Can you really have too much gear?

[scrane]

As I get older I wonder who's going to eventually have to deal with all this crap?

 

[rx7diver]

Well, I have a book of scuba receipts (through the early 2000's, I think) for the convenience of my survivors. However, I doubt they will want to figure out what receipt goes with what piece of strange-looking gear.

This reminds me: I really should print out each of my (more recent) electronic receipts and add them all to my book.

rx7diver

 

[CT-Rich]

I agree, absolutely! As I approach retirement, I think a lot about the unnecessary (no longer necessary) gear I own. I decided last year to begin parting with some of it: I succeeded in selling three Catalina Al 6 argon drysuit inflation cylinders last year. But then I got too busy at work, again, to continue my efforts at "downsizing."

I need to let go of my single OMS (Faber) LP121/125--since I now will never purchase a second one (to double up for OC tri-mix dives to 300 fsw). I listed this cylinder for sale here last year, IIRC, but I never bumped that FS thread.

And I need to let go of my two PST HP120's (3,500 psig)--since I almost certainly (97.5%) will never again double these up for diving OC to ~200 fsw on Great Lakes shipwrecks. (My lingering desire to dive Tobermory, Canada, shipwrecks explains that stubborn 2.5%.)

And no longer doing Great Lakes deco dives would mean I would no longer have a need for my two Luxfer Al 40's.

And I should let go of my two, lovely HP80's (3,500 psig), since an old-school 72 better suits the type of local diving I do now (when I dive a single cylinder, that is). Getting rid of these HP80's will come with some heartbreak, though, since they are my very first cylinders, purchased new c. 1988.

And once I no longer have HP cylinders that might see 4,000 psig fills, then I no longer will have a need for my 2.5 Poseidon Odin's (300 Br, cold water regs). My several Scubapro Mk10 + D400/G250/BA regs are perfect for my local diving here in MO and AR using LP cylinders.

And, ever since purchasing a pair of Faber LP50's last year to use as baby doubles, I no longer have a need for the pair of OMS (Faber) LP46's that I purchase new c. 1994, my very first deco cylinders. (I will hold on to a third LP46, though, to use for emergency oxygen.)

These past couple of days, I have been moving stuff around, digging out bits and pieces of my B&W darkroom stuff that have been boxed up for a couple of decades. (See Question - Non-diving Camera. That 85mm lens purchase led almost immediately to a second, "grail" lens purchase!) Getting rid of this unnecessary (no longer necessary) scuba gear, would free up some much needed real estate!

rx7diver

My 120s are my go to tanks. I can easily get a full day in the water with those bad boys. They do suck for getting out of the water on a beach exit. I was basically a turtle on my back in the surf when I was in Florida. Their previous owner had them as a twin set. I bought them from him when he down sized and gave up most of his tech gear. They were born in the early 80s, so I think have out lived more than a couple of owners. Eventually, I too shall pass them on when I my doctor/chiropractor lectures me on spinal compression or I become to lame to sling them....

 

[GDHLEWIS]

If the gear is being used and you have the money and space for it then go mad lol

 

[pauldw]

There are poor people all over the world. You should use your riches to help them. By sending them some scuba gear.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

As I get older I wonder who's going to eventually have to deal with all this crap?

As the popularity if scuba is waning overall (at least in my part of the world) just think of all the crap that will be coming up for sale or free that has been stuffed away in closets, garages, and storage units. I’m already seeing an increase in stuff appearing at the dive shop that people turn in. They call me and ask if I want it. That’s how I got all those MK5’s and two DA Aquamasters that @James79 got.
The old farts are dying off or stopped diving and they, or the widows, or the kids are bringing all the stuff in because they don’t know what to do with it.
A lot of the gear is old and not something that the dive shop want’s to deal with and they really can’t sell used, too old. The people turning it in don’t have a clue what it is or what it’s worth.
Most all of this gear is actually serviceable and usable. Some is obsolete.
So, it lands on guys like me. How am I supposed to just toss a perfectly good steel 72 or a MK5/109?
Is it possible to have too much gear?
I don’t know how to answer that yet. How about this, as soon as I have to rent a storage unit to keep it in then it’s too much gear.

 

[eelnoraa]

I think I have same issue. When I see good deal on a good used gear, I’ll buy them. I have more reg, Bp/w, tanks m, fins, that I really need can use. I keep thinking, if one day wife start diving in Monterey, i got the gear for her. Then that has not happen for the past 10 years.

 

[tkull]

If you have enough space at home, collect whatever you want. But in the water there is definitely something like too much gear. The cleaner and your configuration the better. Everything needs to be handable even in stressful stituations

 

[pauldw]

As the popularity if scuba is waning overall...

I am curious if the dive industry has any publicly available numbers on how many people per capita take OW each year (with stats going back a few decades), or how many inflation adjusted dollars are spent on scuba gear each year? Some things probably need to die out, like amateur radio, but not us!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I am curious if the dive industry has any publicly available numbers on how many people per capita take OW each year (with stats going back a few decades), or how many inflation adjusted dollars are spent on scuba gear each year? Some things probably need to die out, like amateur radio, but not us!

I’ve talked about it quite a bit. All I can really comment on is what I see locally. Locally meaning the local dive scene to coastal California and how many people actively participate. That doesn’t include “hidden” participants that maybe get certified here but only dive somewhere else. It also doesn’t include worldwide dive destinations that people claim are booming, but American participation at those far flung locations is flat or in decline. I have no proof of this second statement other than what I read here. And we know everything on scubaboard is always right.
Where I live the local dive scene by my estimation has declined by 80%, but the dive gear is still out there, and that was the focus of my last post.