HELP.. I'm stuck between a Rock and a Frying pan...

Scott

Which is worse....

Having to wait in order to pay cash to purchase a rebreather

OR

Burning probably $10,000 of credit when all is said and done onto one of those fancy plastic cards with a cryptic " V I S A " and a series of numbers for the purchase of the rebreather..


I figure I can put $500/month toward the rebreather... The only other thing I spend money on is scuba diving. So I can either wait 20 months-ish and pay cash.. or put it on a card and .. well.. pay minimum payments for 20 years since probably 400 of that 500 would be spent diving the rebreather =)


My general philosophy on life is:

You only live once, and today might be your last day, it is better to die in debt with lots of memories, then to die with a pile of unused cash.

As you can probably guess, I've already made up my mind, just curious on what others think.

At least I'm honest =)

Take care,

Scott

PaulTG2

Hello,

It really depends on what your personal philosphies are, what other responsibilities you have, what your financial and life goals are, and what your thoughts are on personal responsiblities.

The direct costs are only part of the decision tree. The rest lie with what other opportunities are created or lost as a result of the decision.

What others think probably isn't important except as far as it provides permission and approval for what you have already decided.

Gee.. I type too much....and post too much... hmmm...

Sincerely,


Paul

Scott

My financial responsibilities are making my truck payment, auto and home owners insurance, electricity, and food.

House is paid for, scuba gear is paid for, have $4,000 in student loans to pay back.. but I am about to start back so that will get deferred.. My college will be paid for by GI Bill which will actually give me more than I need.. some will go to pocket.

Have no significant other nor any dependants to worry about, but should those come along, I have Veterans Group Life Insurance, 250grand, it cost me, I wanna say 212 bucks this year.

My ambitions... to move someplace with nice diving, and one day have a happy family =)

I'm easily amused, need little, and love the ocean =)

akscubainst

1 word - EBAY

Once I decided that I wanted a rebreather, I started selling every piece of extranious gear, cleaned out all of the closets and whatever else I could find. Sold it all. Made about half of what I need. The other half, I've made commercial diving, (surveys, cruise ship repair, sunk boats, etc).

Now my delimma, I have the money for the rebreather, i know what I want, I have an Instructor picked out, but I just took a week off diving, and am visiting family over Thanksgiving for 2 week so I can't reasonably asks for anymore leave until late January. So do I buy it now or do I wait???

Oh, and I do plan to use that V I S A card cause we're talking alot of airline miles!!

Good Luck,

Dave

Scott

Hey Dave, which baby did you decide on?

I'm planning on getting a Copis Mini Meg... Simple and Robust.. and light weight =)

After I get certified and all that jazz.. I'm going to get a radial scrubber from Jakob at golemgear.com He said in another thread that he can cut down his radial for the full size meg to fit the mini =)


And then in the distant future if I decide 2+ hours isn't enough duration, I'll buy a big can and one of Jakob's full size scrubbers =)


As for the airline miles.. I don't get those... however, I do have one card that offers 5% cash back.. but it has the highest APR of my cards too.. I only use it on stuff that I can pay back in less than 4 months, so I make money off my purchases =)

akscubainst

I'm going to go with a Classic Kiss, OTS counterlungs and Shearwater electronics. Kind of a hybrid COPIS.

I looked very hard at the COPIS and I really like it, the Instructor that I will be using has been diving one for awhile and she loves it. But, I'm in Alaska and I like the simplicity of the Classic for being able to fix it.

Dave

jo_c

Hi Scott


I had a very similar dilema. All I can say is I'm picking up my COPIS Meg in December

6Gill

I use Capitol One for the card, buy a meg and you have enough miles to get you to Cozumel!

__________________
"It's a shame ignorance isn't painful!"

Pierre Farrugia

Surly don't get an Inspo......If I have to live in a remote area, the simplicity should be top priority! Maybe diving ion ICE you will not hit handsets as snow is soft right ?

__________________
Pierre Farrugia

My wife told me " If you don't quit diving I'm going to leave you"
My reply " God, I'll miss you"

www.atlam.org www.divemed.com

PaulTG2

Hello (again)...

Also, don't forget the additional start-up costs associated with the rebreather.

Figure $1,000 - $3,500 USD for training (instructor, books, boats, fills, supplies, travel).

Depending on what you select you may also need (or want) a offboard CCR/OC dive computer and accesories. ($800-$2,000 USD)

If you purchase a used rebreather figure in the cost of an annual maintenance cycle to have the unit checked prior to diving. I purchased a $2k SCR and spend almost $1k for maintenance and replacements (tanks and misc maintenance). On the other hand I purchased and almost new Meg recently and didn't have any maintenance costs).

A case is a good idea. As are a spares kit, extra O2 tanks, bailout tank, computer-pc link, books, O2 analyser.

You can absolutely do it for under $10k with a lower cost rebreather and training more locally. But if the rebreather is $8k you'll probably be a bit over the target.

Sincerely,

Paul