Relative cost of diving equipment then and now.

[drbill]

Buy NEW equipment? OK, computers and wetsuits yes. I'm still diving with tanks from the 70s and regs from the 80s

 

[elmer fudd]

Buy NEW equipment? OK, computers and wetsuits yes. I'm still diving with tanks from the 70s and regs from the 80s

There are a handful of things that I don't think have been significantly improved in the last 40 years. Regulators would be one of them. IMO, a well tuned single hose from the 70's is about as good as a modern reg. Maybe below 100' there is a detectable difference, but I don't notice much of one between my Mk5/R109 and my Mk25/G250V at 100'. Weights are actually worse nowadays. Most people I see use those soft weight packets, and they're bulky, dirty and take days to dry. Old fashioned hard weights were small and dried in minutes. Same thing with snorkels. Modern dry or semi-dry snorkels breathe way worse than an old fashioned J-snorkel. You're inhaling and exhaling through valves and that means more WOB.

Tanks on the other hand, I do feel have been improved. I recently picked up a pair of HP65's cheap. They hold about the same amount of air as my LP72's, but they're about 1.5 lb more negative and maybe 8" shorter. They're also a few pounds lighter and have better valves and boots. LP72's are still nice tanks, but I think if you do a side by side comparison new HP tanks come out on top.

 

[mark5scuba]

How much were air fills back in the 50's and 60's?

I used to pay 50 cents to fill my 72ft3 tank to 2250psi. It used to be 25 cents when I first started diving in the late 50's. Then when it went up to 50 cents I thought it was highway robbery. Now some shops charge $14.00. Glad I have my own compressor.

 

[Couv]

For years (I started diving in the early 70ies) a fill was a dollar with an air card. I complained when the price doubled, tripled, etc. until recently when I discovered my LDS gives free fills for a year on a tank they VIP for $25 including my 3445 Faber.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm still trying to figure out if diving was more expensive or cheaper then relative to what your paycheck was.
Somehow I think it was much more expensive then relative to pay.

 

[Couv]

Eric, that is difficult to say for most of us. We were younger & were paid less, so to me anyway, it was more expensive then as it took more of my disposible income.

 

[redacted]

I'm still trying to figure out if diving was more expensive or cheaper then relative to what your paycheck was.
Somehow I think it was much more expensive then relative to pay.

I suspect the answer is regulators were more expensive before the plastic rage and efficient mass production. Other gear was probably also more expensive. Support was less expensive. The dive industry works very hard to separate customers from their $$ and has gotten quite good at it. So good that retail efficiency is actively avoided.

 

[Luis H]

I think individual pieces of equipment were relatively more expensive, but we didn’t have as many pieces of equipment or some of them were much simpler.

No BC (maybe a simple horse collar), no octopus, no inflator for the BC, no SMB, etc.

A depth gauge instead of a computer, but sometimes not every diver would carry a depth gauge if your buddy had one.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

If we look at what it would take to put a diver in the water nowdays in total minimalist do it yourself gear it could actually be done dirt cheap.
This of course would be for a person who knows what they only need and would have the skills to dive this minimal, so here goes:

Mask - I've seen some as low as $35 new or cheaper used.
Fins - $75 online or cheaper used
Suit - As low as a few hundred bucks online up to $500 for a custom through M&B (oldschool cut cleaner suit)
Gloves - $30
Booties - $40
El cheapo waterproof watch with timing bezel $20 at Wal Mart
Capilary depth gauge from Trident $30 - wrist mount
Used steel 72 w/ J valve - lets say $75 on average for something in good shape in hydro and VIP
Regulator - new simple non balanced piston style $175 online, cheaper used as low as $25 on fleabay take your pick of brand doesn't matter.
Or get a double hose intro kit from Bryan for $250 if you want to go that route.
Harness to put tank on back $40 for Simonbeans' harness kit,
or
Buy 2 cam bands and a hog harness kit and a simple tank harness can be made out of those components in minutes - online for all that would be about $95.
Weight belt - $60 to $75 at LDS, or pour your own using a buddies mold and free tire weights but you'd still need a rubber belt and those are $20 to $24 depending on LDS.

This would get you in the water, not fancy but you'd be diving and that's better than not diving.

Add a spear gun for $150 or cheaper used
Add a knife for $20 (military surplus knife at surplus store, they rust but that's what a fresh water rinse and WD40 are for)
Fishing license - here in Cali for resident they are $42.00

 

[elmer fudd]

I've actually got a friend who got certified at the same time as me, (probably about 9 years ago), and then never dove again until I talked him into trying it again a couple months ago.

He's out of work right now and has very limited funds for anything non-essential, so we've been putting together a set of gear for him as cheaply as possible.

He found a Harvey's 7mm for $10 at the Goodwill, (an old suit, but in good condition).
He paid $30 for a used Harvey's Ti hood from a local diveshop, (it was in excellent condition).
He got a pair of used ScubaPro TwinJets on Craigslist for $55.
He found an Apollo mask at a garage sale for $5.
I gave him a ScubaPro stab jacket, some old boots and a console with a 90's era computer. These were basically leftovers from package deals I had bought for cheap or had been given.

I've been loaning him the rest of the gear, but all he's missing right now are gloves, a regulator and tanks.