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#19
Cost of scuba gear?
Tbird11299 - 3/18/2017 2:51 PM
Category: Equipment
Replies: 15

So me amd my gf have $4750 to use betweem us for scuba, local shop said its 865 for open water included, so 3020 left, now what bout gear and spearfishing gun, wetsuits everything tanks bc’s knifes gloves how much for everything n will we have enough
#699
Scott_R - 3/18/2017 4:10 PM
It is pretty unusual for a beginning diver to buy tanks. My thoughts are that tanks are expensive and unless you have a way to fill them it will not save you a trip to the dive shop. What does your shop charge for an air fill and what do they charge for a rental? Subtract the cost of the fill from the rental cost and divide the cost of buying a tank by that number. That will tell you how many dives it will take to break even on a tank purchase. Then factor in annual visual inspection and hydro every 5 years as additional costs of being a tank owner.
#822
Subscribed
Diver_Diva - 3/18/2017 5:03 PM
From MasterBlaster: It is pretty unusual for a beginning diver to buy tanks. My thoughts are that tanks are expensive and unless you have a way to fill them it will not save you a trip to the dive shop. What does your shop charge for an air fill and what do they charge for a rental? Subtract the cost of the fill from the rental cost and divide the cost of buying a tank by that number. That will tell you how many dives it will take to break even on a tank purchase. Then factor in annual visual inspection and hydro e...

This^^^^^. I’ve been diving for years and never saw the need to buy a tank. Rentals are cheap (like $5 a day at my LDS), and if you travel to dive in the Caribbean you use their tanks anyway.
#699
Scott_R - 3/18/2017 5:09 PM
I can give you an example of what I would charge to ship a hypothetical set of gear to you in NY from my shop. I will give you the pricing for 1 and you can double it for the 2 of you.

$3020/2 = $1520 budget for each of you.

Edge Element BCD with Environmental sealed Epic regulator and Nano Octopus, 2 gauge console $749.95
(Environmental sealing is important for cold or salt water)
Upgrade to a 3 gauge console with compass for $50

Mask, Fin, Snorkel package: Flex fins with choice of HOG or Edge mask and Costa Dry or Aero Semi-Dry snorkel - $99.95
You will also need boots that can be added for $20.
Add a knife (several to choose from) $22.95 with package
I throw in a free mesh bag to carry all of the above.
Gloves are $20 for your choice of 3mm or 5mm or tropical

That leaves us with $607.15 remaining in the budget.

3mm wetsuit $99.95 - This depends on where you will dive. You may need a heavier one.

This leaves you with $507.20 for your spear gun and tanks. I would hold off purchasing those until after you complete your certification. You may end up spending some of that on a thicker wetsuit.

A quick note about environmental sealing. A reg that is not sealed lets water inside. This is not good if it freezes but if you are a warm water diver only you can save some money on a non-sealed regulator. The other concern is that since water gets inside they need to be rinsed very well especially if diving in salt water. They work very well in warm salt water but require a little extra post-dive attention.

Hope this helps.
#2259
ELLOCODIABLO - 3/19/2017 11:39 AM
Wow. Totally diff mindset here. 865 for OW class is crazy. 250 here. Ive always owned my tanks. We typically carry 3 to 4 tanks per dive when we go deep or have 3 to 4 tanks pp when we go out for the day. Rentals here are 8 to 10 per tank per day depending on which LDS so rentals are unrealistic for the long term. Even the most expensive doubles set i ever bought was only 400 used. 480 total with hydro/vip. At 120 to 160 a month for rentals those tanks pay off real quick. Try several different tanks and see what you like or works best for you. Honestly aluminum 80 rental tanks SUCK. crappy boyancy swing and low volume with no option to overfill. A lp steel 80 is a much better option. No need for extra weight in most situations. Smaller tank. At 50% overfill it becomes a 120. Personally never push mine more then 50% over but i know a few that do. To each there own. Dont know were your at but you may want to check class prices in FL. Get certified in the warm water and sunshine for alot less then 865 and take a vacation at the same time.
#6893
GreggS - 3/19/2017 4:01 PM
Just what is included in that $865 for OW certs? As others have said, that sounds extremely high. At the LDS through which my wife and I did our OW, it is $310 pp, which includes the material, classes, gear rental, and admission into the dive park where the pool/OW training is done.

I would definitely check out some other dive shop/instructors and compare pricing. There has to be a reputable LDS and/or instructor that won’t see you as a sucker coming thru the door. And, yes, as others have said, don’t buy your equipment until after you have gotten your certs.

As for tanks, I suppose it depends on your circumstances. Our LDS is over 30 minutes away. It’s inconvenient for us to go to the dive shop to rent tanks. owning is much better for us, so we each have 2 tanks that we can load in the car and go diving whenever we want. As for fills, the dive park I mentioned above is only 4 miles from us and they do air fills. They also rent tanks, but only for use on premises. So renting there to take somewhere else is out of the question.
#2259
ELLOCODIABLO - 3/19/2017 4:22 PM
Yeah i think i paid about 300 total in 98 for OW and AOW. Most if not all of my yearly dives are in FL so my tanks get used every dive. Have a local shop that gives free air fills for a year with every tank you buy so one of my buddys buys 2 new tanks every year and then sells off the older ones. He dives 3 to 5 times a week tho so for him it works out. I guess depending on how much you dive in the long run it may be cheaper to rent but considering a used alum 80 is 100-110 ready to dive it dosent seem like a huge expense compared to what most spend on regs or a wetsuit. We dive just about every weekend so for me it works out.
#51828
Greg - 3/21/2017 10:14 AM
You may find this past survey on open water diver course cost interesting:
divebuddy.com/forum/29475/what-fair-price-properl...-water-diver-course/
#12114
Eric_R - 3/22/2017 10:23 AM
Like a lot of sports the sky’s the limit on what you can spend. Really need to know where you’ll be diving and what kind of activities you’ll be likely to do. Welcome to the forum!
#5828
Agojo - 3/23/2017 2:31 AM
Lots of advice on gear but never mentioned was the speargun. I would never go spear fishing with a newly certified OW diver! New OW diver, new speargun and spear fishing with the buddy having the same inexperience! Recipe for disaster!
#2635
Subscribed
John_giu - 4/29/2017 4:40 PM
$900 for open water. I hope that includes all your pool time boat trips breakfast and lunch daily and a DAMN BUTLER! Often these packages include over priced low end mask, snorkel and fins. I think you can probably do better even going ala carte on the extras.

The hidden costs in many cases are the pool time, boat or quarry fees, rental equipment and instructor fees for check out and open water dives.

As for tanks, if you’re a vacation diver forget the tanks. Even if you intend to do a lot of local diving I would wait a season to see if you really have the interest before investing in tanks.

Northeast diving isn’t for the faint of heart. Give yourself about a dozen Jersey dives before you make the decision. There are plenty on smooth easy dive days in the Atlantic Ocean, but one bad one has settled it for many divers.

Remember everyone has an opinion, and none of these might be right for you.
Educate yourself you can compare prices and quality. There are a dizzying array of choices.
As advised about put money towards quality regulators, after all ytuo cant use the rest of the fancy stuff if your dead.