Gear prices now not so bad compared to 1960

[Eric Sedletzky]

I was playing with an inflation calculator app on my phone and decided to see what gear prices were like back in 1960 compared to today. It always seemed to me that gear was cheap back in the "good old days" as compared to now when I heard people talk about it, but actually gear is about the same or cheaper if you look at upgrades and higher technology built into today's gear.
For instance, I heard or read somewhere (could have been here on SB) that in 1960 you could get a brand new DA Aquamaster double hose for $79.00.. that same reg now with inflation would be $635.56
You can get a pretty nice reg for over 600.00 now, way better than a plain old DA Aquamaster.
I also saw a thread about one of the scuba companies back then that had a whole complete scuba set including everything to be fully outfitted to go diving for $475. I can't remember if it was 1960 but it was close. Today that $475 would be $3821.40
I sure as heck could do better than that today for a complete kit, and it would be better.

If you were diving and buying gear back then what were some other prices that you might remember?
Let's see how things compare.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

Of course it's going to be cheaper - your skilled labor pool for manufacturing is now tens of millions of Chinese rather than a few thousand Italians.

 

[TMHeimer]

Good question. Along the same lines, how about OW course costs back then (and course length as well of course) compared to now.

 

[David Wilson]

Agreed, a very good question, but I see the answer as a little more complicated than the monetary comparison suggests. I've just looked up your DA Aquamaster in my 1960 Divemaster catalogue and the price there was $90, eleven US Dollars higher than the price you quoted:

However, the Aquamaster was the top of the range, most expensive, twin-hose model in the 1960 catalogue with all the fancy features available at the time. By way of contrast, the lowest-priced single-stage twin-hose in the same catalogue was a Divair twin-hose costing $49.95. You pays your money and makes your choice.

In 1983, I bought a British-made BBC microcomputer for £300 (roughly $425), which got me a 32K (non-diving, general-use) computer that seemed magical at the time. It opened up a new world to me. For £300 (with no inflation allowance added) I can buy an exponentially more powerful computer in 2016, but even so it doesn't inspire in me the same sense of wonder that my underpowered machine did in 1983. Moving back to diving/snorkelling, I still have the dive mask my parents bought me in the early 1960s for £1 6s 9d (roughly $1.90). Its even now soft rubber skirt still fits my face perfectly, much better than any modern mask I've tried. "Newer" (an objective term) doesn't always mean "better" (a subjective term and I prefer the word "different"). I guess people will always remember, and cherish the memory of, their first set of diving gear, whenever they purchased it.

Another gear issue to muddy the waters even more is the relative pricing of wet and dry suits. In the 1950s and early 1960s, drysuits tended to be much cheaper than wetsuits. By way of example, my 1964 Lillywhites of London catalogue features a Made in England Siebe-Heinke drysuit and a French-made Piel wetsuit, both very good brands at the time:

As you can see, the 1964 wetsuit at £37 10s (roughly $53.22) costs about three and a half times as much as the 1964 drysuit at £10 13 9d (roughly $15.20). The relative pricing of wetsuits and drysuits has, of course, reversed with a vengeance nowadays.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Dive gear now is so much cheaper in real terms than it was in 1988 when I started let alone in 1960s. The prices back then of regulators were 2 or 3 times the average weekly wage, now even the best is less than 50% of the average weekly wage.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

That DA Aquamaster for $90 then would be $724.05 today.

Thanks David for the price correction.

 

[rhwestfall]

That DA Aquamaster for $90 then would be $724.05 today.

Thanks David for the price correction.

which falls right in the arena of the current Argonaut Kraken.....

 

[The Chairman]

Interesting thread. I bought a pair of Jet Fins from Hal Watts back in 1969. While they are way too small for me to wear now, they are still solid. The biggest selling point was that I could kick the crap out of the reef and not hurt the fin. It was true, but I have since learned to stop kicking the reef.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

which falls right in the arena of the current Argonaut Kraken.....

Yes, and the Kraken is much more technologically advanced.
So you get more for your money now.

 

[Charles2]

I don't remember how much we paid for this gear, but we were both working at the local Kroger, bagging groceries, and making $1.30 an hour.

Scuba Diving - Willow Grove - 1965 - 7

• Charles2
• Mar 9, 2016

Scuba Diving - Willow Grove - 1965 - 8

• Charles2
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