Best Reg for the Money?

[Fishpie]

The Mares Carbon will breathe much the same as the Abyss/Voltrex......very well.
I just don't know how it does in the cold.

The absolute easiest 1st stage to service is the USD SEA / AquaLung Cousteau.......they are even easier than the Conshelf or Scubapro MK2.

 

[gasgirl]

Hey Locus,

I live in Vancouver and I have also been asking these same questions over at Ocean Quest. I am a coldwater recreational noob but I can share our thought process so far if that is of any help.

Backstory: My husband and I are fairly experienced tropical open water divers but we have now decided to venture into doing more local coldwater diving so we are converting to the longhose set-up. We have two sets of Scubapro MK25 and S550's but we need to upgrade our gear from the octopus/AIR2 recommended AAS we were advised to purchase when we bought our gear in the Caribbean.

First off, we considered buying another pair of Scubapro S600 second stages. Scubapro is a very familiar brand worldwide if you travel to remote destinations - which was our original reason for buying Scubapro. Also, we could keep the current regs we own since we wanted redundancy in our gear rather than mixing and matching. However, because we got kicked off the parts for life program for not servicing our regs annually, and Scubapro parts is not cheap, we were told it would probably cost double to service the Scubapro regs compared with other brands.

So we were advised at Ocean Quest to buy a complete new Apeks package with the DST first stage and XTX50 second stages since they have a very good reputation for tech coldwater diving. We were told that the Apeks parts for life warranty program is much more liberal in their servicing requirements. And although they are also an expensive brand, we were given the impression that Apeks was definitely better quality.

When we asked about the HOG regs which seemed very popular among DIR divers, we were told that the second stage is much heavier and can lead to jaw fatigue when compared to the Apeks. We were also told that the parts inside were not as high quality. And although you can save money by servicing the HOG regs yourself, you are actually supposed to take a course and be certified before you order the service kits. In addition, we were told that you will need to buy special tools to service the regulators. All of this didn't seem worth it unless you owned quite a few sets of regs (which technical divers certainly seem to do).

Finally, just to be thorough, I also briefly looked at a couple of other reg packages being sold online that was less expensive than Apeks so you may want to check out the Hollis DC1-212 package at DRIS:

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/cat...ators-hollis-dc1212regulatorset-p-2656.htmlas

I get the impression that Hollis is also a very reputable brand with the coldwater tech community. It seems like really good value for $425.

FWIW, I have been very impressed with the knowledge and customer service at both Ocean Quest and DRIS.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Your LDS must not be a HOG dealer. The internals are just as high quality as any mfg. Underwater they are no heavier. I use them for three to four dives a day with bottom times of well over an hour. While it is recommended that you take the course to.service your regs it is not required to buy the kits. Some of my customers travel.with theirs and having a kit insures that they can get a problem taken care of. HOG is very good about providing info to qualified techs so that you could get them serviced nearly anywhere. And should you decide to service your own the "specialized" tools can be had for less than $100.00 if you look and buy wisely. Many of the required tools are likely already in your garage. And there is no parts for life schedule to worry about. You get them done when they need it on your schedule. There are recommended intervals but they are not set in stone.
The LDS seems to be trying very hard to get you to spend more money than you need to. For what you'll spend on new apek's you could service your scubapro's for the next few times and since you not in the "free parts"(they really are not free you know. You paid for them up front), you can do it when they actually need it. Like every two or three years. Not every year.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[gasgirl]

Ocean Quest actually sells all the brands that I mentioned in my post (Scubapro, Apeks, HOG, and Hollis).

Jim, thanks for providing your first-hand experience with the HOG brand. I like the fact it seems to be the reg of choice for many active and respected coldwater divers on this forum.

It may be a good choice for Locus as HOG does seem to be excellent value for the price point and that is the question he is posing.

 

[halocline]

It requires some. If you can rebuild a lawn mower carb or do your own brakes you can rebuild reg.

I think regulators are much easier to work on than automotive brakes. And far less likely to result in someone's death due to poor work. In fact, the automotive industry would have a much stronger case in restricting brake parts due to 'liability' than the scuba industry's asinine claim that it's unsafe to sell regulator parts. Not to mention the fact that becoming an ASE certified mechanic is WAY more work than the B.S. reg tech 'certification' seminars that take a weekend and nobody has ever failed.

 

[dmoore19]

Best reg for the money? Usually the one you already own.

 

[ams511]

Ocean Quest actually sells all the brands that I mentioned in my post (Scubapro, Apeks, HOG, and Hollis).

Usually you cannot separate a dealer's recommendations from the profit they make. For example Leisurepro was selling G250Vs for $199 now they sell them for $349. The difference is $150. There is no way Hog regulators can have that margin when they only cost $109 retail. I am sure Apeks has similar markups.

The fact that you want to replace your Air IIs and the dive shop is recommending purchasing all new regulators is ridiculous. The service interval for Scubapro is now 2 years so how many years will it take to break even? The LDS does not need to screw you on parts and mark them up double. Also what if Aqualung changes the servicing and you get knocked off of their parts for life? Scubapro used to be quite liberal also.

 

[halocline]

I live in Vancouver and I have also been asking these same questions over at Ocean Quest. I am a coldwater recreational noob but I can share our thought process so far if that is of any help.

Backstory: My husband and I are fairly experienced tropical open water divers but we have now decided to venture into doing more local coldwater diving so we are converting to the longhose set-up. We have two sets of Scubapro MK25 and S550's but we need to upgrade our gear from the octopus/AIR2 recommended AAS we were advised to purchase when we bought our gear in the Caribbean.

Maybe the easiest solution for you would be to buy G250V 2nd stages, use them as your primary and use the S550s as alternates on the bungie necklace. Unless you're diving in truly frigid water (sub 40F) you are likely to have no problem with the MK25.

If I were in your situation I'd buy two used 2nd stages; either G250s (pre HP) or 109s and have them converted to balanced/adjustable. Those are probably the most freeze-resistant 2nd stages available due to the all-metal case and only moderate venturi. I only buy used regs because I'm cheap and I like the older models better anyway. But if you want to stay with new regs, go for the G250V, or if you want to spend more, try the A700 which is also all metal.

The smaller S600 has a smaller amount of metal for heat exchange, and due to it's smaller volume, the air moves through it a bit faster. Those two things make it 'theoretically' more likely to freeze. Whether or not that translates into a real-world effect in your case is anyone's guess.

 

[buddhasummer]

Hey Locus,

I live in Vancouver and I have also been asking these same questions over at Ocean Quest. I am a coldwater recreational noob but I can share our thought process so far if that is of any help.

Backstory: My husband and I are fairly experienced tropical open water divers but we have now decided to venture into doing more local coldwater diving so we are converting to the longhose set-up. We have two sets of Scubapro MK25 and S550's but we need to upgrade our gear from the octopus/AIR2 recommended AAS we were advised to purchase when we bought our gear in the Caribbean.

First off, we considered buying another pair of Scubapro S600 second stages. Scubapro is a very familiar brand worldwide if you travel to remote destinations - which was our original reason for buying Scubapro. Also, we could keep the current regs we own since we wanted redundancy in our gear rather than mixing and matching. However, because we got kicked off the parts for life program for not servicing our regs annually, and Scubapro parts is not cheap, we were told it would probably cost double to service the Scubapro regs compared with other brands.

So we were advised at Ocean Quest to buy a complete new Apeks package with the DST first stage and XTX50 second stages since they have a very good reputation for tech coldwater diving. We were told that the Apeks parts for life warranty program is much more liberal in their servicing requirements. And although they are also an expensive brand, we were given the impression that Apeks was definitely better quality.

When we asked about the HOG regs which seemed very popular among DIR divers, we were told that the second stage is much heavier and can lead to jaw fatigue when compared to the Apeks. We were also told that the parts inside were not as high quality. And although you can save money by servicing the HOG regs yourself, you are actually supposed to take a course and be certified before you order the service kits. In addition, we were told that you will need to buy special tools to service the regulators. All of this didn't seem worth it unless you owned quite a few sets of regs (which technical divers certainly seem to do).

Finally, just to be thorough, I also briefly looked at a couple of other reg packages being sold online that was less expensive than Apeks so you may want to check out the Hollis DC1-212 package at DRIS:

http://www.diverightinscuba.com/cat...ators-hollis-dc1212regulatorset-p-2656.htmlas

I get the impression that Hollis is also a very reputable brand with the coldwater tech community. It seems like really good value for $425.

FWIW, I have been very impressed with the knowledge and customer service at both Ocean Quest and DRIS.

Huh, nonsense, I take it they don't stock HOG.

 

[chrpai]

They are listed as a hog dealer. Hmmmm.