Buying Regulators - Recommendations Please

[spacemanspiff1974]

Any well known brand of regulator is going to treat you just fine in the warm water sport diving arena. Cold water may mean that you will want environmental sealing to keep your first stage (the part that screws on to your tank) from forming ice. The down side of envoronmental sealing is that it can sometimes increase the breathing effort - although I haven't found this to be a problem.

I dive Zeagle envoy deluxes. I've had them down to a little over 160 feet and they worked flawlessly. On the last technical trip I went on (where everybody was going 150' or deeper) I saw the following brands of regulators being used (not sure on the exact models) :Apeks, Atomic, Zeagle, Mares and Poseidon.

Just my two cents.

 

[budgy]

My first reg was an Aqualung, they make good regs.

I use Scubapro regs now. They make good regs. Scubapro's after sales and public relations in the U.K. with regard to the people that use their product is excellent. Sorry I can't say the same for Aqualung.

I expect 3 out of 4 new divers will give up diving within 4 years. I've seen quite a few new divers buy expensive top of the range regs, its not necessarily a mistake. I saw one new diver with a limited edition Apex black pearl. Still as a first reg I'd wouldn't advise buying a top of the range reg. I'd recommend a Scubpro mk2, It's basic, reliable and cheap.

 

[Lonestar Diver]

If your looking at performance, most of the higher end regs from any manufacturer will breath so well you won't notice a difference (Hint: if it's in a rental program it probably isn't high end). This may or may not be an issue depending on if a diver is going to push the limits and need (vs. want) the performance.
A diver then needs to decide things like if they will be diving in some remote area that only services this or that line. There are also regulators that are more or less finicky and subsequently more or less difficult (and expensive) to care for. Thus one needs to ask ones self (Honestly) how well will they care for the gear.

Then a diver should ask them self if the configuration of the ports and how that relates to how they want their hoses routed is doable.

The LAST THING a diver should be concerned with is price. Diving and bargain are two words that are mutually exclusive. One can't dive on the cheap safely



See you in the water column
LSD

 

[Aspendiver]

The LAST THING a diver should be concerned with is price. Diving and bargain are two words that are mutually exclusive. One can't dive on the cheap safely.LSD

Why do people insist on buying into this line of reasoning? Right now, you can buy a new OCEANIC GT3 W- CDX5 REGULATOR for $200. Good reg, great price. When it first came out, list price was almost $500. Are the people that paid list price safer than the ones who buy it now for less?
Safety is dependent on design, manufacturing, training, and usage. Sometimes this equates to price, and sometimes it doesn't. Smart shopping is about getting the most for your money.

 

[Lonestar Diver]

Why do people insist on buying into this line of reasoning? Right now, you can buy a new OCEANIC GT3 W- CDX5 REGULATOR for $200. Good reg, great price. When it first came out, list price was almost $500. Are the people that paid list price safer than the ones who buy it now for less?
Safety is dependent on design, manufacturing, training, and usage. Sometimes this equates to price, and sometimes it doesn't. Smart shopping is about getting the most for your money.

Well, I'm all for finding deals where I can but the Oceanic line is a prime example of a regulator I wouldent want to buy, at any price. The problem with Oceanic is that they have machining issues on the 1st stages that manafest themself by cracks in the body that could be a problem for obvious reasons. Furthermore, The 2nd stages are prone to cracking in the oriffice housing inlet (This is the plastic part protruding from the side of the regulator where the metal fitting screws into the plastic 2nd stage housing). This is also an obvious quality issue that effects saftey.

There are regulator lines out there (Oceanic is one of them) that, Not only would I not dive them, but I wouldn't dive with a buddy that was diving that line.

Oh, if your wondering, I work in a dive shop as a repair technition and I see one of these two issues on EVERY Oceanic Regulator that comes across my bench (Usually the 2nd stage issue). I usually see about 50 regulators from the Oceanic line a year so I think the problem is a little beyond an isolated incident.

People who bougt that line at any price are at a risk that in my mind are unacceptable.

Relivant question - "What is the failure rate?"
Less relivant question " How much does it cost?"

 

[Aspendiver]

In a backwards way, you prove my point- it's not what you pay for something that is important- it's how well it is designed and built, and how well the person is trained in its usage, and the conditions under which it is used.
(I don't dive this Genesis reg, I just used it as an example of something that was available as a bargain- in this case the "bargain", in your opinion, is anything but!)
I dive the XS Scuba Tri-metal- hi performance on the bench, high performance in the water, and peforms well in long-term durability testing. Half the cost of similar-performance regs from other manufacturers.

 

[Jimmer]

Lonestar, interesting to hear that. I've been using Oceanics for about 14 years. My LDS sells more Oceanics than any other brand, and they have their rental fleet full of them. My instructor has been an Oceanic tech for god knows how long, and he's never seen anything even remotely out of the ordinary. I know tons of guys that use them deep/cold/tech with zero issues. It always interests me when I see a situation in any industry where 2 groups can have 2 absolutely opposite experiences with something, even over a long term.