Tech Cost

[coldsmoke]

Well, it is an expensive sport but just to give you hope, it can be done for much less than what many are telling you.

I have 2 sets of dubs, (80s and 100s), 1 al 80, 2 al 40s, 1 al 6, 6 regs (back gas, argon, two stage/deco, one backup 1st), 24 watt hid can light, tls 350 with undies, 1 bp, 2 wings (single and double), 5 cfm compressor (no bank/cascade stuff yet) dry gloves, ultrasonic cleaner, wet suit, lift bag, smg, spools, primary reel, and lots of other small stuff.

I have spent less than $5000 including the training that I have currently.

I have been very patient, I have bought almost everything used and for a really good deal, some of my stuff is "premium" brand stuff, some is "no name" stuff. I made my own can light, dry suit pockets, wet notes. I repair and maintain all of my own gear including regs, tanks, latex seals and even a zipper.

For the last several years I have been trying to get my business off the ground and have made a few bad decisions. Doing it cheaply is the only way I can do it. I spend less on diving than my buddies who dirt bike or snow mobile. I'm not even close to what my friends with horses spend.

Do your homework, be patient and be ready to buy when a deal comes along. They do it just takes time.

Hunter

 

[Martini]

Just to make all of you feel better. When I decided to go the tech route I did so with my spouse. So I got to double the cost. I have now recently gone the CCR route. Recently because we thought it would be fun we start going through gear and totalling it up. At 50k it wasn't fun anymore.

 

[TSandM]

After your D/M is complete, then you will be an expert recreational diver, and quite ready to go into tech training. Your confidence level will start out quite high, due to your past training. That will get you ready for the challenges of tech training, those being decompression, extreme depth, and darkness.

I just have to take significant issue with this. DM training does not make you an expert recreational diver; in fact, my husband was really quite appalled at the fact that his DM class didn't address his diving skills at all. I don't think DM training prepares one for technical diving AT ALL -- learning to herd students and touring divers, and to do a mapping project, and demonstrate skills on your knees is not any kind of preparation for technical diving.

The best prep for technical classes is something like GUE Fundamentals or one of the Intro to Tech classes. The bar for skills for tech diving is set at an entirely different level, and I think it's highly valuable for people to see that before they invest in a whole bunch of gear, and spend the money for a full blown tech or cave class that they may be very ill prepared to take.

 

[japan-diver]

Have to agree here DM is not a prep for tech at all. I would skip the DM class and find an Intro to Tech or GUE fundies class that will prepare you much better. DM has nothing to do with tech diving and does not by any means make you an expert diver.

 

[nereas]

Have to agree here DM is not a prep for tech at all. I would skip the DM class and find an Intro to Tech or GUE fundies class that will prepare you much better. DM has nothing to do with tech diving and does not by any means make you an expert diver.

I see, yet another GUE commercial advertisement.

I believe the O/P will be better off completing his plans as they are scheduled however.

I hope you do not somehow discourage him with this unabashed advertising.

 

[mania]

Yeah, those WKPP dives look cheap.

 

[japan-diver]

I see, yet another GUE commercial advertisement.

I believe the O/P will be better off completing his plans as they are scheduled however.

I hope you do not somehow discourage him with this unabashed advertising.

Unabashed advertising- I am not in any way associated with GUE or offer training through them. I teach recreational DM and instructor and tech classes and their is no correlation between recreational DM training and Tech diving. Just my 2 cents and over 13 years of teaching diving YMMV.

 

[sunkmail]

And on top of what everybody wrote at certain point you will decide to move to CCR and then the whole thing starts from the beginning. Be ready then for another 20K $


Only mask, fins and dry suit remains the same....

I disagree here. I went straight into CCR from Rec. I'm still well below 20k total. I don't have a scooter, or camera system, but I do have all the other stuff.

And there is more than just the mask, fins and dry suit that stays the same, if you're transfering from tech doubles ...

Most (all?) CCRs come with the on-board regs. You can reassign your doubles' regs to bail-out bottles, or at least use them as spares.

If you have Deco bottles already, you can reassign those for CCR emergency bailout.

If you use a computer, it becomes a back-up gauge



And most of all, if you're already planning on doing big dives, CCR is a lot cheaper - compared to OC tech. For example:

A while back I went on a weekend tech trip. Our first Dive was to just under 250' (~75m) and we stayed at/near that depth for about 20 min.

The second dive of the day was to about 190' (~58m) for 20 or 25 min (sorry, I don't have my log with me)

Both dives were done on the same gas fills. That was a total of less than $40 in gas for my Dil and O2. Scubber cost less than $15 for the fill (just one). 2 trimix tech dives, not including the boat trip, cost me less than $55.

Yes, I did have to fill my bail-out bottles - 1 of trimix, 1 of 40%, and 1 of 100%, but that was a one time fill - they are still full and have been taking (at least one of) them for every dive since, so I don't count that in my total for any one particular dive.

I don't have my Deco software here either, but I'm sure if you added up the cost of just the gas for doing those 2 dives on OC, it will make CCRs look a lot more appealing
Perhaps someone could run these 2 dives in V-Planner and post the calculated cost of the OC gas that would be required?

(And I'm not trying to put down people that use doubles - OC Vs CCR is a very personal choice, and both are big commitments in $$, time, and Energy.)

 

[Tortuga68]

I have only done TDI Adv. Nitrox & Deco. Proc. so far (following on from PADI OW and AOW). I'm planning to do Rescue and Extended Range over the next 1-2 years

I have my own single rec setup (BP/W, regs, mask, fins, computer/bottom timer, backup watch, wetsuit - I only dive warm water - & booties), but I could have done everything so far without purchasing a single item, if I chose too, using borrowed tech (doubles/stage/timer/backup) and/or rental rec (fins, mask, wetsuit/singles) gear, with the only other (than gear rental) costs being travel & course fees

I could complete ER without needing to buy my own doubles - so long as I keep going back to the same dive centre which means an OS trip but hey it's worth it to me

Probably not an option for a lot of people, guess I'm lucky; just saying it can be done (from a certification perspective anyway) if you hook up with the right people

Of course if I want to go tech diving elsewhere, I'll need my own doubles rig etc

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Not to hijack the thread, but que? (I dive with an SR1 - anything I need to know before I take it deep?)

Dive Rite has had some issues with the first stage and the dry sealed ambient chamber and is I think on their third version of the design to resolve it.

I mostly added the comment as I have a technical diving friend who, against my advice, sold off her SP MK 20's and went with SR1's (to be able to dive something her shop sold) that she has had to send back 2 or 3 times now. The SR1 has lots of potential, the design is just not, in my opinion, mature quite yet.