Posted by tleemay on December 21, 2000 at 13:29:22:
In Reply to: Freedive posted by JRM on December 21, 2000 at 13:14:27:
This was originally posted to the rec.scuba newsgroup
last week or so. It's a similar topic and I though
it was an appropriate cross post since JRM brought
up the Halcyon line as an example of his disgust:
Subject: Re: Looking for a BC under $200
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 16:52:32 -0800
From: tleemay
Newsgroups: rec.scuba.equipment
References: 1 , 2
Rossy rote:
> SCUBA diving is expensive. I can respect that you have a budget to
> work in, but an honest answer is that $200 will not buy you a BC that
> is "good enough" unless you luck into a used jewel at a bargain
> basement price.
As seen on the Yahoo Auctions site last July:
FA: SCUBA Diving Metal Plate
FA: SCUBA Weight Pouches
The person selling it was the ex-wife of a SC wrecker. He left town three
months earlier and left his diving stuff behind. She had the auction
starting for the BP at $40 with a buy of $75. The weight system was
starting at $20 with a buy of $50.
I e-mailed her and asked her what brand the equipment was and it's
approximate age. I promptly wired her the money within an hour of her
response. The items had not been on the site for more than 3 hours by
then. With shipping I got everything for under 1.5 bills. The stuff
arrived in immaculate condition, the "weight pouches" had never touched
water as far as I could tell.
I now have a single tank setup consisting of a Halcyon Stainless Steel
Backplate with Halcyon single tank adaptor and Halcyon 20# ACB system.
Slapped onto my previously acquired 36# Pioneers, I'm styling and never
again having to worry about re-confuguring in between those pesky twin
112 excursions.
Yes you can luck into such things, but it's your persistency (sp?) that
will hedge that luck. I was looking at the E-Bay and Yahoo Auction sites
for about 2 months almost daily in search of such items. I was more than
lucky IMO.
--------------------------------------------------
As a side note, I believe the weight pouches for
the Halcyon BP wings can be had for much less than
the $200 referenced if you buy then as a package
deal.
In fact, I believe Halcyon is having some kind of
great promotion right now on a single tank setup,
so contact your local dealer.