Ginnie Springs
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There's ways of saving money in Cave Country? I'd be interested in hearing about this also. LOL
JamesK
Contributor
Stay away from Cave Country Dive Shop, Cave Excursions, Amigos, EE, or any other such shop. That is the best way to save money.
Hard to get your tanks filled without those places. I'm pretty stinking happy that Cave Country has some of the cheapest nitrox in the nation. In fact Nitrox in Cave Country costs less than air in a lot of the country.
I sure love diving/living in FL. Dive Rite, Light Monkey, Silent Submersion, and many others all live in back yard. Cave Diving, Ocean Diving, Quarry Diving, Wreck Diving, Drift Diving, Deep Diving, Spring Diving are just a drive away. Woohoo.
But, back on topic.
I sure love diving/living in FL. Dive Rite, Light Monkey, Silent Submersion, and many others all live in back yard. Cave Diving, Ocean Diving, Quarry Diving, Wreck Diving, Drift Diving, Deep Diving, Spring Diving are just a drive away. Woohoo.
But, back on topic.
JamesK
Contributor
I know. My post was a joke. I was at Light Monkey yesterday and just swung in CCDS to say hi to my favorite tank monkey. She made me spend money. booooooooo. lol.
Johnoly
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That's a very complete list for someone going all the way to Full cave and it may take them many months before they have to decide to purchase all that.
Check with your instructor what they require. I used most all of my Open Water gear for the Cave Intro class. Then rented an H valve tank &, 2nd reg, & some reels. Beyond that it was adding some clips and I was off the hook for under $100 for the equipment part of Cave Intro. Ask your instructor and they may even lend you all the equipment as part of a package deal for the class.
Paulmal's list is very good and complete, but I don't want the dollars signs to scare you from working towards your Cave Intro cert. Different instructors have different packages for you. Ask around.
I suggest that for a cavern dive, you purchase the minimum amount of equipment you will need. See if you like the experience. If so, begin training more seriously and start acquiring equipment a little at a time. One of the things you will almost certainly learn in a cavern course is that the skills needed for serious cave diving are quite different from typical open water skills, and it will take a while to master them. You can start acquiring the gear as you are acquiring the skills.
One way to do both is check out general technical diving instruction in your area. I acquired several technical diving certifications before I started cave diving, and it helped me immensely. What especially helped was that the instructor had gear I could use during the training so that I could do the training with a combination of the gear I owned and the gear he loaned me. As time went by, I eventually reached the point that I didn't need to borrow anything. That way I was able to get the training without a big initial financial setback.
One way to do both is check out general technical diving instruction in your area. I acquired several technical diving certifications before I started cave diving, and it helped me immensely. What especially helped was that the instructor had gear I could use during the training so that I could do the training with a combination of the gear I owned and the gear he loaned me. As time went by, I eventually reached the point that I didn't need to borrow anything. That way I was able to get the training without a big initial financial setback.
Paulmal
Contributor
There are certainly ways of getting around buying all the equipment up front. My instructor offered rentals/ loners furring my Cave 1 course. I took him up on some gear to try out something different. (Curses because I liked it and it cost more but to the point). You can rent most if not all the gear necessary to make the transition. I am still trying to get the stage bottles and regs I want and hopping that the wife will not notice the scooter on my wish list, we can all dream.
For cavern the gear investment is minimal, a 5-7' hose and some lights if you don't have them already as well as a reel.
I knew that I wanted to do trimix and cave so I had started diving Hogarthian so I already had tanks with H-valves and regs set up. But my course mates were in modified open water gear.
Cave divers are the friendliest group of people I have met so far lots of people Will let you try something on a dive so you can see if you like it.
My recommendation is to go through cavern with as little equipment changes as necessary, then get into the equipment after you get the bug.
JamesK
Contributor
I just got out of a cave with your favorite tank monkey.
Grrrrrr. Way to make me jealous. I will be down tomorrow to try out some new toys. I am sure when I swing through she will find a way to drain my credit card. I always tell her she can spend my money quicker then my wife can. lol
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