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The Dangers Of Cheap Scuba Gear

There are plenty of times in life where it pays to get cheap stuff, but not cheap scuba gear.

You can save money by buying the store brand peanut butter and bread.

You can save money by getting regular gas instead of premium and you can save money by buying a floor model refrigerator instead of a new one.

But have you noticed that there are some things that no one wants to buy cheap?

Take parachutes for example. Who wants a cheap parachute? Here’s an ad for you:

For Sale - One parachute. Used once. Never opened. Small stain.

Any takers?

The truth is that there are some things that you don’t want to buy cheap. Among those things are parachutes, surgery, and cheap scuba gear.

Scuba diving gear is one area you don’t want to skimp.

When you’re 60 to 80 feet (18 – 24 m) underwater, the last thing you want is one of your hoses to break or your regulators to free-flow. Fortunately these occurrences are few, even with cheap gear. However one thing you’re sure to have with cheap gear is an uncomfortable dive.

You can’t get high quality equipment for dirt cheap prices.

There’s no way that a bare-bones buoyancy compensator with a plastic backplate and thin cloth construction is going to be as comfortable as a form-fitting buoyancy compensator with a soft, padded backplate and thick, cushioned construction. Sure the cheap BC may cost $200 less than the more opulent BC, but which diver do you think is going to be more comfortable? Which diver do you think will enjoy their dive more?

Cheap Dive Gear - Comfort isn’t the only consideration.

You also have to think about durability.

A thin cloth BC is more prone to rips and wear. Maybe the seams of the BC were cheaply glued together rather than stitched and sealed. How many dives can this BC go on before it starts to look like the rental gear of a bargain-basement dive shop?

When you consider cost, you have to think about the big picture. For example, let’s say Diver 1 buys a BC for $150 and Diver 2 buys a BC for $350. Diver 1 does 100 dives before he has to buy a new BC, but Diver 2 has made 250 dives (he likes diving more) and his BC is still going strong. Whose BC ended up costing less?

Diver 1
BC Price: $150
# of Dives: 100
Cost/Dive: $1.50

Diver 2
BC Price: $350
# of Dives: 250
Cost/Dive: $1.40

Diver 2 may have spent more on their BC, but when you look at the cost on a per-dive basis, Diver 2 really spent $0.10 less per dive. And that’s not all. Remember that Diver 1 needs to buy a new BC, so in reality Diver 1 is spending much, much more!

There’s nothing wrong with trying to get a good deal, but getting a good deal doesn’t mean buying cheap scuba gear. Talk to your local dive shop. They might have great deals on gear packages.

You’ll get great equipment at a reasonable price and chances are, in the long run, you’ll end up spending hundreds less than the diver who buys cheap scuba gear.

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