How do you fund your diving?
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iamrushman
Contributor
i am a poor diver too....sold the house, the car, the wife, and the kids..live in Florida, beach dive as much as possible...take obsessive care of my equipment...and live by the motto and mantra..if your going to go broke go broke diving.
How much did you get for the wife and kids?
When in Egypt I was offered a camel for my wife (true story) but I said 2 with 2 humps or no deal (my wife is very well stacked upstairs and obviously took this guys eye). I still get a wack in the head every time I lament about passing over a good deal.
I have more gear than I can use in a lifetime, but there is always that special something that you "just have to have" or the diving wont work. Next step is a compressor.
Paulmal
Contributor
I just write checks, I don't actually have money.
I fund my diving by working my ass off, getting next to no time off, working on call a ton and I finished my journeyman certification and got a pay raise. Alot of stuff goes on credit cards, tax refunds go into gear or dive trips. Commissions at work helped me fund a massive trip to Australia where I got a bunch of certifications. Pretty much I'm stressed out all the time, over worked, under payed but still manage to sneak diving in. If I don't I'll go insane. I look for deals, have my LDS match online prices and slowly piece stuff together. I still don't have everything but I have all the main stuff I need: BCD, Regs, fins, boots, hood, gloves, computer, dry suit, basic dive lights, knife, weights. I don't own proper undergarments for my dry suit, my computer is a basic Suunto Zoop. I bought my drysuit used and now tanks were bought used (friend can't dive for a year and sold me his brand new ones). I'd say I've relied a bit on luck too.
I dive cost effectively rather than dive for sake of diving just because.
I used to go diving 4 hours away + hotel room. $120 in gas money. $50 in food expenses. $250 in diving 2 days 4 tanks. That is over $400 in just 2 days. I was like... wait a minute... how is that cost efficient?! And so it only came natural to me to tell people: "If you want me to drive you there, you have to pitch in for gas". That covers at least half the gas bill. I also stopped diving there. Nowadays I go on out of country trips where I dive 2-3 tanks a day from hotel's boat where diving costs like $30/tank. My recent trip to Roatan cost me $1800 in 7 days 8 nights 17 dives 3 dives per day plus eating lobster and steak every day. $700 plane ticket. Dive package cost $1100 including nitrox upgrade. $30*17=$510 so hotel cost about $600 total. By contrast diving locally costs me $200 for 4 dives... that is $50/dive.... after I also spend a ton getting there.
Diving is actually fairly cheap. If you buy your own gear, it will pay for itself in 20 dives. After that you are spending it all renting tanks and getting to and from dive locations.
I used to go diving 4 hours away + hotel room. $120 in gas money. $50 in food expenses. $250 in diving 2 days 4 tanks. That is over $400 in just 2 days. I was like... wait a minute... how is that cost efficient?! And so it only came natural to me to tell people: "If you want me to drive you there, you have to pitch in for gas". That covers at least half the gas bill. I also stopped diving there. Nowadays I go on out of country trips where I dive 2-3 tanks a day from hotel's boat where diving costs like $30/tank. My recent trip to Roatan cost me $1800 in 7 days 8 nights 17 dives 3 dives per day plus eating lobster and steak every day. $700 plane ticket. Dive package cost $1100 including nitrox upgrade. $30*17=$510 so hotel cost about $600 total. By contrast diving locally costs me $200 for 4 dives... that is $50/dive.... after I also spend a ton getting there.
Diving is actually fairly cheap. If you buy your own gear, it will pay for itself in 20 dives. After that you are spending it all renting tanks and getting to and from dive locations.
AaronRiot
Contributor
True story: I play Guinea Pig testing drugs for big pharm companies. It's a bit of a weekend gig that I use to fund trips now. In fact, as I type this, I'm sitting in a lab with a catheter in my arm (I call it my money tap) testing a time-release version of Oxycodone. Fun stuff! Four weekends pays out $4500 tax free - tax free because it's considered "volunteering". Ha. The Toronto area is great for it.
Back when I first started I sold my car to buy gear, but, the insurance hike from the careless ticket I picked up made the sale a no-brainer.
Back when I first started I sold my car to buy gear, but, the insurance hike from the careless ticket I picked up made the sale a no-brainer.
mikeycanuk
Contributor
People still do that? Have a fun weekend with the hillbilly heroin! Glad to see another GTA diver.
My wife ownes a health food store and I work with my family, I get March and Christmas off, my brother and pops pick other times.
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My wife ownes a health food store and I work with my family, I get March and Christmas off, my brother and pops pick other times.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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