What amuses me is how divers in general look at the cost of equipment. I don't ever remember anyone at the RC model flying field bitching about the markup on their $800 helicopter that probably cost $50 to make. I don't remember my motocross buddies talking about how they got screwed over on the cost of their $20 bottle of Bel-Ray 2 stroke premix. ( twenty bucks would get me a liter ) No one ever said, screw Glock, I bet it only cost $35 to make this gun. Actually thinking about it, you think divers complain about LDS go listen to gun guys flame gun shops, divers got nothing on those guys, but I digress.............
There is nothing wrong with wanting to pay less or pay a fair price, and there is nothing wrong with people charging whatever they want to for goods and services. But it isn't hard to figure out if your getting ripped off in this information age. And if some guy just randomly decides one afternoon to take up diving and buy $2000 worth of crap then it just proves a fool and his money are soon parted.
I just find it interesting that so much comes down to price in a hobby or sport that is naturally expensive, but it isn't like this stuff is life support equipment so I don't see why it isn't dirt cheap.
If you look at it diving isn't really marketed to the regular Joe. I haven't seen many adds that show 3 fat guys drinking Pabst jumping into a quarry. What I see is young hot girls, with tight bottoms, and guys with little body fat and body hair, on white sand beaches, with big white boats in the background smiling in places like Fiji, or Thailand, Austraila, ect; ect;
I'm not convinced that the target market for scuba destinations and equipment is a guy like me who is married with 2 kids and makes $60ish grand a year with dual income. I don't know I could be on the bottom end of it. Watcha think?