Aqua Lung & Apeks

[supervisor]

thanks for the tip. didn't know. I just knew they were expensive as anything . i gues if you are out of warranty.

I owned a legend once.

i disliked it a lot, because it has a plastic part on top of it, which could be damaged easily.

so i bought apeks

 

[Diver0001]

<snip>

Personally I think the key difference is in the second stage: the Apeks breathes IMO very wet and I prefer the Legend for that reason.
ScubaRon

ditto that.

R..

 

[wheezy]

was an Apeks guy for about 2 years Never had a single issue. Very solid regs all the way around. ATX50 is great, especially for the money. ATX 200 is also great (I only got to dive a 200 once) EXCELLENT machine work on the internal parts from Apeks.

HOWEVER... I dove the AquaLung Legend LX Supreme one time... that's all it took. I'm definately converted as I bought one the following week. I've got about 10 dives on it now.

There is a LOT of B.S. on this board when it comes to reg performance vs. another reg and so on. Honestly though, the LX Supreme is my personal favorite just because it is so dry... perfectly dry in fact. One of the first things I did with the thing was take it to 70ft and look straight up and take the longest hardest breath I could.... dry baby... love it.

Until something revolutionary comes along I'll be sticking with the Legend LX. You really can't go wrong with either.... one of my other reasons is service.... having to rent a $150 piece of junk while on vacation because they can't get you an Oring that fits is a Major bummer. I figure scubapro is best when it comes to that kind of stuff... but Aqua Lung isn't far behind. Good luck getting service on an Apeks on vacation (unless you are in the U.K.)

Good Luck

 

[rescuediver009]

are you saying that you had a bad experience trying to get the apeks parts or that you assume that they would not be as easy to obtain? I only ask because looking at the service kits there is nothing too complex contained in them.

 

[mmcdds]

Until something revolutionary comes along I'll be sticking with the Legend LX. You really can't go wrong with either.... one of my other reasons is service.... having to rent a $150 piece of junk while on vacation because they can't get you an Oring that fits is a Major bummer. I figure scubapro is best when it comes to that kind of stuff... but Aqua Lung isn't far behind. Good luck getting service on an Apeks on vacation (unless you are in the U.K.)

Good Luck

Unless I'm mistaken, since both AL and Apeks are owned by the same company (Air Liquide if I recall) any shop that sells or services AL should also be able to sell and service Apeks.

 

[rescuediver009]

that's what I was going to say. They are owned by the same company and distributed together. Not to mention that the regs are damn near the same anyways.

 

[wheezy]

that's what I was going to say. They are owned by the same company and distributed together. Not to mention that the regs are damn near the same anyways.

Yes, had to rent a 10 year old who knows what it was scubapro reg when I was on vacation last year. Quite honestly, I don't think I would have let the shop try to repair my reg if they had the parts.

Fact of the matter was they couldn't have serviced the AL either... all they did was scubapro.

In the USA yes, Aqua Lung is the distrubutor for Apeks, but in other parts of the world I don't think that's the case.

By the way... "damn near" is no good when it comes to reg service. Like the oring that had gone bad (it was completely torn and leaking air) somehow in the top of my ATX50 1st stage... was an odd size that even Liburdi's in Costa Mesa didn't have in stock for some reason.

Just my experience though.... the only time I ever had equipment fail and it was on a darn expensive vacation.... figures.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Well, this is why when I go on any dive trip, I always bring an extra reg (first and second stage), and also bring a service kit and tools with me. I have been known to overhaul an Apeks reg in one of the cottages at Captain Don's Habitat Bonaire. This has saved me lots of headaches, and most importantly saved a dive. I remember one trip I was on, a guy BOUGHT a new reg instead of using a rental or having the island dive shop work on his. I dont think I would have done that...

 

[rescuediver009]

Yeah especially having the swivel leak like that when you can replace the o-ring in a snap. why it pays toknow your reg right?

 

[ScubaRon]

Unless I'm mistaken, since both AL and Apeks are owned by the same company (Air Liquide if I recall) any shop that sells or services AL should also be able to sell and service Apeks.

Apeks is (like Suunto, SeaQuest, Deep Sea, Drager and a bunch of other companies) is owned by Aqualung. However the distribution channels are not necessarily the same and the reg designs and parts are different too. So a shop authorized to service Apeks regs is not necessarily authorized to service Aqualung regs and vice versa.
ScubaRon