Supporting our local dive shops

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Marie13

Great Lakes Mermaid
ScubaBoard Supporter
Messages
14,086
Reaction score
15,098
Location
Great Lakes
# of dives
200 - 499
With everyone worried about their cancelled/postponed trips, don’t forget about your local dive shop. Lots of small businesses are hurting right now.

Mine rents pool space from the next town over. The town’s facilities are closed until 3/31. That means no OW pool sessions, and no pool practice for the rest of us on the 28th. Who know what will happen until after the 31st.
 
I'm doing what I can unfortunately I'm out a job temporarily due to the virus.
 
I have nothing I need right now, but l’ll run down on Saturday to get my doubles filled since I was diving this past weekend.
 
It’s a good time to inspect all gear and make a list of parts to replace: my fin straps are cracked and one boot is ripped along zipper. While my reduced job hours aren’t going to pay for a new drysuit, i can still buy a few things to have my family’s gear bags ready to go.
 
My air card isn't quite out but I bought a new one to advance them the money. If you know you're going to be buying more gear or classes from them in the near future, gift cards are also an option.

Thanks for reminding me about that. I’ll just do a gift card since I don’t want to do the air card now when I’m not diving. My shop does unlimited for one year from date of purchase.
 
Prior to moving to Florida I never had a dive shop worth helping. However, I now buy all that I can from my LDS (Force-E Boca Raton) because they are awesome and have truly earned my business. All of my fills (nitrox fill card), equipment service (tanks, regs) and all new purchases (if possible) are made with them.
 
Up here in the Midwest, if you want at least a dive shop to get fills from so you can keep diving, you better support them. Even if it’s just buying a fill card now.

Same here. A lot of divers that live up here are only warm water vacation divers. Of the rest a large portion are only seasonal divers so shops struggle in general.

The cost of a home compressor would be very high especially with the fact they seem to require a electric panel modification. Plus I've worked with high pressure air systems and know the hazards. And if you want to pump your own nitrox, good luck as you need special certs / permits from the state in order to get O2 from suppliers.

Yup I support my local shops. We have a good relationship they give me good customer service and the deals they can, i pay in cash so they save the credit card fees.
 
Thankfully there is nothing I'll need from a dive shop for the next few years. They will have to survive without me!
I've spent the last month boxing up my dive gear and tools for the move to Lake City and I'm almost done 3 and a half tons later. Tonight I'll put the last 50L 300Bar O2 tank in it's made to measure wooden container. Then I still have to box up 4 AL80s, 3 AL40s, 4 3L 300Bar diluent and O2 tanks, 2 2L 200bar Argon Tanks with regs, 3 Stage Regs, an XCCR RB, the last 2 unboxed Drysuits, Weezle Extreme +, heating vest and whatever else is still lying around in my ManCave. Then I'll have to pack my trophies, pictures, painting, clothes, shoes, PCs and the rest of my odds and ends and arrange to get it all shipped in a container to Lake City Florida.
The only things I'll need in the next 5 years are a new gas contract, Masterline Booster, lots of rebuild kits for my MK17 and MK20 first stages, and 15 or so Apeks 2nd stage kits, which I'll all get mail order (with the exception of the gas contract). Everything else, I have spares for the spares.
Sure I'd like 2 of John Nellis's scooters, but I can continue to make due with my 3 LiFePO4 gavin scooters for a few more years.
I'm at the point that if a dive shop has it in stock, I either already have lots of them, or wouldn't want it in my house.

Michael
 

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