Kat wrote:

> I'm in the UK at the moment and want to buy my personal gear soon.  Before
I
> hit Sydney at the end of the year I'll be in Vancouver, Canada and then a
> month in Thailand.  In your experience, or anyone else's, where is it
> cheapest to buy equipment?  I've heard that there are large fluxutations
> (sp?) in prices between North America and the UK, which I can believe with
> the currency exchange among other factors.  Are there the same differences
> between buying in Asia or Oz as opposed to NA or in the UK?  I always
> thought that the diving industry is mostly done in US dollars, but that's
> just from my (limited) diving experiences.  I'm of course willing to do
all
> the research myself, but if anyone has any recommendations I would
> appreciate it..

If you didn't expect me to suggest a Halcyon Plate and Wing setup, then you
haven't been reading my posts for a while.  Halcyon is made in South
Florida, but it's no cheaper here than anywhere else (Halcyon pricing
standards).  Everything else seems to be cheaper here.  Nowhere else I'm
aware of in the States offers such a concentration of divers, dive visitors
and most importantly, dive shops.  I'm not certain, but if I had to guess,
I'd think Southern California would be my second choice for equipment
shopping for the same reasons South Florida is good, competition.

On the other hand, if you know what you want, then there is a lot to
recommend mail order.  In my experience, when I asked for something
specific, I got what I asked and paid for.  Just be sure you know what you
want first.  Mail order shops are not a reliable place to get equipment
advice.  For what it's worth, I routinely match or beat mail order prices
locally.  I do this by shopping a wide variety of shops, watching for deals
and making a purchase when the time and price is right.  It's easy for me
since I live here.  You may not have the same option.

While I'm a nice guy, I'm not nice enough to offer to shop for you.  It's a
lot of work, takes a lot of time and work, my boats and other obligations
leave me little time for time consuming diversions.

Lee