How do you afford this sport?

[seaducer]

Prolly gonna drive down next year if vacation time allows, that way I can hit more than one site. Although a friend of mine got 29$ air to somewhere in Florida (thinking FT Lauderdale) just this past October so....

Never been to Bainbridge...sounds, delightful

 

[vtxkev]

Why would you want to go anywhere, you live close to Dutch Springs which is the Caribbean of the Northeast!

Dutch the Caribbean well I guess it will have to do.

 

[GeorgeC]

Don't have children! It could cost upwards of $375,000 to raise a child and put them through college.

My wife and I chose not to have children and are currently spending the diaper, formula and toy money! In 15 or so years we will be spending the private high school money and in 20 years we will be spending the college fund. lol!

 

[krawlings]

I work in the automotive aftermarket field the moneys ok . I bought all me gear at my locale dive shop on there layaway plan . Ther is no way I could perchase it all at one time with out the layaway plan. check with your dive shop.

 

[PepperDM]

I spent 10 years in the military as a gunner on a tank. After I left, I became a paramedic and now work for a helicopter life flight service...

 

[james croft]

I have slowly accumulated gear for the past 40 years so I really did not feel the pinch as I did not get the gear all at once. When I started diving I did not need an exposure suit or a BC. My first reg and tank was bought used for ten bucks.

I am a public safety diver as well so the Commonwealth of VA supports my diving. They allow and want me to use my gear recreationally as well as during work so I stay intimately familiar with it. I get my air for free. Usually my transportation, boats, etc. are also free. I am always on the hunt for deals on gear and pick up a lot of good gear for next to nothing.

I own enough personal gear to equip a platoon SEALS of but am saving it to use after I retire and turn in my state gear.

I recently was asked to attend a local dive club meeting and I thought I had accidently walked into an infomercial. They were selling dive trips to various locations for a pretty good chunk of change and I realized I had it made as I can dive much, much cheaper. I was asked several times if I was interested in this trip or that one. I politely declined these "deals". I was finally asked exactly what kind of diving I did. I told them I was a "Free Diver".

I only dive exotic places once in a while but the diving I do locally is much more interesting to me.

 

[Brian Sharpe]

Don't have children! It could cost upwards of $375,000 to raise a child and put them through college.

I hope my kids remember this when they're looking for the old folks home they put me in.

 

[gbirch]

It is a great question. Thanks for asking it, and thanks to others for their contributions/insights.

I have 4 children, one of which should be off to college next year, so not too much dicretionary income to spend on diving at the moment. I've found that it's not so much the cost of diving... it's the entry cost to the sport that can be off-putting for the budget minded. Like many people here, I'm jusdcious about buying equipment (buy good quality, but buy it used and have it serviced), and I mainly shore dive & occasional boat dive locally around New England to keep costs realistic. I also got one of my sons interested in becoming a junior Open Water diver... so that now doubles my costs! (and also doubles my fun!). Now my daughter is showing interest (do I qualify for one of those government bail-outs yet?)

My real question/contribution ot the group is this: Since, it seems, the vast majority of us dive locally and, perhaps take an occasional exotic trip (that would be a vacation for 6 of us in my case!- Eeek!), WHY are the dive magazines made up of 90% "reviews" (read: "Marketing") of exotic places? It drives me nuts. Is there a really good magazine out there with great content, good, technical reading aimed at improving tenchniques and broadening a diver's horizons without wading through page after page of photos of places I will not be able to afford to go to until my last child exits college and I'm probably ready to retire?! My wife loves looking at the pictures... but for me, I lost interest & cancelled my subscription.

 

[Web Monkey]

WHY are the dive magazines made up of 90% "reviews" (read: "Marketing") of exotic places? It drives me nuts. Is there a really good magazine out there with great content, good, technical reading aimed at improving tenchniques and broadening a diver's horizons without wading through page after page of photos of places I will not be able to afford to go to until my last child exits college and I'm probably ready to retire?! My wife loves looking at the pictures... but for me, I lost interest & cancelled my subscription.

As with many questions, the answer is "Money." Nobody gets paid if you grab your tanks and wander down to your local lake for a few dives.

The dive ops and resorts buy advertising space, your local lake does not.

The nicest dive I ever had was in 20' of warm sunny water, hanging out motionless in the grass watching the fish for an hour or so, followed by a barbecue.

Terry

 

[edfdiver]

gear is about the same price as some golf clubs or snow skis just about any sport we do is going to have cost for gear. if you take care of it (rinse and store) it will last as for trips depending on where you want to go budget the money $20-$25 a week is a $1000 - $1200 a year for a trip or brake it down to a couple smaller one over seas save about $50 a week. $20 dollars a week or $3 a day come you can save if you what to. parttime job helps also if you can and then you can go a couple times a year