Are there any regulators made in USA?

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm just curious if there are any scuba regulators that are made solely in the US, from materials to machining to final assembly?
I find it hard to believe that with the sheer size and scope of our resources we can't seem to be able to do it here.
Please tell me if you know of a brand made here in the US.
All this tariff stuff has got me thinking.
If a piece of dive gear was made here but it was twice the price of an import (minus the added tariff) would you buy it to support the US company and its employees?

 

[tridacna]

Sounds very patriotic but entirely unpractical. Market size is teensy to start and you’ve just excluded the rest of the world from your buyer pool.

Personally I would not pay extra for that.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I'm not sure about now, but Atomic regs used to be machined in the US. What I don't know is if all the parts are.
Sherwood is another US brand but I don't know if they are still made in the US. There was a Sherwood valve plant in my area, but it closed around 10 years ago or so.
As for paying twice as much for a made solely in US brand? Not me. I don't have that kind of disposable income.
With all the different mfgs now that have a large market share WORLDWIDE, it would make no sense to me that someone would try to set up a facility to mfg on a large scale. I can't see the market to justify it. Especially now that we are a pariah on the world stage and viewed with suspicion and contempt due to current policies.
A US made reg costing twice as much? Reality is if they wanted to make money and pay their employees a decent wage, it would probably cost 3 to 4 times as much.
I started off with used sherwoods because they worked and I could afford them, went to Oceanic because I got keyman pricing or better, then to HOG and became a dealer for them.
Affordable price was a large factor for me. But so was reliability. All of those were both. Atomics are very good regs. But I'd never buy one because of the cost.
I'm pretty much out of diving now other than a rare jump in the water. But if I were to start up again, I'd look for used regs I could get parts for to service myself. Where they were made wouldn't even be a consideration because I believe in a global economy and think borders, in general, are stupid.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm not sure about now, but Atomic regs used to be machined in the US. What I don't know is if all the parts are.
Sherwood is another US brand but I don't know if they are still made in the US. There was a Sherwood valve plant in my area, but it closed around 10 years ago or so.

I know that in the beginning most or all dive gear was made in and around Los Angeles.
I'm not sure but Scubapro might have been made in Italy from the start when SP spun off from Healthways.
Anyway, one big factor I know that would impede manufacture here, at least in this state, are the environmental laws. For instance they are steadily marching towards eliminating all chroming in this state.
It still baffles me that Italy, Sweden, Germany, France, Eastern Europe, UK and maybe a few others can manufacture scuba gear/regulators but we can't do it. Those aren't exactly cheap labor third world countries.
These tariffs don't make sense if there are no domestic alternatives.
I'll do some investigation into Sherwood and Atomic. I'm really curious about the state of our manufacturing.

 

[Johnoly]

I thought Zeagle's Military regs were wholly made in the US for quality reasons along with the Berry Amendment requiring U.S. made materials for their products. But that was before the Huish parent company.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I thought Zeagle's Military regs were wholly made in the US for quality reasons along with the Berry Amendment requiring U.S. made materials for their products. But that was before the Huish parent company.

Aqualung's Conshelf was made in a plant in LA.
They made the all metal Conshelf 14/1085 (actually 1081 now) for military and commercial use, but I heard that is long gone now.

Aqua Lung 1081-00 Conshelf XIV Regulator - 1st/2nd Stage

Aqua Lung Conshelf XIV Regulator 1st/2nd Stage 1081-00 is built for exceptional durability and continues to be the world's most popular Military and Professional Operations regulator.

www.amronintl.com

 

[Soloist]

Design, machining, molding, casting, forging, manufacturing AND assembly in the USA? Surely you jest. Last I heard the Freedom Contour Backplates were made entirely in the United States, but don't know if that is still the case.

Very curious what your thread will reveal.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Dive-Rite Chest Mounted rebreathers are made in Lake City, FL. Some components are not such as the Shearwater controllers for it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Design, machining, molding, casting, forging, manufacturing AND assembly in the USA? Surely you jest. Last I heard the Freedom Contour Backplates were made entirely in the United States, but don't know if that is still the case.

Very curious what your thread will reveal.

Yes Freedom Contours are made in the US and I try to source everything US made like stainless and abrasives etc.
The problem is there's a lot of cover up going on with the origin of materials.

 

[tridacna]

The problem is there's a lot of cover up going on with the origin of materials.

The same applies to SP or Mares or Cressi being “manufactured” in Italy. Assembled may be more appropriate.