Why should I support my LDS?

[redacted]

How would they make good? Supply you with another possibly defective piece of equipment that you may take on a live aboard or a trip? Regarding life support I don't know what diving you enjoy but every piece of equipment I dive is exactly that.

I have never sold a diver a piece of equipment I would not dive, I understand that there are a number of cattle market operations but on the most part the shops I have dealt with would bend over backwards to help new divers and there clientel.

DIY depends on your skills talents, commitment and intelligence, again regardless of what you may think every piece of your dive gear is life support equipment if you do not believe that stay out of the water, remember when everything goes South your buddy needs to cover your ass.

I'm sure LP would replace the erroneous (not defective) item with the correct merchandise or refund the full cost. The only time I have had to deal with "defective" equipment and difficulty in getting it replaced or corrected, I was dealing with an LDS.

I do not believe that the failure of any piece of gear that I dive with could reasonable result in death or serious injury regardless of whether I am diving with a buddy or diving solo. I guess that means that I don't consider it "life support". But I can see how the "life support" label must be particularly effective in reeling in the new, ill informed divers. And if you can sell them on the idea that "every piece of your dive gear is life support equipment" you can probably have a real good day at the cash register.

 

[k ellis]

well my 2 cents is that some shops only cater to the minimum price gouging that dealers like aqualung do. Why buy an aqualung bcd for 600 dollars when you can go to a true american free market company like Mares and negotiate a deal. Most shops in my state dont deal much with Mares but when I travel to places like Florida I am shocked at how reasonable there products are!

I believe in the end that aqualung will come around when they are almost ran out of buisness by the make my dealer rich quick scheme they are pulling but in the mean time I will continue to do my research the good old fashioned way. I mean going to a shop and asking which is the best brand is like going to a Ford dealership and asking which is better ford or chevy?

The best way is to get online like here and ask people who are just plain good old fashioned divers who have had experience with products and are non biased. Either they like brand x or the dont.

I have complete faith in local dive shops being a good place to meet people and get air fills I just dont believe in thet get rich quick thinking so many shop owners have. If they want to survive then they need to toss anti free market companies like aqualung and go with manufactures who are there for the diving industry to continue to thrive through being reasonable enough to keep divers who would other wise not be able to afford the sport.

How many people working blue collar do you think have left the sport because some LDS quoted them a bcd in the 800 dollar range and only bashed ones in the 300 dollar range? How many people do you think have left the sport because they were told if they dont buy a 400 dollar regulator they were going to possibly die?

I dont want to bash Aqualung but the no sale below x dollars theory is just plain down right wrong.

 

[scubafanatic]

The training may as well be more intensive and complete.

That could well be just wishful thinking, do you really think dive training will de-evolve back to the way it was back-in-the-day when it was a vastly longer/more rigorous certification process ? The modern world has moved in completely the opposite direction, the instant gratification/couple of weekends $200-$300 BOW class, also, despite the vocal tiny minority of 'techies' here on SB and other WWW forums, what % of divers get any further certifications beyond BOW ? Or let's be generous and say anything beyond AOW and maybe Nitrox certification ? Heck last I heard, Nitrox certifcation is a 2 hour lecture and no dives with real Nitrox are even needed ?

 

[k ellis]

Heck last I heard, Nitrox certifcation is a 2 hour lecture and no dives with real Nitrox are even needed ?

Unfortunately that is true. But the sad reality is in Nitrox you wont learn anything more by taking a diving class with Nitrox that you wont learn sitting in a class room.

 

[TechBlue]

I'm sure LP would replace the erroneous (not defective) item with the correct merchandise or refund the full cost. The only time I have had to deal with "defective" equipment and difficulty in getting it replaced or corrected, I was dealing with an LDS.

I do not believe that the failure of any piece of gear that I dive with could reasonable result in death or serious injury regardless of whether I am diving with a buddy or diving solo. I guess that means that I don't consider it "life support". But I can see how the "life support" label must be particularly effective in reeling in the new, ill informed divers. And if you can sell them on the idea that "every piece of your dive gear is life support equipment" you can probably have a real good day at the cash register.

I would change your signature to "solo" any piece of equipment failure could result in you or your buddies death as you may be aware when it hits the fan one failure can and normally does lead to multiple problems, mostly with a negative outcome.

 

[Splitlip]

EtherFill 5000™ Cylinder Fill System - Dive Gear Express

 

[scubafanatic]

Yes, it is nice having options ... but who's throwing anybody under the bus? As the VAST majority of the post you quoted said (and you chose to ignore) ... I support my local dive shop.

Do you?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yes, Bob, I do! Presently I actively support 5 LDS, plus assorted non-local (to me anyway) dive shops via WWW based purchases, not to mention probably half-a dozen other LDS who have unfortunately over recent years, gone out of business, although I think I did my part trying to keep them alive.

 

[Splitlip]

My thing is when I go and buy localy I dont mind a 10 dollar or so markup. But when I asked one shop about a reel for diving with an iflatable sausage they quoted 60 dollars at minimum. Now I work as hard for my money as they do for theirs so I shopped around. Leisurepro had one for 12 dollars so it made perfectly good sense to buy one and have it shipped at 7 dollars with no tax bringing it up to 19 dollars hand delivered to my door. at a savings of 40 dollars Id be a for not saving.

My argument is simple. When a dive shop owner goes looking for a car he doesnt say hes going to go ahead and pay the MSRP to keep the dealership alive he shops around. There is nothing wrong with this at all.

I love my LDS but I have to cut corners the same as they do so if they are economical then I buy from them. If its more economical to save 50 dollars by buying from the terrible dark internet LDS killer known as Leisure pro then I buy there. A dollar saved is a dollar earned

Please share the link for a $12.00 reel. I cannot imagine.

edit:

You have a right to your opinion, but don't muddy the waters with unsubstantiated remarks.

I just went to LP. No such thing as a $12.00 reel. Anybody here with an ounce of sense would know that. Don't know why I wasted my time.

Reels | Scuba Dive Reels at LeisurePro.com

 

[Thalassamania]

Unfortunately that is true. But the sad reality is in Nitrox you wont learn anything more by taking a diving class with Nitrox that you wont learn sitting in a class room.

It is not a "sad reality" it is a reality ... there is nothing to be learned by sucking down a tank of EAN that would not be learned sucking down a tank of air. All that nitrox divers really need to know how to do is to select the right mix, control their time, control their depth, and deal with OTUs ... that's about it. What does that take? An hour would be generous. The entire EAN Training industry is an artifact of the, "voodoo gas reaction," of PADI and a few other fools back when Rutkowski introduced it, it was amazing how quickly they changed their tune when they decided that it could be added (had to be added, since incorporating it into BOW, as it should have been, would be an admission of being nincompoops) as a separately priced product.

 

[Wayfarer2]

(Disclamer. I didn’t read the entire thread so this might be repetitive, if so my apologies)

Don’t want to support your LDS? Fine don’t. but then stay out when you need a last minute repair the day before a dive trip or some little piece of gear you forgot you need and don’t have time to order on line. Learn how to huff and puff real hard to fill your own tanks and spend $300 on the course so you can VIP them your self and track down a hydro facility and lug your tanks there yourself. Say something does go wrong with your gear, why hassle with calling the on line dealer and be just another number to them. When you buy local you gain the advantage of the shops long standing relation ships with gear suppliers and they might be able to get results faster than you can or resolve an issue when you can’t.

Then there’s the whole social issue. The owners and employees spend a lot of time setting up local dives, club activities and package trips. Sure you can go it alone for less sometimes but its way more fun with a group of friends.


BTW back in November less than a week before a trip I decided to get a new camera and housing. My “go to” on line retailer told me it would take two weeks or more to order what I wanted because they were out of stock. My LDS and camera store called Canon and Ikelite direct. I had my set up two days later at better prices then the on line retailer and no shipping fees. That’s the power of a good LDS.