Best Reg for Cave diving

[Baja Johnny]

Looking for recommendations for best reg for reliability for cave diving on my bail outs.

 

[Mobulai]

Reliable on what front/criteria?
To some the answer to your question is SP mk5/10/15/20, to some it’s a Poseidon mk3 for 1sts

Same for 2nds: from g250/260 to Cyklons to Hollis 500s

Maybe some more info in the type of environment you dive in / concern you; cold? Super silty?

I’d choose from the regs I have plenty of and can service myself — not that I cave dive yet or have independent stage bailouts (I’m only mod1); so a ton on mk20/g250s

My dil-outs are mk25s/g260/156BA(=g250), but maybe for a chocolate soup environment I’d switch the 156 to a 250 or 260; these I can uncover easily (If I ever needed that)

Sorry I realize my answer aint that helpful

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I have used Dive-Rite regs for many years for my bailouts on CCR and on OC for non CCR. They work fine for me.

 

[Dsix36]

I have used Dive-Rite regs for many years for my bailouts on CCR and on OC for non CCR. They work fine for me.

Ditto

 

[Nemrod]

Just saying, the glass reinforced case of the G260 is tough and it can be disassembled in the water with no loose parts (not true of the carbon version as there is a slip washer).

 

[halocline]

Looking for recommendations for best reg for reliability for cave diving on my bail outs.

There’s nothing special about cave diving for regulators other than they tend to get banged around on rocks on entries and exits. For that reason I use old SP metal case 2nds. Tanks can fall on them and they don’t break. But pretty much every other cave diver I’ve met uses plastic 2nd stages, so they obviously work fine.

You said ‘for bailouts’ which I assume means you’re diving CCR. In that case, there’s even less of an issue because you are presumably not using these except in an emergency, and in that case you hardly are worrying about their performance. You just want something simple and make sure to keep it in good working order.

 

[mr_v]

All my cave fleet is MK10/G250. Although, I appreciate MK10+ regs because I can service them in the field w/o having to have a special bullet to insert the piston. Some of my dives require 5-6 bailout bottles, so $200 per regulator pair + my time is reasonable for what's probably one of the best regs ever made. Although... good specimen are harder to find now. (To give you an idea, it takes about 5 mins to service an MK10/MK10+ if you know what you're doing. That does not include time in the wash or bench test.)

For sidemount OC I am considering Deep6 because I don't want to change my MK10/G250 hoses. So, correction, I do have one Deep6 reg and it performs flawlessly. The finish held up quite well, and I can easily buy service kits.

Whatever you do, don't fall for the DGX gimmic. Their regs breathe well but are disposable in my book. After a few dives, the finish will look like it has been through several world wars. The machining quality is just not there when you compare to Deep6. Also, I always had to tighten up the DIN fitting. Upside - they do breathe really well, like really well.

 

[Still Kicking]

There’s nothing special about cave diving for regulators other than they tend to get banged around on rocks on entries and exits. For that reason I use old SP metal case 2nds. Tanks can fall on them and they don’t break.

I was talking to a buddy about the advent of the polymer second stages and how many divers back in the day shunned them because ....plastic.

Someone at the shop took a salvaged plastic second stage and put it under the wheel of his truck and drove over it. No harm done. A metal second stage crumpled. They use the two second stages as a sales tool for a long time.

Secondhand info and it defies my expectations but that's the story.

 

[RyanT]

Best? Deep6, no question.

 

[halocline]

I was talking to a buddy about the advent of the polymer second stages and how many divers back in the day shunned them because ....plastic.

Someone at the shop took a salvaged plastic second stage and put it under the wheel of his truck and drove over it. No harm done. A metal second stage crumpled. They use the two second stages as a sales tool for a long time.

Secondhand info and it defies my expectations but that's the story.

I don’t know about the particulars of the 2nd stages that your dive shop used, but I know that the old SP metal case 2nds that I use hold up better than the plastic 2nd stages (mostly G250 and D300) that I own. I don’t really know or care about driving over a regulator with a truck, but let’s say that I’m extremely skeptical that any 2nd stage would survive being driven over on pavement. What I do know is that if a scuba tank rolls on my 2nd stage (it happens) then I don’t have any problems. But, as I said, pretty much every other cave diver i know uses plastic 2nd stages and somehow they’re not getting crushed either!

There is another reason I like the old metal case, too. I find that the old 2nd metal 2nd stages do not contribute as much to dry mouth. There’s a little condensation as your warm exhaled breath hits the colder metal. (Metal conducts heat better than plastic) It’s not enough to cause any problems with water in the 2nd stage, but I notice a difference over the course of a 2-3 hr cave dive.

It’s all a matter of personal preference.