2airishuman
Contributor
New to diving. Should I target an entry level regulator, mid, or high?
It isn't useful to divide the market that way. Regulator prices have little to do with how good the regulator is.
I can be a bit of a stickler for quality... I do plan to go deeper to 100-130 feet for dives. I do dive in cold water PNW. I do plan to dive in Alaska at some point in the not terribly distant future. I also plan to do plenty of warm water dives in tropical, which I think will be my favorite... but the cold water is whats local, so there will be a good mix.
What should I expect to pay for a full kit (1st + 2nd stage, second reg, octopus, SPG) at each level, NEW vs USED?
Going used, my experience has been that the best I can do on price is $30 a stage. I typically end up with SPGs at no additional cost by buying reg sets that have a useless 1st stage so I can get the 2nd stage I want. So I can get a used regulator set for $90 including freight (1st and two seconds). It takes some shopping to do this. And that's raw materials. By the time I buy 3 service kits ($60), hoses (a set of four--spg, bc, primary, secondary--is $100, although sometimes a usable hose or two will come with the regs), mouthpieces, fittings, and SPG o-rings, I end up at around $250 with me doing my own service. This for US Divers/Aqua-lung Conshelf XIV regulators.
New, I have spent about $500 for comparable regulators, HOG D1 with classic 2nd stages.
Is it really worth going used by the time you factor in the need for getting a service on the gear initially?
That depends on the sort of deal you get, how much fiddling you're willing to do, and what your priorities are. And on how much you have to pay for service.
I like metal second stages and they aren't readily available new. I think that the value of a "sealed" first stage (vs a diaphragm regulator where the first stage spring is not sealed) is overrated even for cold water dives. I like the long-term parts availability prospects for classic regulators made in huge volumes over the course of decades.