Why junky, why not top of the line?

[sjmueller61990]

ok so ive been skimming through a lot of the threads here lately and I and finding some people who are trying to "just get by" with their gear, why is that? and this isnt by any means everyone. But I see posts about which is the crappier version of something. My question is (and I get this is an expensive hobby, believe me) why are you looking on the lower end of the totem pole for gear? I havent found a lot of places that skimping on gear should really be acceptable. for instance
your reg- transports your oxygen to you
octo- possibly saving a friends life
tank- holds your oxygen
bcd- hold your tank and keeping your gear on you.
knife- another possible life saver
and the list goes on.

but my point is even with back up gear, it should be something you dont mind possibly using in the future. When you looking for say a back up mask do you really want the one that looks ok but with a small chip in the lense for 10 bucks or a good mask for 30? and im not suggesting that you but a $900 bcd because its made out of gold. But when it comes down to it you should save up and by something a little better. I actually got into an argument with someone that asked "what if you dont dive a lot, then why would you need better gear" to which i responded if you dont dive a lot you should atleast get good trust worthy gear so you dont have to buy a new reg or computer every other time you go diving.

this is basically the stuff that comes to mind when its 4:30 in the morning and i cant sleep

but my question is. When you have a hobby like scuba diving where the gear you need is vital to your survival due to the fact where usually a good depth underwater, why do people just something but junky gear and hope it works?

this isnt golf, I dont usually have 14 things for the same purpose...(dont mean to offend anyone who plays golf either)

but i'm going to stop rambling finally and let you guys think about it to.

 

[Walter]

Everyone doesn't have an unlimited supply of money. Less expensive gear is not necessarily less safe. If one has budget concerns (or even if one doesn't), it is sensible to shop for a better deal.

 

[vladimir]

I look forward to seeing your evidence that cheap octopuses are less reliable than expensive ones, that expensive knives cut better than cheap ones, etc. Show us the cases where divers died because their well-maintained cheap gear failed.

By the way, my tank usually holds nitrox or air--which my regulator delivers to me. Like most recreational divers, I never breathe pure oxygen. When were you certified, and what equipment did you buy?

 

[sjmueller61990]

oh no I get that completely, I love package deals in fact i live for em. im not aiming the question as why buy less expensive gear, im wondering instead of getting something that is known to be of high quality or something that is used by many people because its a trusted item people sometimes want to skip out and spend money on the item with half good and half bad reviews or talk to people and they say its ehh, you could do better. trust me i definitely dont have an unlimited source of income. i work part time due to the fact im in school. thats why i shop around for the best deals and the best i can afford. Even with these deals out there im seeing a lot of people decide to not save the extra month and go for the "junkie" item. It doesnt make sense to me because this isnt a sport like soccer where you can skimp out on shin guards since essentially they all do the samething with no change usually in quality. you compare that to scuba diving where if you get a not very trust worthy say regulator. you go 80 feet down and you regulator breaks. Just because you wanted to save 50 bucks your now probably panicing trying to get a hold of your self and grab either yours, or your dive buddies alternate air source. in soccer you buy crappy shin guards as compared to good ones the difference is going to be maybe breathability of your legs...woohoo, wont be a life risking situation. basically my case and point is this isnt the hobby or sport to go for the less quality gear. so why do people continue to do so?

 

[herman]

There is a big difference between "junk" and less expensive equipment. Top of the line equipment from a performance standpoint is no better than mid range equipment, fact is most of the internal working of regs are the same. The extra cost is for external bling or questionably useful "features". They are mainly sold to those who don’t understand the internal working of dive equipment and believe that if it cost a lot, then it has to be better. Even between brands there is little difference. Pretty much the same goes for this years models vs 10 or 20 yo regs of the same pricepoint, the performance is so close that only a machine can tell the difference. From a safety/reliability point of view, the bottom end regs like the ScubaPro MK-2s and Sherwoods are more reliable and will take more abuse than most any top of the line one modles. What they lack in performance they make up for in reliability and will still be going when the top of the line regs have long since stopped working.

Like so many people, you confuse new and/or expensive with better. In scuba gear that simply is not true.

 

[sjmueller61990]

I look forward to seeing your evidence that cheap octopuses are less reliable than expensive ones, that expensive knives cut better than cheap ones, etc. Show us the cases where divers died because their well-maintained cheap gear failed.

By the way, my tank usually holds nitrox or air--which my regulator delivers to me. Like most recreational divers, I never breathe pure oxygen. When were you certified, and what equipment did you buy?

just reading peoples reviews on say leisure pro talking about how there octos are hard to use they would much rather have spent the extra 30 bucks on a better one.
also it doesnt have to be someone dying because of a gear failure. im talking about people having to buy better gear over and over again because they bought cheaper gear to begin with. and go to youtube with the knife thing, ive been a knife enthusiate for a good chunk of my life. if I had a video recorder I would show you the differences just between the steals, or the factory edges some knives come with. there is a huge difference. but im asking why people continue to spend more and more money on cheaper gear when it continues to break on them, and then they have to repeatedly buy new gear. ive had friends that read reviews and are happy with the fact theres a couple good reviews and buy that, then it breaks and they now paid what ive paid for a good regulator on a junky reg and a decent one to replace it.

 

[sjmueller61990]

There is a big difference between "junk" and less expensive equipment. Top of the line equipment from a performance standpoint is no better than mid range equipment, fact is most of the internal working of regs are the same. The extra cost is for external bling or questionably useful "features". They are mainly sold to those who don’t understand the internal working of dive equipment and believe that if it cost a lot, then it has to be better. Even between brands there is little difference. Pretty much the same goes for this years models vs 10 or 20 yo regs of the same pricepoint, the performance is so close that only a machine can tell the difference. From a safety/reliability point of view, the bottom end regs like the ScubaPro MK-2s and Sherwoods are more reliable and will take more abuse than most any top of the line one modles. What they lack in performance they make up for in reliability and will still be going when the top of the line regs have long since stopped working.

Like so many people, you confuse new and/or expensive with better. In scuba gear that simply is not true.

and see im new to the scuba game as you can see so this is what im trying to figure out. I understand the difference between junk equipment and getting gear that is less expensive and still of good quality. See i dont know what the internals of regs or octos consist of. i always figured most were different or maybe of different more reliable metal such as more rust resistant or something or maybe just better materials in general. im just trying to learn the tricks of the trade i guess. im use to buying the best gear i can afford. my previous experiences with something like this is when you buy usually cheaper gear you get cheaper quality. so maybe scuba is different and i just havent figured it out yet.

 

[RJP]

Your argument is based on a faulty premise.

In scuba gear particularly, less expensive does not usually equate to lower quality. In fact the range of quality between, say, the cheapest reg you can find and the most expensive reg you can find is actually quite narrow. The more expensive gear might have more features... though often times those features are of marginal utility if not entirely superfluous.

I would have no problem diving with the least expensive gear you can find from a known scuba manufacturer.

 

[mrmagoo560]

Inexpensive doesn't always mean cheap,and the more expensive items such as BCD's might be a little more comfortable,have a stainless steel D rings instead of the plastic ones.The plastic D rings are just find for hooking a hose holder to or something like that,but not really good to hang a $2000 camera from.As for Regulators,if you are into diving in cold water or even under ice them of course you need a regulator that won"t freeze up,but just for nice warm water in the Keys a few times a year then the less expensive ones will do fine.It all comes down to how you maintain it and handle them.

 

[sjmueller61990]

and basically im wondering is scuba a sport that you can kind of skimp on gear a little. it seemed like something that you couldnt. but everyone so far is telling me that most things are created pretty close to equal. if most regs and octos are the same internally is it ok to buy something thats a lot cheaper (within reason). thats all i want to know. because im very new to scuba diving and havent had any equipment break on me yet. are most things easy fixes? im trying to get a better stand point on the scuba gear avaliable.