point.

You should only consider RB when you feel that your diving profiles push OC boundaries and that the range of your dives simply cannot be provided by your OC gear. Only when you have exhausted the possibilities of your OC gear should you consider getting a RB.

I think that wanting to get into RB because it may appear to be cheaper than OC is the wrong reason.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

Wow i am impressed. thanks for all of the feedback in only a few hours. great intro to scuba board for me. i need to address a few of the answers however, if my original point was misconstrued i need to be clear. i believe in rebreathers. i believe in safety (in all of my ridiculous hobbies) i believe in a solid education on these as well. i didnt take padi courses because they were padi courses, but because my instructors (through research of my own) are some of the best in the northeast (and actually have been recognized internationally by others where/when i was diving on vacation). i would never suggest to rebreathe in order to save money, but i do suggest (on a teachers salary) that one should look into the best means to to invest in up front rather than always upgrading upgrading upgrading or "changing" (since some do not consider it an upgrade).
thanks again and keep the comments coming ... good to hear from the more experienced divers.
and im considering florida for cave and cavern if anyone wants to add to that

 

[Kingmob3]

Looking towards CC or SCR, think about this, Technology fails. The more you have, the more reliant you are on it for life support. If you are comfortable with a system and feel the design is such that something can fail and you can live and not get bent , then find a LDS that supports RB's and see if they have a demo day and talk to them.

RB's are completely different than doubles or any OC set up for that matter. Regardless of you're OC skill, when you go onto a RB you are right back in OW, except if you're going in with a TMX ticket, you're going to try and pick back up with where you were OC and push to hard too soon and become a statistic.

OC skill (trim etc) has little effect on RB diving, OC knowledge does.

PADI does not support it, but a Used (and in great shape) sport kiss go's for what a new Draeger Dolphin does, or close to it, and will out perform the Dolphin. ~$5K gets a Classic Kiss, and ~$8 gets you into the ECCR realm, although all have there faults.

KM

PS- if you do go RB and TriMix, eventually you can pay for the RB and training with what you've saved on Helium.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

Great insight. thanks for that as well ... it made perfect sense.

 

[The_DivePirate]

PS- if you do go RB and TriMix, eventually you can pay for the RB and training with what you've saved on Helium.

I'm not even gonna touch on that. Maybe after another 100-200 dives you may think differently.
Joe