Do you SCUBA?

[leloup]

My twin brother and I are taking a beginning scuba class starting next week, and I am super excited. It also happens to be our birthday about two weeks after. So, for those of you who do scuba dive, do you have any recommendations on gifts that I could give him that are around $20?

[DUFF MUFFIN]

I SCUBA dive once or twice a year, I'm certified, but only have the essential gear like fins, a mask, booties and a knife, and even that stuff is more than $20. It is expensive stuff, some people I dove with have $5k+ of gear on them (computers, tanks, dry suit, full mask...) if you have to keep it under $20, the only thing I could think of off the top of my head would be a saftey signal (blow up tube for surface boat signaling. Good luck!

[Eagle]

yeah no kidding, I got my basic cert a few years ago and bought just the most basic equipment due to cost (fins, boots, mask, snorkle, weightbelt). the only thing you might get for $20 is the belt, maybe some weights, or if the shop has them, a gift certificate.

[Smoothice]

$20 bucks eh?

I haven't dove in over 8 years. But I used to every now and then.

How about you just take him out to lunch/dinner after a day of diving. That would be about $20.

Anything that is needed seems to cost a lot. But get something fun. Like a knife. Maybe you could find one for $20ish. Maybe one of those under water dry erase boards.

I would just go to the local dive shop and roam around. I'm sure they will have something in your price range.

[Will Wood]

All the time.
Got all my own gear .. got everything used but my reg setup (My dive computer links to my PC .. shows you stats about the dive it's pretty cool)

Still need to get a drysuit so I can dive in the winter here..
Dove down in Florida when I visted my parents for Christmas. Saw some sharks and rays and turtles and neon fish and stuff.. was really cool. And you can actually see further than 10 feet in front of you...

[DevilMan]

I'm cert'd but haven't gotten wet in a number of years. One thing I just finished up was reading the book "Shadow Divers". It's about the guys who found the U Boat off of the NJ coast.

The relation between that and this is.... Get a cheapie knife. As they say in the book. Granted this is deep water diving and they were on Air not NOX so the bends was a MAJOR issue. But they figured that if they dropped a $200 knife they may try and find it and run outta air or worse. If they dropped a $20 dollar knife then oh well. Ain't worth a case of the cripples.

If you'd like the book to read just pay for shipping and I'll get it out to ya. It's pretty cool and is a true story and could teach you alot about diving before you ever hit the big blue.

Best of luck,

DM

[leloup]

Thanks for the advice guys. We already have our fins, mask, booties, and snorkles, so that isn't a problem. I know that I am getting into yet another expensive hobby, one that could be more than paintball....

I like the idea of the writing boards for underwater, I will look into that.

[Will Wood]

What do you mean expensive? I have not spent more than $10 my past couple dives.
Once you get the gear, which costs the same as any high end paintball marker (Though it will be low end .. haha) it's basically free.

I'm friendly the the stores around here so they only actually charge me for air like half the time

$4 x 2 = 8.
I'm done. That's a lot cheaper than a case of paint.

[punkncat]

I took lessons YEARS ago. Did fine in the pool. We went down to Fl for our cert dive in the ocean, and whoa boy!!!!

Even when you are underwater, as the waves go over you can feel them pushing you, sort of rythmic thumping on you from all around. It made me SOOOO sick I barfed through the mouthpiece, ugh it sucked. Have not tried to dive since. Only gone snorkeling in fresh water since then.

Good luck with your new hobby.

[Will Wood]

You must have been diving shallow ... I've never experienced that in anything more than 10 feet.

You can get some wicked drifts underwater though ... I've yet to get thrashed around.

[leloup]

Sorry to hear about your motion sickness, that must have been pretty nasty...hoepfully you can laugh about it now.

I live in Oregon, so I am probably going to need a dry suit, and that coupled with everything else will be expensive (I don't own any highend markers, just mid to low), but yeah, the costs after you own your own gear would be practically nothing. Renting gear shouldn't be too bad from what I hear.

[Will Wood]

You don't need a dry suit. I live in Maine .. just as cold.
I have a 7+5 I use MOST of the year. You'll be slightly uncomfortable and limited to one dive for some temps ... but I still have fun. I've come out of the ocean purple and shivering for 20 minutes and was still thinking "Holy crap that was fun." Most of the year you can still comfortably do one dive, usually more.

The $1,000+ investment in a drysuit should be the last thing you do. Find a used 7+5 that fits you. I found one used ONCE and got it for the prices as fully used and abused suits.

I got a really bad *** computer for new cheap too. Hooks up to my PC and I have complete log charts. Tells me when to make safety stops, stop ascending/descending, how long to wait till next dive , next flight, etc.

Got a good deal on a cold water reg too ... two good secondaries too. One claiming to help reduce drymouth but I have not used anything else so (I've been using the octopus because my primary leakish when you use it and I've been to lazy/cheap to fix it lol so don't really notice anything)


Look around! I spent a couple months searching and got some pretty good gear for around $1,200 total.

Tanks are easily found for $100 and less ... get a couple tanks for long dive days.
You get a big *** scuba tank for the same price as a paintball tank

[punkncat]

You must have been diving shallow ... I've never experienced that in anything more than 10 feet.

You can get some wicked drifts underwater though ... I've yet to get thrashed around.

This was YEARS ago. The dive shop was in Jonesboro and had a pool out back that they would start you in. The end of the course was a van trip down to the gulf for the cert dive.

I probably never made it past 10 feet, that may have been part of the problem. Once I got sick though, and the accompanying vertigo sort of feeling, I was more than done for the day. Even sitting on the boat waiting for everyone to come back up was pure hell in spite of the dramamine that I could barely hold down. Since then the patch has become popular...lol.

[leloup]

Tanks are easily found for $100 and less ... get a couple tanks for long dive days.
You get a big *** scuba tank for the same price as a paintball tank

That is too true. And then if you buy a spare "emergency" air tank...it is like 3 times the price, when really is is only like a 13 or 22 in size. Had my first class yesterday, and get to actually start the scuba a week from tomorrow. Too excited. Will, what are the water temps in Maine?

[Will Wood]

Cold, Colder, and Coldest.

Right now it's probably high 30s low 40s
Get up to the high 50s in the Summer