The Great Helium Hunt of 2021

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So for some real sticker shock for you folks -

3000 psi fill is $88.32 per tank for just the He for 20/20. $353.28 just for the He for Saturday. :rofl3:
And why rebreathers make sense...
Suddenly that is a $30 instead of $300+. Go ahead and go a few percent higher on the Helium just to help stay out of the Narc, that might cost an extra $1.
 
And why rebreathers make sense...
Suddenly that is a $30 instead of $300+. Go ahead and go a few percent higher on the Helium just to help stay out of the Narc, that might cost an extra $1.

CCR isn’t for everyone. It’s not for me - at least not at this point. Likely not ever. Pushing CCR just for the cost savings? I have no clue how much helium I’ll be diving after class.
 
And why rebreathers make sense...
Suddenly that is a $30 instead of $300+. Go ahead and go a few percent higher on the Helium just to help stay out of the Narc, that might cost an extra $1.
I used cost savings as an excuse to my wife too. Run the numbers. Unless you are a very active trimix diver, (I am) you will never save money buying a rebreather.
Unit $10,000
Training $2000
Sorb per weekend $20
Oxygen per weekend $20
Trimix per weekend $30
Cells per year $400

You can buy a lot of helium for that money.
At $500 per weekend for OC fills. That is 28 weekends of trimix diving just to break even.

If you want one, you should buy one, I love mine and wouldn't go back to OC for deep stuff, But money can't really be the deciding factor.
 
It’s a bit odd people advocating helium after 30m and then complaining about the price and availability.
 
I used cost savings as an excuse to my wife too. Run the numbers. Unless you are a very active trimix diver, (I am) you will never save money buying a rebreather.
Unit $10,000
Training $2000
Sorb per weekend $20
Oxygen per weekend $20
Trimix per weekend $30
Cells per year $400

You can buy a lot of helium for that money.
At $500 per weekend for OC fills. That is 28 weekends of trimix diving just to break even.

If you want one, you should buy one, I love mine and wouldn't go back to OC for deep stuff, But money can't really be the deciding factor.

Totally just justified the cost for me. That’s way less than a year of diving and I just paid for my rebreather…
 
Totally just justified the cost for me. That’s way less than a year of diving and I just paid for my rebreather…
I get it, I also do over 50 trimix dives per year, but we are far far in the minority in that regard.
Most just want one, and that is a perfectly good reason to buy a new toy.
 
I used cost savings as an excuse to my wife too. Run the numbers. Unless you are a very active trimix diver, (I am) you will never save money buying a rebreather.
Unit $10,000
Training $2000
Sorb per weekend $20
Oxygen per weekend $20
Trimix per weekend $30
Cells per year $400

You can buy a lot of helium for that money.
At $500 per weekend for OC fills. That is 28 weekends of trimix diving just to break even.

If you want one, you should buy one, I love mine and wouldn't go back to OC for deep stuff, But money can't really be the deciding factor.

Yes, but once you've broken even after those 28 weekends of diving the savings will really start to pile up.
Using your example it would cost you roughly 2,5k to dive 28 weekends a year with a rebreather, the same would be 14k per year for OC.
My unit has nearly paid for itself already after just 18 dives, a combination of expensive helium and getting a good deal on my unit...
Also, a lot of people buy used rebreathers so 10k would probably be very steep, then again I don't know what used units go for over in the US.
I do appreciate the ease of diving OC though, just dry your gear out and throw it back into the garage until the next time :)
 
Yes, but once you've broken even after those 28 weekends of diving the savings will really start to pile up.
Using your example it would cost you roughly 2,5k to dive 28 weekends a year with a rebreather, the same would be 14k per year for OC.
My unit has nearly paid for itself already after just 18 dives, a combination of expensive helium and getting a good deal on my unit...
Also, a lot of people buy used rebreathers so 10k would probably be very steep, then again I don't know what used units go for over in the US.
I do appreciate the ease of diving OC though, just dry your gear out and throw it back into the garage until the next time :)
Perhaps, but I've never really known an avid rebreather diver to not own or have owned multiple rebreathers over their career, and the next one is so much better than the last one.
 
So for some real sticker shock for you folks -

3000 psi fill is $88.32 per tank for just the He for 20/20. $353.28 just for the He for Saturday. :rofl3:

jesus that’s what I paid for 290ft3 of UHP helium

Oh well you will enjoy helium.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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