Northwest Dive Club

I hear all the time how expensive scuba is. I wonder if folks are uninformed, or just peculiar about recreational priorities.

Yeah I agree scuba is expensive, however cost is relative to many things. However I have friends that are into motocross, scuba is way less expensive than motocross, the guys with a KTM bike may have spent 20 times more on that gear then a nice scuba outfit. Those running the more common japanese brands after they are done with all the powerup kits, exhaust, tires, lights, etc can easily be pusing 8000,00 plus!

Even golf, is equal in most cases. A few folks I know have 2000.00 in clubs and other stuff for golf making the price equal or in excess of good scuba equipment. Diving with a 7mm wetsuit and 7mm hooded jacket (not a dry suit) with good higherend gear is gonna run 2000.00 bucks, still cheaper then a guy on an equal quality roadbike and his gear, bike car carrier, shoes and clothing, bike computer etc.

Snowmachine beats the heck out of scuba for cost as does a harley, hunting gear and fishing gear will nickle and dime you to huge expense over the years. I simply don't see scuba costs being the deal breaker that many seem to feel it is.

Finally, Scuba might be expensive in the grand scheme of recreation. However it's also likely the most technical of all the recreational adventures and the most life threatening to go cheap, or used with. Obviousley flippers, weights, and other bits are fine used. Tanks, regulators and masks are not typically prudent to buy cheap or used without some experienced or professional involvment.

Anyway, Rant over..... just get a bit defensive of my passion with this when I hear folks say they only reason they are not interested in scuba is due to the cost of entry.

Lolz

How to tell a Northwest diver? Gear costs are in multiples of the value of the car driven to the dive site. (Scooters, rebreathers, cameras, fancy Drysuits, numerous tanks...)

It's all about priorities....

ljjames wrote:Lolz

How to tell a Northwest diver? Gear costs are in multiples of the value of the car driven to the dive site. (Scooters, rebreathers, cameras, fancy Drysuits, numerous tanks...)

It's all about priorities....

It does get expensive when we like not only scuba but also golf, harley's, hunting, fishing, boats, etc....

Wait till you tec dive with a rebreather.

If you put it in perspective, just imagine if you owned horses. They literally require a constant stream of cashflow to stay alive.

What is more expensive is NOT diving and becoming super grumpy, then treating your family like crap and losing everything in a divorce. That's my rationale for the thousands I spend and will continue to spend. :-D


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

dry suit ... 1200 to 2500
scooter 2k to 11k
regs ..110.00 up to 650.00
rebreather 4k to 12k
camera Gear ..100.00 up to 15k
Video Gear 300.00 up 100k

Diving Is expensive ... Diving Can Be expensive ... its up to the person and How they Dive

Most serious hobbies are expensive, but it's all relative. Horses were something stated above, and that hobby is much more expensive. But again, it's all relative. Some of us dive big camera rigs, or video rigs; rebreathers; travel to exotic destinations; some of us stay close to home and just enjoy simple diving without encumbrances. All relative. We only get to ride this big ride one time, and we need to make sure we all make the most of it.

Rebreathers and scooter crack are optional. Tropical dive vacations are worth saving for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Horses are giant beavers ... All they do is eat

Luckily I'm allergic despite looking great in cowboy boots.

"Horses are giant beavers ... All they do is eat"

I lease my east pasture every year to various folks that have the need for this kind of space. This year I leased it to a woman that trains horses. They are eating machines! No worry about mowing this year. They will chew down all the grasses and most of the remaining vegitation. I have a few sheep around to chew down the leafy plants the horses leave behind.

It's nice to have them here to look at and watch, much more entertaining then the Black Angus cattle the last few years. I agree that horses are at another level of commitment financially. The fifth wheel aluminum trailer alone would cost more than a life time of scuba equipment. Then add the rest and you could dive the world over and break even!

If you need a 5th wheel horse trailer that has RV type living quarters for the trips you go on, ..... well that may be the most expensive recreation outside of owning a sprint car! Not to mention the $65,000 diesel pickup at 6-8mpg to pull all that weight!

I just spent $25K for a new car ... which is still worth less than all my scuba toys. Which is why the car sits in the driveway while the garage is for my scuba gear ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Sounds like Bob and LJ have their priorities straight when it comes to car vs. dive gear!

You gotta see how much dive gear I can cram into a Mazda Miata...

You ought to add in transportation to far away dive sites when you live in Alaska! The gear is almost bycatch.

Still, I have a garage full of gear, all in good condition that I now have the problem of selling. At least the transportation doesn't leave any residue.

2013 and 2014 I spent about $2500 total on OW/AOW training and on recreational scuba gear, mostly used (and well cared for) from here and on Craigslist.
2015 Spent just under $5K upping the anti with doubles, BW wing, stage bottles, basic tech stuff (again mostly used) and a week at camp Mel.
2016 was double that for the second hand rebreather and another week at camp Mel, this time in Florida.
2017 has been fairly cheap... so far, but its only half over....

All that pales in comparison to the parts I build for the 4x4 and hot rod market, those guys spend insane amounts of money on their toys.

Scuba is not my most expensive hobby but that is only because I also collect pinball machines.

For perspective it is helpful to remember they don't put trailers on hearses.

Per year cost of diving ........ ~ $10 to $15k

Meeting awesome people, traveling the world and boldly going where no man has gone before......... Priceless

Like most hobbies, the cost of diving depends on how you do it. If you limit yourself to recreational diving and mostly do shore dives, you can do this pretty cheaply. If you discover you have an addiction and end up in the tech realm with two rebreathers, 6 different BCs, twice a year trips to exotic dive locations, and so on, you're in for the cost of a small car every year.

But then, even if you're doing nothing more than local club dives, from shore, with rented gear, you're looking at a few hundred a month, easy, even if you're just a rented wetsuit type diver.

Compare that against hiking, for example, another common PNW hobby. If you're an avid hiker, you'll blow $150 on a pair of shoes, $80 on a good quality daypack with a water reservoir, and you're good. If you're nutty, you'll end up buying a bit more gear, but you can still hike every weekend for little more than the cost of park fees and gas to get there. Even if you get totally addicted and end up doing serious mountain climbing, you'll spend less on gear than the high end tech crowd in diving.

Or kayaking: A decent used kayak is under $1000, plus a roof rack for $500, tops. Then you can put in pretty much anywhere, every weekend, for essentially nothing. Even if you limit yourself to renting, the cost of a rental kayak for a whole day is typically less than the cost of renting tanks and weights for two dives.

OTOH, I was into racing for a while. That was a $20K car with $5K in safety upgrades, plus $250 a day for track fees. Add on gas for a day (3 full tanks), brake pads ($500 in pads was good for 4-5 track days), oil changes (race-grade Amsoil, 12 quarts), and so on, and pretty quick you're talking real money. If I had gone with a Miata, the up front cost and maintenance cost would have been less, but track days are typically measured in tens of dollars per minute of track time, regardless of whether you're driving a Miata or a Ferrari.

If I had to rate diving on a scale of 1 to expensive, I'd have to admit that diving isn't a poor man's hobby, but it can be done on a budget if you're savvy.

Just my $0.02.

Dan