Hi,
I’m looking for my first regulator and I am so confused.
First, here is a list of my requirements:
- Full regulator set (1st, 2*2nd, SPG and hoses) for recreational diving
- I’d prefer it to be travel friendly but I don’t know if tiny second stages will be comfortable to me (I’m a big guy with a SAC of about 18-20lt/min). I haven’t had the chance to try any of them out yet.
- Use only in warm sea water (no need for cold kits etc)
- I think I will go for a new set. I wouldn’t mind second hand but my country charges full import fees even in second hand goods coming from outside the EU. Even within EU considering the shipping and servicing cost it doesn’t make much sense. Anyway I haven’t seen any reasonably good second hand deals within EU. Maybe I don’t know where to look for them.
- My LDS says they can practically service any regulator (well at least the ones commonly fount in Europe) but I am highly interested in servicing it myself. So I need it to be reasonably easy to service with service kits available from European suppliers.
- My computer is not AI but I might move to AI in the future so I think I’ll consider 2 HP ports as a minimum.
- I currently use the classic setup (safe second donate) and I am quite happy with it. For now I just don’t see much sense in having to deal with all these long hoses etc. One time that I had to share air (I was receiving) with the classic setup it was not the most comfortable thing to do, but it was very doable. I might consider a long hose/primary donate setup but it will probably be in the future.
- I am not perfectionist so I am not looking for THE best. Any good reg set that would last me long enough without major problems will be more than enough for me. For example I am pretty sure that I don’t need all these breathing effort and Venturis levels etc that I will never touch anyway on my second stages. A simple, reliable, easy to maintain set will be perfect.
- I’d like the price to be around 300 euros (350$) or so. Lower if possible so I can spend the money for more dives.
From the commends I’ve seen here in SB and the rest of the web I have kind of decided to go for a Scubapro. The problem is that even Scubapro offers so many different options that makes me really confused. Apart from piston / diaphragm, what are the differences between all these first stages (MK10,MK11,MK26 etc etc)? And then you have several second stages! I fount some comparison charts but several models are not even mentioned in them. And then you have all these models changing over time (old model, newer, newest etc etc). How do I know which version of the model it is all about?
Should I just pick some up randomly, or get the cheapest Scubapro deal I can find online?
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
I’m looking for my first regulator and I am so confused.
First, here is a list of my requirements:
- Full regulator set (1st, 2*2nd, SPG and hoses) for recreational diving
- I’d prefer it to be travel friendly but I don’t know if tiny second stages will be comfortable to me (I’m a big guy with a SAC of about 18-20lt/min). I haven’t had the chance to try any of them out yet.
- Use only in warm sea water (no need for cold kits etc)
- I think I will go for a new set. I wouldn’t mind second hand but my country charges full import fees even in second hand goods coming from outside the EU. Even within EU considering the shipping and servicing cost it doesn’t make much sense. Anyway I haven’t seen any reasonably good second hand deals within EU. Maybe I don’t know where to look for them.
- My LDS says they can practically service any regulator (well at least the ones commonly fount in Europe) but I am highly interested in servicing it myself. So I need it to be reasonably easy to service with service kits available from European suppliers.
- My computer is not AI but I might move to AI in the future so I think I’ll consider 2 HP ports as a minimum.
- I currently use the classic setup (safe second donate) and I am quite happy with it. For now I just don’t see much sense in having to deal with all these long hoses etc. One time that I had to share air (I was receiving) with the classic setup it was not the most comfortable thing to do, but it was very doable. I might consider a long hose/primary donate setup but it will probably be in the future.
- I am not perfectionist so I am not looking for THE best. Any good reg set that would last me long enough without major problems will be more than enough for me. For example I am pretty sure that I don’t need all these breathing effort and Venturis levels etc that I will never touch anyway on my second stages. A simple, reliable, easy to maintain set will be perfect.
- I’d like the price to be around 300 euros (350$) or so. Lower if possible so I can spend the money for more dives.
From the commends I’ve seen here in SB and the rest of the web I have kind of decided to go for a Scubapro. The problem is that even Scubapro offers so many different options that makes me really confused. Apart from piston / diaphragm, what are the differences between all these first stages (MK10,MK11,MK26 etc etc)? And then you have several second stages! I fount some comparison charts but several models are not even mentioned in them. And then you have all these models changing over time (old model, newer, newest etc etc). How do I know which version of the model it is all about?
Should I just pick some up randomly, or get the cheapest Scubapro deal I can find online?
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
Scubapro tends to be great products, but a bit overpriced.
