BoostinReptar
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So I am another noob chiming in. Do most of you have multiple regulators? Say one for cold water and one for warm water travel
Advice on new regulator for beginning OW
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not too common, many of us will have a dedicated set for singles, and another set for doubles or sidemount.
I don't, but I don't dive singles hardly ever, so there's that. It is easier for me to swap the Din turret for a Yoke, and move the hoses around than it is to keep a spare set of gear. I use those regulators for stage bottles normally and just leave my back gas regulators in for doubles or sidemount.
I don't, but I don't dive singles hardly ever, so there's that. It is easier for me to swap the Din turret for a Yoke, and move the hoses around than it is to keep a spare set of gear. I use those regulators for stage bottles normally and just leave my back gas regulators in for doubles or sidemount.
CptTightPants21
Contributor
It usually breaks up into rec gear vs technical gear.....and then the tech gear just keeps multiplying.
I have a Oceanic yoke reg set up that my my first reg setup and used for single tank. Then 2 regs for doubles, a HOG for stage/pony, and pure O2 reg is next.
Why is it always that if a person wants the shiny new MK25/A700 he is an idiot and is being screwed by the LDS? Maybe that person wanted that $800 regulator.
I have another regulator and I also have the shiny new MK25/A700 that I paid $700-800 for, not because the LDS sold it to me but because I saw it, I wanted it and i bought it. I am not an idiot and I did not get screwed by the LDS.
Sometimes people want what they want. If they have the money to buy it and if it is what they want, they should. It is their money and you really shouldn't care.
For instance, I have no real need for a Ferrari, but if I had the money and wanted one I would buy it. I certainly wouldn't buy a 72 volkswagon beetle. Either would get me where I wanted to go but I would much prefer the Ferrari.
I have another regulator and I also have the shiny new MK25/A700 that I paid $700-800 for, not because the LDS sold it to me but because I saw it, I wanted it and i bought it. I am not an idiot and I did not get screwed by the LDS.
Sometimes people want what they want. If they have the money to buy it and if it is what they want, they should. It is their money and you really shouldn't care.
For instance, I have no real need for a Ferrari, but if I had the money and wanted one I would buy it. I certainly wouldn't buy a 72 volkswagon beetle. Either would get me where I wanted to go but I would much prefer the Ferrari.
BoostinReptar
Registered
So how do you decide on a reg? Soooooo many options and I don't see it being able to try em all unless you fall in love with a rental. Do people just jump on the review bandwagon? My Lds told me tusa is a very good brand and cheaper (I did read in this thread that they make other regs and are the same as higher brands) he said he really liked the rs 4?? . He said he recommends them because they are very good on the customer service and forgiving for the services on the reg if you are late. He told me mares is one of the worse. They give you an ID card and has to be shown when servicing the reg. loose the card and your screwed
This sounds like 'sales'. When you get your reg services the service agent should service it, irrespective of it being 1month or 5years since the last service. Do they offer parts for life? or a Life Time warranty?
I have a Mares MR12/III from 1984 still works and can still be serviced was a top reg in it day.
What's with the card, is this Mares or Tusa? Is it part of a Life-time service deal? I see these parts for life deals as enforcing that 12 month revenue for the shop. The service kits cost the manufacturer virtually no money.
I dive ScubaPro at the moment as I was offered some regs at a very attractive price.
CptTightPants21
Contributor
Combination of things-What is available, what you read, what you try out. I have a variety of dive buddies/people I know so I got to try out a good selection of regulators-I tried Oceanic Alpha series (7,8,9), Oceanic GT3, Poseidon, atomic z2, sherwood brute, sherwood oasis, sherwood magnum?, apeks xtx 50, apeks xtx 100, apeks xtx 200, Scubapro G260, Hollis DC1/212, HOG, Aqualung Legends.
Didn't like the GT3 or the Sherwoods. Sherwoods are known for being workhorses, not the best breathers or anything, but they just work---and the ones I was breathing were from the 80's with probably over 2k in dives and pool sessions. The others I mentioned were all acceptable to one degree or the other, I thought the apeks were the best breathers and had excellent durability so I went with them for my doubles. From what I read here about HOG combined with talking with a tech diver who uses the HOGS for sidemount, I picked up a HOG for my stages/pony even though I never tested it out.
With regulators it really comes down to price point. Once you crack the $400 dollar mark they all basically breathe the same and it really comes down you which one you prefer personally.
I have never dove a TUSA and I honestly don't see many of them around where I dive. If I was looking for my first reg set up today and wanted to keep it within budget (~$450 primary, octo, 3 stage console), I would look at HOG, Oceanic Alpha Series (my first reg was an Alpha 7 and I still love it), or Aqualung Titan. I have never tried the aqualung titan, but it is supposed to be very good and aqualung has an excellent dealer network/easy to get it serviced. I believe Leisurepro has a Titan for $225? I forget Aqualung has a lot of different model types and you need to do your research to get the one that will match your type of diving. If money is not an problem, Apeks 50's or 100's in DIN--proven regulator that will be with you for the rest of your dive career and can seamlessly go into tech.
Regardless of what anyone tells you, try to tryout as many regulators as you can before making the purchase and if you go through a LDS, make sure they give you a good price.
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However LP is not an authorized dealer so all service is thru them or you pay for it out of pocket from day one. They offer their equivalent warrenty on Aqualung products. They are however an authorized dealer for just about anything else you see on their site. The way to tell is read the fine print - when it says LP Equivalent Warranty provided - that's someone they're not an authorized dealer for.
You save a lot of money on AL products if you don't care. Really after the first year it won't matter except that you need to confirm that your local AL dealer will still service the reg. And you'll obviously pay for parts. Which is cheapish - usually labor is 2-3x more.
I've read Tusa and Hog are both manufactured overseas by ODS so I'm not sure they're much different. So is DiveRite and some of the SubGear line looks pretty similar as well. Some of that is also old design Scubapro. Not that there's anything wrong with that either.
Don't buy DIN without verifying local tank availability. Especially if you plan to travel. Except for parts of FL (cave country) and possibly some colder locations - 95% of rental tanks are yoke. On islands like Bonaire it's probably 99%. Most liveaboards are predominantly Yoke also if you plan to do that later. Otherwise you have to add a converter (potentially one more failure point) or change your regs from DIN to Yoke as needed. DIN is really common in Europe though. And it's a better system for personal use - but DIN valves are too soft to take the abuse of rental fleets - either they get cross-threaded or they get dropped. By design a Yoke valve takes that pretty well, a DIN valve deforms out of round and becomes useless. Even a little grit in the threads can damage them. Especially if your reg is Titanium since it's a harder metal so the valve threads take the abuse.
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ok, bit of misinformation in that last post.
The yoke adapters aren't a failure point, it's one extra O-ring, hardly a real failure point especially since the DIN O-ring is captured and unless you lose it, they just don't fail....
Tusa makes their own regs, they are the manufacturer and based out of Japan. They manufacture their own regulators, as well as the regulators for Scubapro and Halcyon, I'm sure a couple others, but those are the two big ones. Scubapro is now under the massive Jarden Corporation, so while the regs are still Japanese and they have a licensing agreement with Halcyon for the MK25, you will see that the Tusa regs are all but identical to some of their other first stages. The Tusa is actually T-USA, Tabata USA.
Hog does import from ODS, as does Hollis, Dive Rite, and most of the smaller "house brand" regulators.
Regarding the warranty, some regulators carry a lifetime warranty regardless of service history, I prefer those regulators because I don't follow service schedules on my regulators, most technical divers don't, especially because the lifetime free parts is pointless compared to the cost of service, just doesn't balance out.
Yoke vs. DIN is important to consider, the added failure point is not worth worrying about just because the yoke O-ring is always the one to go anyway, so you have that either way. The thing to consider is if most of your diving is on yoke tanks, the first stage sticks out that much farther so you can hit your head on it. Most rental tanks in the US are starting to convert over to convertible valves, but I still like to pop a yoke kit onto my din regs when I know I'm going to need it instead of using the adapters. I always carry an adapter just in case, but don't like using them.
On how to choose them you really have three choices. Listen to your LDS and buy what they tell you, or read about the pros and cons of each regulator and buy whichever one you like, buy what your buddies dive if they are experienced and have gone through the hassles of choosing regulators before.
My list goes as follows
Poseidon
Apeks
HOG
DiveRite
I prefer Poseidons to the others because they are just wonderful regulators, people either love them or hate them, and I love them. They have a rap as being hard to service, but they really aren't that bad once you learn a few tricks. Can't justify their cost new, $1k for 2 firsts and 2 seconds, but they come up pretty cheap used. They are now allowing end users to purchase service kits and parts for them so that became really attractive now that DRiS and DGX are dealers
Apeks is the grandfather of the ODS style regulators, and I prefer their second stages to HOG and Dive Rite. Again, can't justify their cost new, but they come up for decent prices used pretty regularly. I have access to parts, but they lock them down pretty hard so it is difficult unless you know someone to get their parts kits.
ODS regs come in second, I prefer HOG because of the cheaper cost and they still have a lifetime warranty on the metal parts. The D3 now has a replaceable HP seat which is awesome because that tends to be what some techs will muck up and is about the only thing on these regulators that can cause them to be thrown in the trash.
Tusa et al didn't make my list because they have a different servicing style than the others and none of my buddies dive with them, they are all Apeks style regs or Poseidons, so there is no reason for me to be the odd ball out. The rest of the reg brands didn't make the list for various reasons, but most of it comes down to what my buddies use and what I can easily get parts kits for to service myself.
The Edge Epic is one of the sleepers in the list of regulators that isn't often seen, but it is a spot on regulator and would be the first one I would recommend to someone wanting a lightweight, travel regulator that wants to buy new. You can't beat the price of the thing, and the performance is pretty outstanding. Under $500 for the full set with SPG, hoses, and 1st with 2 seconds from DRiS is hard to beat.
The yoke adapters aren't a failure point, it's one extra O-ring, hardly a real failure point especially since the DIN O-ring is captured and unless you lose it, they just don't fail....
Tusa makes their own regs, they are the manufacturer and based out of Japan. They manufacture their own regulators, as well as the regulators for Scubapro and Halcyon, I'm sure a couple others, but those are the two big ones. Scubapro is now under the massive Jarden Corporation, so while the regs are still Japanese and they have a licensing agreement with Halcyon for the MK25, you will see that the Tusa regs are all but identical to some of their other first stages. The Tusa is actually T-USA, Tabata USA.
Hog does import from ODS, as does Hollis, Dive Rite, and most of the smaller "house brand" regulators.
Regarding the warranty, some regulators carry a lifetime warranty regardless of service history, I prefer those regulators because I don't follow service schedules on my regulators, most technical divers don't, especially because the lifetime free parts is pointless compared to the cost of service, just doesn't balance out.
Yoke vs. DIN is important to consider, the added failure point is not worth worrying about just because the yoke O-ring is always the one to go anyway, so you have that either way. The thing to consider is if most of your diving is on yoke tanks, the first stage sticks out that much farther so you can hit your head on it. Most rental tanks in the US are starting to convert over to convertible valves, but I still like to pop a yoke kit onto my din regs when I know I'm going to need it instead of using the adapters. I always carry an adapter just in case, but don't like using them.
On how to choose them you really have three choices. Listen to your LDS and buy what they tell you, or read about the pros and cons of each regulator and buy whichever one you like, buy what your buddies dive if they are experienced and have gone through the hassles of choosing regulators before.
My list goes as follows
Poseidon
Apeks
HOG
DiveRite
I prefer Poseidons to the others because they are just wonderful regulators, people either love them or hate them, and I love them. They have a rap as being hard to service, but they really aren't that bad once you learn a few tricks. Can't justify their cost new, $1k for 2 firsts and 2 seconds, but they come up pretty cheap used. They are now allowing end users to purchase service kits and parts for them so that became really attractive now that DRiS and DGX are dealers
Apeks is the grandfather of the ODS style regulators, and I prefer their second stages to HOG and Dive Rite. Again, can't justify their cost new, but they come up for decent prices used pretty regularly. I have access to parts, but they lock them down pretty hard so it is difficult unless you know someone to get their parts kits.
ODS regs come in second, I prefer HOG because of the cheaper cost and they still have a lifetime warranty on the metal parts. The D3 now has a replaceable HP seat which is awesome because that tends to be what some techs will muck up and is about the only thing on these regulators that can cause them to be thrown in the trash.
Tusa et al didn't make my list because they have a different servicing style than the others and none of my buddies dive with them, they are all Apeks style regs or Poseidons, so there is no reason for me to be the odd ball out. The rest of the reg brands didn't make the list for various reasons, but most of it comes down to what my buddies use and what I can easily get parts kits for to service myself.
The Edge Epic is one of the sleepers in the list of regulators that isn't often seen, but it is a spot on regulator and would be the first one I would recommend to someone wanting a lightweight, travel regulator that wants to buy new. You can't beat the price of the thing, and the performance is pretty outstanding. Under $500 for the full set with SPG, hoses, and 1st with 2 seconds from DRiS is hard to beat.
CptTightPants21
Contributor
All my tanks and the tanks at my LSD have convertible valves so that is something to take into consideration if you are in an area that doesn't have a lot of convertible valves (buy your own tanks and solve this problem 
).
Tbone tried to correct it, but I still think he made it sound like a Din-to-Yoke adapter was a "failure point" and as common as a freeflow. It is an O-ring, the same as your BC, regulators, and tanks. They sometimes need to be replaced, but don't think that should have any bearing on whether you get DIN or not. The biggest draw back of the adapter is that it does make the first stage stick out a little further, and this can be annoying to some people. Make no mistake, every single tech diver has din-to-yoke adapters for their regs when they travel. I only mentioned DIN, because all technical training requires that you have DIN regulators. So rather than having to buy a new regulator or switch out your Yoke first stage, get DIN to begin with and buy a $30 adapter. If you have no interest in tech diving, then it really doesn't matter which one you go with.
). Tbone tried to correct it, but I still think he made it sound like a Din-to-Yoke adapter was a "failure point" and as common as a freeflow. It is an O-ring, the same as your BC, regulators, and tanks. They sometimes need to be replaced, but don't think that should have any bearing on whether you get DIN or not. The biggest draw back of the adapter is that it does make the first stage stick out a little further, and this can be annoying to some people. Make no mistake, every single tech diver has din-to-yoke adapters for their regs when they travel. I only mentioned DIN, because all technical training requires that you have DIN regulators. So rather than having to buy a new regulator or switch out your Yoke first stage, get DIN to begin with and buy a $30 adapter. If you have no interest in tech diving, then it really doesn't matter which one you go with.
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