The cost of incremental improvement

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I have not needed any dive gear in quite some time. But I don't let something little like that stop me. Too often, the deal is just too good to pass up.
 
So I'm wondering . . . for those of you out there who are lusting after some piece of dive gear you think would make life better, what's the financial penalty that's stopping you from getting what you think you really want?
The financial penalty is I have to buy two.
 
My wife and I are in the process of upgrading our gear from jacket bcd to bpw and progressing towards more technical types of diving as we would like in the next three years do a few weeks of diving deeper wrecks and have the option to enter some of them. So we are going through something like what you mentioned. Its funny how we are trying to go more minimilistic but its not really "cheap", I have always found you get what you pay for and while I am frugal I am not afraid to spend a buck, but in this case I have to typically do it times two.

Biggest quandry has been to get a bpw and go doubles or singles, well after crunching the numbers we decided it was more inline with our immediate budget to go singles and can always dish out the money for a doubles wing, but still need better lights, more regs, more tanks, and so on and so on. Yeah, I feel ya.

:D

I will confess it . . . I have a lot of dive gear. I have a fair amount of dive gear which replaced other dive gear I bought. I bought the original stuff because I thought I liked it, and I replaced it because I found something I thought I liked better.

Recently, I have run into two "I think I'll like it better" issues where I haven't been willing to pull the trigger on replacing what I have. With one of them, I WOULD do it if I could sell what I have now (which I haven't been able to). With the other, the incremental cost of upgrading, even after selling what I have, would be over $1000 -- and I just can't come up with a justification for why the new product is THAT much better than what I'm using.

So I'm wondering . . . for those of you out there who are lusting after some piece of dive gear you think would make life better, what's the financial penalty that's stopping you from getting what you think you really want?
 
You'll want a set up for both single and doubles. It's a pain to swap the plate and stuff around every-time you want to change from doubles to single. At least with my style of diving, I need both.

My wife and I are in the process of upgrading our gear from jacket bcd to bpw and progressing towards more technical types of diving as we would like in the next three years do a few weeks of diving deeper wrecks and have the option to enter some of them. So we are going through something like what you mentioned. Its funny how we are trying to go more minimilistic but its not really "cheap", I have always found you get what you pay for and while I am frugal I am not afraid to spend a buck, but in this case I have to typically do it times two.

Biggest quandry has been to get a bpw and go doubles or singles, well after crunching the numbers we decided it was more inline with our immediate budget to go singles and can always dish out the money for a doubles wing, but still need better lights, more regs, more tanks, and so on and so on. Yeah, I feel ya.

:D

---------- Post added ----------

Lynn, you have a good topic for discussion. Usually I go through a process of trying to justify a new thing when the old thing still works pretty well. However, the bottom line, I after I have this internal struggle for a while I say "screw it" and get the new thing simply because I want it. Bottom line, that's enough justification for me given that I really don't "need" any of this dive stuff in the first place. It's nice, but I don't actually NEED any of it. So, if you have the means there is no reason to justify it, simply get it.
 
I will confess it . . . I have a lot of dive gear. I have a fair amount of dive gear which replaced other dive gear I bought. I bought the original stuff because I thought I liked it, and I replaced it because I found something I thought I liked better.

Recently, I have run into two "I think I'll like it better" issues where I haven't been willing to pull the trigger on replacing what I have. With one of them, I WOULD do it if I could sell what I have now (which I haven't been able to). With the other, the incremental cost of upgrading, even after selling what I have, would be over $1000 -- and I just can't come up with a justification for why the new product is THAT much better than what I'm using.

So I'm wondering . . . for those of you out there who are lusting after some piece of dive gear you think would make life better, what's the financial penalty that's stopping you from getting what you think you really want?
My case . . .huge initial outlay monies for MX Rebreather Unit & UTD Training over a year and amortizing recouping the cost on a Bikini Atoll Trip 2014 on MX RB with a $$$ savings per dive (Helium will probably be $4.50/cf and O2 $1.75/cf, with average depths on the Bikini Wrecks @ 48m to 51m) --or just keep on going on my usual three to four exotic tech dive trips per year on Open Circuit.

It's all moot now because I'll probably have to spend a hefty deductible in the upcoming months for Penetrating Keratoplasty Surgery OS with cadaver corneal transplant donation (My left cornea ruptured four weeks ago --Hydrops « Keratoconus Info ); as well as planning for that cervical disc/pinched nerve surgery that I've been putting off for months. . . (getting old is a bitch:().
 
Well for me I would like a green long hose (7'), small boltsnaps for a few things, a new reg bag (b/c the long hose will no longer fit in my current one) and a new custom wetsuit w/ pockets (b/c I can't afford a drysuit and my current wetsuit lets in a breeze).

Looking at about $900 total. =[

And before anyone asks, I need some color on my equipment b/c right now I only have a slim sliver of silver trim on my wetsuit. The students are having trouble seeing me. :wink:
What's stopping me right now is the bank account; working to save enough to purchase the hose, bag, and boltsnaps in one go to save on shipping.
 
Hello:
My name is Darryl and I'm a scuba gearaholic. Fortunately, over the years, I have been able to sell off what I had after I upgraded and am only a few thousand dollars in the hole. Right now, I have a resource for a great price on Atomic Cobalt computers, but I can't get my two Suuntos to quit.
 
Weeellll...the light pattern is tasty...and it does outperform a LM 21 quite a bit when it comes to daylight signaling...and is durable beyond belief (don't ask me how I know but it involves getting knocked down on the Lobos ramp). Definitely worth the upgrade, but I'm not a caver, eh? so I can't address that for you.

Back to the original question - If I have the ready cash, I upgrade. If the upgrade is stupidly expensive, but a necessity, I do it; if it's a nicety and stupidly expensive, then I make do.


All the best, James
 
James, I figured if anybody had had the thing in the water, it would be you . . .

The problem I have is defining stupidly expensive. If I were rational, that would apply to most of the stuff I own . . .
 
I will confess it . . . I have a lot of dive gear. I have a fair amount of dive gear which replaced other dive gear I bought. I bought the original stuff because I thought I liked it, and I replaced it because I found something I thought I liked better.

Recently, I have run into two "I think I'll like it better" issues where I haven't been willing to pull the trigger on replacing what I have. With one of them, I WOULD do it if I could sell what I have now (which I haven't been able to). With the other, the incremental cost of upgrading, even after selling what I have, would be over $1000 -- and I just can't come up with a justification for why the new product is THAT much better than what I'm using.

So I'm wondering . . . for those of you out there who are lusting after some piece of dive gear you think would make life better, what's the financial penalty that's stopping you from getting what you think you really want?
. . .

The problem I have is defining stupidly expensive. If I were rational, that would apply to most of the
stuff I own . . .

Lynne, if you think it's stupidly expensive then you have the luxury of lots of discretionary stupid money to spend on stupidly frivolous things. . .

A little perspective for you Doc, and good health & welfare wishes for you always. . .
 
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