Cost of gear back in the day

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Can some one in as succinct terms as possible
Please explain

"back in the day?"

Is is yesterday ? ten years ago or perhaps 50 years ago
When?
SDM
Urban Dictionary: back in the day

back in the day
A time in one's life looked back upon with great fondness. Usually invokes a memory of a particularly memorable or traumatic incident.
Back in the day, we used to get drunk and cruise the city.

Back in the day, my dad had a mullet.

Back in the day, _________ was a lot cooler than now.
 
@kelemvor

Thank you
Now I know and the rest of the dive tribe knows

"Back in the day" we used a dictionary or "looked it up in Funk & Wagnalls"
"Back in the day" we did not have an Urban Dictionary

Sam Miller, 111
 
when I started in the mid to late 60's everything seemed to be 50 dollars. healthways lp72 50 Single hose double stage reg 50 full bevertail 1/4" wet suit 50 dollars. fins mask snorkle and knife 50Dollars
 
when I started in the mid to late 60's everything seemed to be 50 dollars. healthways lp72 50 Single hose double stage reg 50 full bevertail 1/4" wet suit 50 dollars. fins mask snorkle and knife 50Dollars

Back in the day...

upload_2020-8-22_19-7-1.png
 
In the summer of 1966 I bought from Don’s Dive Shop in Detroit a steel 72 tank with K valve backpack and regulator for $99. The only instructions were. Breathe normally and don’t hold your breath. Didn’t get certified until 1972.
 
It’s amazing to me how ‘back in the day” dive equipment was just another sporting goods product like a basketball or a set of golf clubs, no big deal, just throw it on and jump in go have fun, and BTW don’t forget to breathe and don’t hold your breath. Pretty much the basic rule.
Then somewhere along the way the sport got more and more regulated, to where we are now with certifications and gear designed for safety. But not just any certification and any gear, because if you don’t have the right certification and the right gear you’ll die!
It’s typical of any sport or past time. I look at mountaineering and how it was when I was a boy going out on long hiking trips out in the wilderness with my dad off trail exploring uncharted territory, He was from Russia and hiked all over Europe and the Alps, etc. so mountaineering was in his blood.
Now, all of it is so regulated and nobody can function without a GPS and a bunch of other fancy stuff including the latest trendy gear, etc.
Diving is the same way. I see how minimal the gear was and how people made use with what they had, it’s great fun to put on that style of gear and do “retro” dives just like they used to do. You can learn a hell of a lot. That era is before my time, but that never stopped me from getting involved and living the life for an hour or so using vintage gear or at least minimal gear just for historical reasons and to help me understand how it used to be “back in the day”. It’s a very valuable lesson which makes you appreciate what we have now and also gives you a reality check on realizing that the new gear as nice as it is, should not be misused or taken for granted.
 
It’s amazing to me how ‘back in the day” dive equipment was just another sporting goods product like a basketball or a set of golf clubs, no big deal, just throw it on and jump in go have fun, and BTW don’t forget to breathe and don’t hold your breath. Pretty much the basic rule.
Then somewhere along the way the sport got more and more regulated, to where we are now with certifications and gear designed for safety. But not just any certification and any gear, because if you don’t have the right certification and the right gear you’ll die!
It’s typical of any sport or past time. I look at mountaineering and how it was when I was a boy going out on long hiking trips out in the wilderness with my dad off trail exploring uncharted territory, He was from Russia and hiked all over Europe and the Alps, etc. so mountaineering was in his blood.
Now, all of it is so regulated and nobody can function without a GPS and a bunch of other fancy stuff including the latest trendy gear, etc.
Diving is the same way. I see how minimal the gear was and how people made use with what they had, it’s great fun to put on that style of gear and do “retro” dives just like they used to do. You can learn a hell of a lot. That era is before my time, but that never stopped me from getting involved and living the life for an hour or so using vintage gear or at least minimal gear just for historical reasons and to help me understand how it used to be “back in the day”. It’s a very valuable lesson which makes you appreciate what we have now and also gives you a reality check on realizing that the new gear as nice as it is, should not be misused or taken for granted.
I wasn't allowed on a night dive, because I don't have a "night diving certification". I'm pretty sure they just wanted to sell me the cert and we're expecting me to back out ...
 
As the story goes in the 50's the navy adopted neo wet suits for divers. That,,, once made available to civilians made diving affordable. wet suit for 50 bucks instead of a hard hat dry suit for 1000. at that point people started rec diving and getting into trouble entering things they should not have. And so is the birth of training., May not be 100% accurate but the concept of the story is sound.
 
People started diving here in Europe without any suit, and the situation was this until the seventies, where neoprene foam suits started to be popular. Before, people was diving naked, no problem at all...
It must also be said that usually a pure oxygen rebreather was used, as it was lighter and cheaper than air tanks. Such rebreathers were providing very hot mixture to your lungs, so it was not so cold as diving air, which instead is always quite cold due to expansion.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom