???Future of Open Circuit Mixed Gas and Rebreather Diving???

[berndo]

A used rebreather that is a bit out of date and not the hot ticket, but still good, $3k.

What dive-ready unit goes for 3k used? Even if you buy a 4-5k pre-DiveCan JJ, you still have to buy cells, service, likely some new parts, sorb, etc. and with training plus expenses you'll be pretty close to 10 grand.
The 10 to 15 grand range I mentioned already includes buying used.

 

[BlueTrin]

If you have friends/acquaintances who have recently taking the class in the last years, may worth asking …

A lot of people give up in the first two years because of the extra faff

 

[mehfridge]

I took my Mod 1 class last year. Here's what I had.
$6500 - Used Revo III micro, ready to dive and one set of 3L cylinders
$630 - Second set of 3L cylinders
$330 - AL72 bailout cylinder + rigging kit
$285 - AL40 bailout cylinder + rigging kit
$2300 - training costs
$2500 - flights/lodging for training (the instructor I wanted to work with, Mel Clark, operates out of FL and I live in MN)

With that I'm a little over $12.5k not including sorb, and other random bits I had to buy.

Mike J

 

[kaylee_ann]

$2500 - flights/lodging for training (the instructor I wanted to work with, Mel Clark, operates out of FL and I live in MN)

oh man, thank god I drive everywhere. sure, the gas is ridiculous, but nowhere near flight expenses. plus I have the choice to sleep in my car lmao

 

[kaylee_ann]

If I get into trimix diving, with the way helium costs are going, I'd jump for a rebreather. It'd be worth it since when I move to the coast, diving will be a constant in my life. The extra bottom time is damn nice too. Really expensive investment at first, but I hear if you put enough dives into it, it'll pay for itself over time.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Eventually, I think people will stop OC Trimix diving. It's so much money vs doing it through CCR. Buy once, cry once is my motto. With OC, you cry every time. Lol.

 

[Tracy]

What dive-ready unit goes for 3k used? Even if you buy a 4-5k pre-DiveCan JJ, you still have to buy cells, service, likely some new parts, sorb, etc. and with training plus expenses you'll be pretty close to 10 grand.
The 10 to 15 grand range I mentioned already includes buying used.

Front mount counterlung Shearwater Optimas sell for about $3k
Hammerhead Optimas bring about $1000-1500
Older Revos with dreams or Predators go between $2500-$3000
ping pong paddle inspos sell for about $1000-1500
2.5-2.7 Megs sell around $2500

They all need cells, that is a given, so figure $300 for cells.
$2000 for training and you are going.
The two cheaper options aren't great units IMO, but they are divable units that myself and a lot of people before me did a lot of big dives with.
A FMCL Optima and a 2.7 Meg breathe and dive on par with any current unit you can buy. They aren't that desirable as newer units have more little things that make them nicer to assemble and dive, but they work day in day out as deep as you want to go.

 

[Marie13]

Eventually, I think people will stop OC Trimix diving. It's so much money vs doing it through CCR. Buy once, cry once is my motto. With OC, you cry every time. Lol.

There are some dive shops that don’t do fills for OC trimix anymore. They’ll only fill for CCR.

 

[rjack321]

Would be interesting to know what’s the forward curve for helium, I.e. is it forecasted by the market to go lower at some point.

No way, forget it. demand for non-diving uses is climbing. Prices may plateau off-on but they are not going down to 1990s era levels ever. The 1990s through mid-2000s prices were a direct result of the USA selling down the strategic helium reserve. New supplies coming into production would not be profitable or even exist if prices dropped to those historic lows.

 

[BlueTrin]

No way, forget it. demand for non-diving uses is climbing. Prices may plateau off-on but they are not going down to 1990s era levels ever. The 1990s through mid-2000s prices were a direct result of the USA selling down the strategic helium reserve. New supplies coming into production would not be profitable or even exist if prices dropped to those historic lows.

Actually it would be interesting to even know the price points like how much it would need to be before we get new production being built.

I googled a bit but all I found were summaries from people trying to sell their reports.

Did not look for very long though.