Diving is expensive

[rollerboi]

Seems to me like the average "buy-in" to any serious hobby is about 2k minimum.

Kayaking: rent, or buy one for 2-3k.
Boating: more.

Scuba can be enjoyed on a budget, but still ends up on the higher end of the hobby cost spectrum over time. My current expenditure:

$300 - Training for the wife and I
~$300 - Basic gear (mask 2x, goggles 2x, fins) (my wife still needs fins of her own)
$300 - dive computer (I couldn't resist the deal)
$300 - Two wetsuits (just ordered yesterday!)
--------
$1200.

$300 - more training for myself
$300 - if the wife gets aboard
====
$1800 for basic setup.

and then there's still equipment rental for diving locally, which gets expensive over time, and gas to drive out to the local dive spots.

Then there's the cost of dedicated diving trips, or side diving trips on vacations.

But you know what? It's so worth it, isn't it?

{edit: wow, reviewing those numbers, it looks like $300 is my upper limit for getting away with buying stuff without the wife killing me! the secret is to show need, space it apart, or buy her something she wants!} :lol:

 

[redacted]

Wow. $5 to $8K for a rebreather. That would fund quite a few weeks in Cozumel.:blinking:

 

[TSandM]

My husband likes to laugh at threads about how expensive diving is, because of our other hobby, which is riding dressage horses. Pretty much the minimum you can spend for a young dressage prospect is ten to fifteen thousand, but most good ones will run between 25 and 75. Thousand, that is. And board in the Seattle area will run anywhere from $500 to $1K a month. Air fills (or even helium) start looking minor on that scale!

But that's not really the original question. As I read it, the OP is asking whether, if he's going to do technical diving, he should consider a rebreather, and if so, whether he should just go there, rather than evolve through several gear configurations on the way.

The subject of rebreathers tends to elicit a fair amount of heated rhetoric. I, personally, fall in the "go to a rebreather when you can't do the dives you want to do on open circuit", which means I'll never use one. But I know a lot of people feel differently, and the one thing I have learned is that the transition to a rebreather hits a lot of people almost like learning to dive all over again. So it may be that, if you intend to end up in a rebreather eventually, it would make more sense to go to one now.

But like everything else in scuba, it will definitely repay the effort made to do a fair amount of research before plunking down dollars. Somebody already recommended Rebreatherworld as a source of information, and I'm sure it's a good one, but it will have it's own bias, as SB does. It would also make a great deal of sense to talk to the technical instructors you're contemplating working with and getting their take on it as well, and to look at the community of divers where you are to see if you'd have trouble finding other rebreather folks with whom you could dive.

 

[Gary D.]

Anyone who says diving is expensive need to rethink that statement.

Look at what a serious golfer spends, any type of serious motor racing, serious mountain climbing, flying and the list goes on.

Now take ALL other outdoor sports and see what the cost is broken down by cost per day. There are very few days a diver can’t dive. The other outdoor sports have in some cases very short seasons that are more dependant on weather than diving. So you spend a lot of money to enjoy something for a much shorter time that is even cut shorter by the weather.

Let’s just use 10K as an example, not related to anything other than a number over a period of one year. No trips, hotels or that stuff, just get going in the sport costs.

10K spent on local diving that could be used for say 330 days. Cost per day = somewhere around $34 per day.

Now golf. Clubs, cart, green fees, weird clothing, etc. A lot of the country has a 120 day golf season and it is very weather dependant. So 10K over 120 days breaks down to around $83 a day.

So how expensive IS diving? Take care of your goodies and they will last a very long time making it a much cheaper sport, activity or what ever you want to call it.

Gary D.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

bastard! house and boat in roatan (kidding)

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

TSandM ... i guess what you last wrote really sums up my dilemma ... i want to do tech and can eventually see myself doing RB, but when i started mountain biking, i knew if i dropped a few grand on the bike up front, i wouldnt have to worry about upgrading costs later and eventually, the cost and stress of having to always upgrade or have a lower end machine worked on would soon be surpassed through a wiser initial investment ...

so after spending a little over 10K on my current cave/tech/wreck gear set-up, do i contemplate RB or work through and learn from the new experiences of doubles slinging an 80al?

answer: i will take you up on the advice and try to work through the local more experienced divers who will be my buddies and learn from them.

thank you all (so far)

 

[shakespear]

Diving is cheaper than my other hobby, tabletop gaming..

 

[ianr33]

Buy used doubles. If you decide to go CC in a few years sell them. You would get most of your money back.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Where you draw the line is completely dependent on how deep you want to go and how long you want to stay there. Currently I'm at about 15K for gear and courses thru Divemaster on the rec side and intro to tech and heliotrox on the tech. That gets me into the 150 -160 range and for how long depends on how much deco I want to do. I'm putting off advanced nitrox and deco for a few months while I get my YMCA Instructor rating. Then hopefully that will help to pay for further technical training. If it does not go as well as I'd like I'll still pursue tech because what I'm interested in lies deep and cold in many cases. The great lakes are 2 hours or so from me. Lake Erie has an estimated 1000 wrecks by some accounts. Many still undiscovered. I don't mind reefs and pretty fishes but they don't stir me like deep wrecks in great condition. The physical and mental challenges of technical diving also provide for me a certain peace that I don't find on the surface or on a reef dive. But that peace comes at a price. And it's one I'm willing to pay. As for technical training I'd seriously look at something other than PADI for that. I'm a PADI DM but to me doing deep air dives when helium is a proven tool for reducing narcosis seems a bit foolhardy. I went NAUI for my tech but there is also TDI, ANDI, and GUE if you're willing to go that route. Also if you are diving in the northeast I'd seriously consider getting a drysuit as soon as possible after putting your doubles together and I'd advise going with low pressure steels as opposed to aluminum or HP steels for a couple reasons. One steel will let you take alot of weight off your belt compared to aluminum. Second you can pretty much guarantee a full fill with lp tanks. And if you get a good tech shop or op pump them up to 3000-3500(cave fills in fla- wreck fills in the great lakes area and off the coast) and you can get lots of gas. I have 3 sets currently. lp72's for playing around and for classes, lp85's for most of the dives I do, and a set of 95's that I don't like to use unless going off a boat. Too heavy for shore dives for me. But pumped to 3500lbs they give me 125cu ft each. That's alot of gas. HP120's need a 3442 fill to achieve that 120 cu ft. If you can only get 3000 that's only 104 cu ft. Why buy high capacity tanks if you can't use them to their fullest. Good luck which ever way you go. I'll not even get into rebreathers as I don't know enough about them and I can't afford one for a long time anyway.

 

[Blackwood]

Anyone who says diving is expensive need to rethink that statement.

Look at what a serious golfer spends, any type of serious motor racing, serious mountain climbing, flying and the list goes on.

Now take ALL other outdoor sports and see what the cost is broken down by cost per day. There are very few days a diver can’t dive. The other outdoor sports have in some cases very short seasons that are more dependant on weather than diving. So you spend a lot of money to enjoy something for a much shorter time that is even cut shorter by the weather.

Let’s just use 10K as an example, not related to anything other than a number over a period of one year. No trips, hotels or that stuff, just get going in the sport costs.

10K spent on local diving that could be used for say 330 days. Cost per day = somewhere around $34 per day.

Now golf. Clubs, cart, green fees, weird clothing, etc. A lot of the country has a 120 day golf season and it is very weather dependant. So 10K over 120 days breaks down to around $83 a day.

So how expensive IS diving? Take care of your goodies and they will last a very long time making it a much cheaper sport, activity or what ever you want to call it.

Gary D.

That other hobbies cost more does not mean SCUBA is inexpensive.

Really, that would be like me saying:

Anyone who says driving a Porsche Carrera GT (MSRP $440,000) is expensive needs to rethink that statement.

Look at what a Ferrari Enzo costs. Or a Bugatti Veyron. Or a Lamborghini Reventon. Or a Pagani Zonda F Roadster. And the list goes on.