jerbee
Contributor
- Messages
- 150
- Reaction score
- 58
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
The title says it all. I’ve had my Cressi R1 BCD with my XS Compact reg/octo and AC2 1st for about 2 years now, and after graduating from law school and in anticipation of moving to the Philippines for half a year in August, I decided I wanted to treat myself to something a little nicer... so I got an Atomic SS1 inflator/octo combo, to streamline and have one less hose. I picked it up on eBay for $120... It looked great on my BCD, so I decided I should get a serious 2nd stage to allow me to grow as a diver (if I ever start getting involved in tech diving)... so I got a M1 2nd stage from buddhasummer on here for around $150. Then I saw a Z2 on eBay for $90, so I figured “why not, it’ll be good to have as a backup in my gear bag, just in case”. Then I figured that my 2nd stages were all Atomic, so I may as well look at their 1st stages... then I fell in love with the jet seat piston, and found a shop in Florida that was selling a refurb B2 first stage for $160. Got it.
While I was on FB, I noticed a dive shop owner had listed their new BCD, the Atomic BC1, for $650. I talked to her, and she sold it to me for $550 (shipped). Since it retails for $1400 + tax, I figured this was the only chance I’d realistically have of owning such a high-end BCD. I certainly wasn’t going to pay north of 1500 for a poodle jacket, ever. So then I realized the only thing that wasn’t Atomic was my analog pressure gauge and my Cressi Leonardo dive computer... so I went hunting on eBay for a Cobalt ($1200 new). I don’t know how it happened, but I sent a “best offer” of $300 to pretty much every person on there for 2 weeks who had a Cobalt for sale... and someone finally said yes... only when I went to pay for it, I realized that the auction was actually for TWO Cobalts! So basically I bought two of them for $150 each. I ended up having to send them to Huish Outdoors for a recall, because the original owner never did the recall. While they were there, they replaced the button magnets with molded buttons (the original style was prone to rusting).
Then last night I found a guy 120 miles away on FB marketplace who sold me 2 aluminum tanks that were current on hydro and VIP for $65. The lady who sold me the BC1 also had Atomic blades on clearance for half off retail (120, so they were 60), but I really like my Apollo Bio-Fins (which I found on clearance for $80 in a dive shop in Pensacola), so I didn’t take her up on that offer... At this point, I can’t think of anything else I could possibly need. When I decided to upgrade to an inflator/octo combo I certainly didn’t plan on setting out to buy a whole new package, but that’s precisely what happened. Am I crazy, or would you have done the same thing? I mean, there’s no way that I could have afforded all of that gear at retail pricing (hell, I couldn’t afford the BCD by itself at retail), but I kept coming across these ridiculous deals that I couldn’t say no to. Honestly, what diver, ever, has said “I have too much gear”?
You’d have done the same.... right? Is there anything left that I might wake up tomorrow and realize I *need* it, or can I finally hang my hat up and say “done”?
While I was on FB, I noticed a dive shop owner had listed their new BCD, the Atomic BC1, for $650. I talked to her, and she sold it to me for $550 (shipped). Since it retails for $1400 + tax, I figured this was the only chance I’d realistically have of owning such a high-end BCD. I certainly wasn’t going to pay north of 1500 for a poodle jacket, ever. So then I realized the only thing that wasn’t Atomic was my analog pressure gauge and my Cressi Leonardo dive computer... so I went hunting on eBay for a Cobalt ($1200 new). I don’t know how it happened, but I sent a “best offer” of $300 to pretty much every person on there for 2 weeks who had a Cobalt for sale... and someone finally said yes... only when I went to pay for it, I realized that the auction was actually for TWO Cobalts! So basically I bought two of them for $150 each. I ended up having to send them to Huish Outdoors for a recall, because the original owner never did the recall. While they were there, they replaced the button magnets with molded buttons (the original style was prone to rusting).
Then last night I found a guy 120 miles away on FB marketplace who sold me 2 aluminum tanks that were current on hydro and VIP for $65. The lady who sold me the BC1 also had Atomic blades on clearance for half off retail (120, so they were 60), but I really like my Apollo Bio-Fins (which I found on clearance for $80 in a dive shop in Pensacola), so I didn’t take her up on that offer... At this point, I can’t think of anything else I could possibly need. When I decided to upgrade to an inflator/octo combo I certainly didn’t plan on setting out to buy a whole new package, but that’s precisely what happened. Am I crazy, or would you have done the same thing? I mean, there’s no way that I could have afforded all of that gear at retail pricing (hell, I couldn’t afford the BCD by itself at retail), but I kept coming across these ridiculous deals that I couldn’t say no to. Honestly, what diver, ever, has said “I have too much gear”?
You’d have done the same.... right? Is there anything left that I might wake up tomorrow and realize I *need* it, or can I finally hang my hat up and say “done”?
