Diver Attrition

[simbrooks]

I dont know what happened to the other folks in my class except myself and my ex-GF of the time. At this time i am dry and have been for at least a month, prior to the past couple of months i would have to go back to last summer to see when i dove. I put it down to some of the factors seen above that i have allowed to get in my way - multiple things to do (i enjoy biking, kayaking, hiking and want to get back into sailing), other time consuming things getting in the way (like getting married, looking after our dog and getting the house looking like a home), lack of cash (see things getting in the way) and also although i have gear, my wife doesnt and so we have to rent at this time.

I did get in 150 or so dives in the first 18 months of diving, however when i started settling down a bit, that took a nose dive to about 10 dives per year since, but hopefully i am on the up from that diving drought.

 

[ClayJar]

Rabbit-ear hood? I ought to show up with a duck-billed regulator... Oh, wait, that would be mean I'd be on the receiving end of the violence which would most certainly break out, and being crushed, blown up, shot, or in other ways damaged would almost certainly lead to my personal attrition as a diver.

Guess I'll have to leave the duck-billed reg at home, then, but if you really have a rabbit-ear hood, that's gotta be a trip.

 

[scubarealtor]

life has happened to me big time. i'm an average american!!!!! oh no, that means i'm broke and have more house than i can afford.

my last major dive trip is still on the AmEx and i can't afford to go again, which sux because i am feeming for a dive like it was a drug.

for reasons like these as well a great dissatifaction with my corporate job, we are working hard to get rid of the huge mortgage so we can get to a point in life where we can enjoy our jobs as well as our free time. my wife is already in her dream career (real estate), once we sell the house i will be free to pursue something that makes me want to go to work in the morning. i refuse to wait until i'm 60 to start living life on my terms.

 

[divinginn]

Careful what you wish for, you might find yourself in testosterone laden cave country with a woman in a rabbit-ear hood You don't have to drive to Ohio, that's the consolation for being seen with me
Ber :lilbunny:

he's serious, he drove from baton rouge to north ga to dive with the looney birds,your hardcore clayjar.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Rabbit-ear hood? I ought to show up with a duck-billed regulator... Oh, wait, that would be mean I'd be on the receiving end of the violence which would most certainly break out, and being crushed, blown up, shot, or in other ways damaged would almost certainly lead to my personal attrition as a diver.

Guess I'll have to leave the duck-billed reg at home, then, but if you really have a rabbit-ear hood, that's gotta be a trip.

Naturally the picture won't upload--grrrr! Where are my witnesses when I need them? Ask around in the GLWC, some of them have seen the hood. NetDoc saw it the first time I wore it I ordered it from Terrapin Wetsuits, she had a bunny ear hood but the ears went to the sides, I asked if she could make them go up and she custom made a design for me and now it's on her website Scroll down to the bunny ears hood on the website, mine is blue with the pink/orange ears.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[simbrooks]

life has happened to me big time. i'm an average american!!!!! oh no, that means i'm broke and have more house than i can afford.

my last major dive trip is still on the AmEx and i can't afford to go again, which sux because i am feeming for a dive like it was a drug.

for reasons like these as well a great dissatifaction with my corporate job, we are working hard to get rid of the huge mortgage so we can get to a point in life where we can enjoy our jobs as well as our free time. my wife is already in her dream career (real estate), once we sell the house i will be free to pursue something that makes me want to go to work in the morning. i refuse to wait until i'm 60 to start living life on my terms.

Not directed at you specifically as much as myself and others who might read:

My only suggestion is that you are pressuring yourself into paying off all of this debt quicker than you can afford to (its part of the instant gratification thing - ie probably beyond your means to pay it off very early) and stopping yourself having fun in the here and now as punishment for feeling bad about being in "so much debt". While i am not advocating huge debt, paying interest and putting off paying for things, there are ways and means of enjoying yourself on limited funds that can take the bite out of all this pressure and allow you to enjoy the time you have now rather than waiting until you are 60 or at least some time in the future. I dont have a house, but plenty of other debts, it's reducing all the time, not instantly, as quickly as if i put every last penny towards it, nor just paying the minimums, but its what is affordable and works and in the mean time i am not going to completely cut myself off doing things i enjoy just to spite myself and make it less fun to pay off what i owe

 

[stardust]

Who here has passed up a dive because of a kid's football, baseball, basketball or soccer game?

Oh no, I let my husband take her to soccer, its good for him. I go often enough, He doesnt dive.

 

[Barracuda2]

Ahem, Barracuda2 I ain't no spring chicken (37 IS older than your 35 estimate) and my husband is pushing 50 and has been diving 26 years. Even he had a short hiatus when his job had him on the road quite a bit, we met when he got back into the sport.
:

Ber,
I guess I was really referring to the group who sat around the campfire at the far end of the quarry that night telling stories and anecdotes I can't really repeat here. They were the ones I hung with that weekend. You were busy with your students so I guess I didn't really count the spring chicken---er, rabbit. Yes, Ber does have a rabbit ear hood!!

 

[slackercruster]

I was talking to a LDS owner about divers dropping out of the sport. He claimed that only 7% of newly certified divers EVER went diving again. He was quoting a source for the figure but he couldn't rember what it was. That's a 93% attrition rate for new OW cards.

When you add up the people who get the card for one special holiday, or who dive a few times on annual holidays, the number of people that dive on a regular basis declines even furthur.

What percent of certified divers dive on a regular basis, say ten dives a year? This clearly varies based on geography so I am looking for a broad average. If the 93% figure is correct, after you subtract the holiday divers you are left with maybe 1-2% dedicated divers. Anyone care to validate or argue with these numbers?

I read it was 95% drop out last month in a NE regional scuba mag. I and my wife were drop outs for 12 years, then got back in just by chance. (someone traded my some scuba gear) My problem is no good local dive spots and it cost $$ and air flight time to get to the dive sites otherwise I'd dive much more.

 

[ckharlan66]

My problem is no good local dive spots and it cost $$ and air flight time to get to the dive sites otherwise I'd dive much more.

This is the problem I see around here with the people I talk to. People get certified for a trip they are going on and they go to the local quarry to do the check outs. The quarry isn't the most interesting diving in the world but to us hard core folks wet is better than dry. The people that get certified for the one trip don't take well to the local quarry and they get out of the routine so they don't really get around to scheduling that next trip.

If they don't get into the local diving they don't tend to stay with diving unless they have the funds to travel a looooot.

Chad