Complete Confusion W/ Reg Selection

[buckyblue920]

Being completely honest and a recovering W.O.W. player, I am a noob in terms of scuba. I am looking to purchase gear for my June certification, and wanting to make sound decisions in the money I am investing for personal and professional (law enforcement) diving. The dive shop I'm going through has given great tips, but when the regular manager wasn't on duty another employee steered me towards another reg.

In short, I plan on doing most of my diving in WI and the Great Lakes Region. I want to get involved with search and recovery working alongside with friends who own cadaver dogs outside our department. I thought I was settled on the Aqualung Titan LX Supreme, but now doubting that choice. The most recent dive shop visit with another employee suggested Legend LX Supreme for cold water dives. I want a reg I can count on for dives here in WI, and one that travels well to the warmer waters of Hawaii and Cayman. Any advice is always appreciated!

Thank you so much,

Dan

 

[Thalassamania]

The best regulator buy that I know of, without any compromise in performance or reliability, is the HOG. They are also the only company that I know of that wants to see you, the end user, trained to service and repair your own regulator.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

I can't really advise on Aqualungs since I've dove a Titan only once.

How much you got to work with?
The dive team I'm with uses exclusively Poseidon regs. They're just about bulletproof as far as reliability, but they're not cheap.
My personal set is a Hollis DC1/221 combo that is sealed for cold water use. I've been in near freezing water with it (in Lake Superior), and it works fantastically. It'd probably be good for travel, because the second stages are so light.

+1 for the HOG regs as well, they are fantastic. The wife has a set of those and I like em almost as much as she does.

 

[Thalassamania]

I love Poseidons, I have a bunch. The issues with them are service and repair (if you don't do it yourself) and price.

 

[buckyblue920]

I should apologize, the main reason I have Aqualung in mind is b/c of the dive shop's on hand stock primarily consists of those regs and the possible discount applicable for public safety (LEO) applications.

My limits are my wallet, the department is willing to entertain the idea of a dive team, at cost to each individual officer who wants to be involved. The department at this point supports the concept; however, each officer will have to buy their own equipment. Just as my fellow officers / friends have their own privately owned cadaver dogs, I would be using my own equipment for SAR. I want a quality piece of gear, but I don't want to drop $700+ on a reg at this point either. I would be comfortable with up to $550 if its a piece of gear that will last me a few years.

Thanks for the advice, I really do appreciate this.

 

[Thalassamania]

The HOG setup, will run you less than $550.

 

[Rick Murchison]

The Titan LX Supreme with the cold water mod should meet all your needs, provide excellent breathing performance and be priced well below other regs with like performance. I personally think the Titans are the most bang-for-the-buck on the market. I consider 'em bulletproof, and you'll find more places that can service them than any other reg.

Rick

 

[WreckDiver1321]

With budget concerns in mind, I'm with Thal on this one. HOGs are huge bang for micro bucks.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

• Any well-built cold water reg will perform great in warm water, too.
• I wouldn't advise buying a BCD or reg setup prior to getting certified. Lots of weird things can happen during OW class. You might discover that you don't like diving. People have also been known to drop out of class for medically-related conditions. Make sure that you are willing and able to continue on with the sport before committing financially by purchasing a reg setup.
• Most dive shops include BCD + reg + weight rental with the cost of the OW class. Use class time to become familiar with the rental gear. Figure out what you like and don't like about it. After the class is over, it might make sense to talk to other local divers about what regs they use and where they get them serviced.
• Your police department dive team may have guidelines specifying make/model/features for certain gear. Although you'll have a separate reg set for work, it might be nice to match up your personal reg with your work reg (same brand, similar model). You'll be more familiar with the reg and be able to interchange parts in a pinch.
• Reg performance has a lot to do with the skill of the reg repair tech who last tuned/serviced it.

The Titan LX second stage is basically the low-end Legend.
As Rick Murchison mentioned, the Titan LX Supreme first stage is environmentally sealed, which is preferable for cold water diving.

Aqualung has a global network of dealers. You shouldn't have any trouble getting an Aqualung reg serviced wherever you are.

For anyone interested in learning how to service his/her own regs...
With respect to the HOG reg repair class mentioned by Thalassamania, the OP should know that the class is not open to recreational divers. The manufacturer is adamant that the HOG line of gear is marketed to the tech diving crowd only. Thus, a diver is permitted to sign up for the class only if he/she holds a tech certification or has taken some sort of approved tech class. This policy specifically excludes recreational divers who want to know how to service their own regs. This may not be a big deal for the OP since law enforcement diving may qualify him as a "tech diver."

 

[herman]

The Titan is fine, the LDs is trying to make a few more bucks on you. The internals of those 2 regs are the same, just the outside layout/design is different so all you are getting by spending the extra money for the Legend is cosmetic. Either are solid regs that will serve you well.