Too Scuba or not to Scuba

[Weezle]

I can't talk on the subject of paintball but I am a big radio control fan. I have two cars both nitro - one is a street car that will do almost 80mph - the other is a 4x4 truck that is sooo fun. I also fly model airplanes...all together I have spent countless hours and I would guess over $6000 on this hobby, and I love it, but since I started diving most of the time all those things gather dust. I have to say scuba diving was life changing for me. It prompted me to quit smoking even.
I love both, but if I had only one choice it would be diving. No doubts.

 

[landlocked]

Originally posted by sdexcalibur
I have enough money to start diving, but a buddy just came in with a new paintball gun and offered to sell it to me. I can't do both.

It has been awhile since we heard from sdexcalibur. I'm thinking that he bought the paintball gun!

 

[art.chick]

We got so busy SELLING, we didn't notice the customer had already left the store!

 

[ScubaStan]

One word....

SCUBA

I have done paintball and I prefer the gracefulness of floating in near weightlessness of the underwater world seeing things not too many people have seen.

But it all depends on what you want out of you hobby.

 

[BOOinTX]

A few months back, a friend sent awful news about her cousin who was an avid pain(t)baller. Turns out this 17 year old guy had briefly pulled his facemask up when he got hit with a paintball in the eye. He was hospitalized for several days, had surgery, and lost vision in one eye - from a potentially preventable accident.

I've done plenty of risky sports and activities - skydiving, aerobatic fllight, among others... Always include the risk analysis and safety aspects of these sports and activities. They are _all_ elective and should be fun. And remember scuba is not competitive like paint balling.

 

[art.chick]

I hear a lot of divers talking about other risky sports they engage in, especially skydiving. Am I unusual in not embracing this type of excitement in general? I don't care for competitive sports, & aside from scuba, I just swim, ride bikes, & work out at the gym. I did not get into scuba to "live on the edge," but to explore a world not accesible in my work-a-day life. Are others in this camp too, or is a craving for risk just part of the diver's profile?

 

[BOOinTX]

For me its mostly been about exploring novel environments and conditions - ones that require training, preparation and some risk to experience and share with others. Freefall lasts about a minute...scuba for what, maybe an hour...unless you get technical.

When I was skydiving I sometimes heard "Skydiving is to Flying airplanes like Swimming is to Boating. Get out of the vehicle and into the medium." Skydiving eventually turned out to be a bit too high-risk for me to be comfortable with.

 

[chrispete]

I play paintball and have found that you get that "doing something not many people do" experience out of it as well. There is nothing like crawling into a briar and waiting (sniper) while depending on your cover to watch your back when you are so far forward on the field. In that way paintball is similar to diving - you have a buddy, you are depending on that buddy to help you out in the case of a problem, and if you both get pinned down, they will stay by your side (this is for sniper teams, although I have seen the "spray and pray" guys doing it a lot as well The major difference is that in scuba you are "playing for keeps" in an emergency, and in paintball all you leave with is a bruised ego from being splatted by a 7 year old with an Angel. With that in mind, I would rather put down my money on a Hammer (pump action, single shot marker) that costs $85 and add-ons totalling $150 and splat happily with that while spending my $2900 for diving, which I am just learning, but enjoy greatly - realizing that in an emergency underwater, I want the best possible equipment to help me survive.

 

[sdexcalibur]

Hello all, it's ben a long time, My modem need to get repaired on my pc so I was unable to get on-line. Now I'm using my daughters. You know you use your favorites book marks so much you forget the address. Well I finally found it again, As far as as the paintball gun goes... I finally went with...DIVING. I almost have all my stuff, and should be starting class in about two weeks or so. Thanks for all the responses. I can't wait:wiz:

 

[landlocked]

Originally posted by landlocked
It has been awhile since we heard from sdexcalibur. I'm thinking that he bought the paintball gun!

So much for my divine intuition! My apologies sdexcalibur for ever doubting you. By the way, anyone want a stock market tip?