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Skipped the fancy drysuit and went with a cheap used shell, worked fine on my Alaska gig

Everyone told me I was crazy for not dropping $4k on a new custom drysuit for the Prince William Sound job last fall. I picked up a beat-up Viking shell for $300 off a retired diver and spent a weekend patching the wrist seals myself. The thing leaked a little on the first few dives but nothing a thin wool layer underneath couldn't handle. I saved enough to cover my travel expenses and still had cash left for a good neck ring upgrade. Has anyone else had luck running older gear instead of buying the top-dollar stuff?
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3 Comments
the_miles
the_miles3d ago
You ever get that feeling where you're the only one who sees it differently but it works out anyway? That's basically my whole approach to gear, if it's not broke and you can fix it yourself then why drop a mortgage payment on it. Nice work making that shell work for you, nothing beats the satisfaction of dodging a massive bill like that.
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the_ben
the_ben3d ago
Picked up an old Oceanic regulator for $80, still running strong three seasons later.
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ryan719
ryan71918h ago
Does it ever bug you how much people spend on gear when beat up stuff works just as good?
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