Tell me if this is the attitude on things.

[pentiumchic]

Hey tell me if this is the wrong attitude on things.LOL.I've looked at some of the dive shops and saddly most of their prices are just out of my range.Got 2 kids and a hubby getting gear too.And silly kids just never understand that mommy is going through her 2nd childhood.lol So I've pretty much have been hunting on line talking to alot of people and making sure whatever I buy has a warranty one way or the other.As for boat dives hubby's dive place does em for $45 but I'm not impressed by them to much don't get me wrong some very nice people and I did get my cert through them but I'm the type who likes to look at all the places and then make up my mind.Next classes I want to take are $250 so I want the best for my buck just don't feel like they are the best.Hubby says I'm pickie and I tell him you bet.I'm paying these people and they are doing me a serves not I'm paying them and should kiss their toes cause they are letting me learn!What started this was talking to someone then starting thinking I wanted more input on it.Thanks.
Jen

 

[shellbird]

I have made some hasty purchases being new to diving, after visiting the boards, meeting more experienced divers, I found out that not only are there many avenues for purchasing equipment, but even the styles and configurations are varied. You are in the right place, search the board, you will find valuable info. Some good advice I got recently was that certain places are good for certain things. For instance, you might not want to by a reg on-line, it needs to be maintained professionally and you should deal with a trusted source for this. But buying other things might be better on line for considerably less. I do investigations in shops and compare on line. I plan to buy a wetsuit on-line, I will save roughly $200 by doing this. But I feel guilty that I can't give my LDS the business but I bought my regs from them so they are getting a piece of my wallet one way or another. Good luck, diving can be expensive, be picky.

 

[Ontario Diver]

... spend alot of money! It is easier to get a 10% discount on $1000 than on $100!

So you can probably get your best deal if you find a shop/instructor that you like, and then doing a full deal with them (gear for four and some training is a good match. You can get a better over all deal because they are selling both services and inventory)

By all means, tho - know what gear you want (which starts with what kind of diving you want to do) and work around that. You may not always get the brand you want - but do not sacrifice quality for cost!! It might be that you can get a better deal on line for some of it, but a good shop will get you a better deal on all of it.

Have fun and ask lots of questions!

(and tell that Navy man of yours (just a guess!) that a Trackhead says that he should take you out for a long romantic dinner!!! )

 

[pentiumchic]

LOL smart man.It's Army.Navy so not for me.Almost every Navey wife I have ever seen has about 4 kids in tow....Thinking long time them boys on ship equals many kinds.lol

Jen

PS I a little insane but do kinda know if you need it to breath go local.lol

 

[Ontario Diver]

How's about an Armour Officer suggests strongly that he pay more attention to his wise, caring, and beautiful wife and a fine dinner in a top notch establishment would fit the bill! (Ship the kids to Canada and I'll even babysit )

Nulli Secundus! (Second to none!)

 

[Bubble Boy]

Dont leave your kids with him!!!!! Come diving up here your dollar goes a lot further. Buy a chocolate bar with a $10 bill and get your chocolate bar and $16 change. LOL

 

[pentiumchic]

LOL the one well the only thing I liked about upstate NY the great shopping over the border!Ok I liked the tourit trap Thousand Isands area.Bolts Castle is the only castle I've ever seen.

Jen

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

Once you know what you want, and how much it'll cost you online, give your local dive shop an opportunity to be of service. You may be suprised at what they can do for you, and at what price.

Be honest and discreet in "bargaining" with your LDS. They'll appreciate knowing exactly what they must do to make the sale, but they probably won't want other customers to know what they've offered. This could result in buyer's remorse, or create the impression that they (your LDS) are overpriced, neither of which are good for business. If they can't make the sale, at least you will have been considerate in giving them the opportunity to do so.

The advantages of buying local are obvious. With most scuba gear, fit and comfort are critical. These are hard to ascertain via the internet/mail-order. Good luck!

 

[shellbird]

Hey, my guy is Army - Armor - Tank Commander...

Guess there is a lot of military in this thread.

 

[lanun]

pentiumchic, you're just being sensible, that's all.

gear - those cost big moolah so of course it bears a lot of thinking, etc. unfortunately, i haven't come across the perfect balance between cost and performance/utility. i did mix on-line with lds shopping, though. the life support stuff comes from the LDS. some of the doo dads from on-line.

classes - if you had a chance to shoot the breeze with the other dives, ask them about their instructors or LDS they took their class/es from. that's what i did. a common theme here is the instructor makes a difference, and one way to find out is to talk to an ex-student or to talk to the instructors themselves.

misc - dive trips/dive boats - for me how long someone's been in the business is important to know. the relative xperience of the dive crew is another factor. it's nice to know that the safety diver happens to be an instructor doing her stint on the dive boat, and that the master captain runs the local hyperbaric chamber.

oh, one other thing - talking to people, etc about gear, classes, etc do not necessarily take time away from diving as you can always do this during you SI. and what more joy do you get in between dives than talking about diving ... except maybe snorkeling with the kids (i have two, and my wife dives too so the formula for our dive days are ... total number of vacation days minus time in transit divided by two )