A little about me, PADI advanced open water, typically do 2-4 total dives a year nowadays, warm water, typically 60-100 foot max depth, ocean. I've been using the same aeris a1 reg and octo since my initial open water certification in 2012. Took good care of it, rinsed well between dives,and no mechanical issues. Have my first liveaboard trip coming up, so I brought it into a dive shop to be inspected and serviced if needed. Dive shop owner stated he couldn't get parts to change out seals due to Aeris being out of business and the service kits no longer being produced. The dive shop only sells scuba pro regulators. Initially, I purchased the mk-17 evo/g260 combo, but after a little bit of research, I saw this was an older model and had him switch to the mk19 Evo/d420 at his recommendation. This ended up being about $300 more. When I went to pick up the regulator, he mentioned it had to be extensively tuned out of the box. I'm looking for something that's low maintenance and won't cause me any problems out in the field. No plans for Coldwater diving in the immediate future. If you were in my shoes, would you go back to the MK 17 evo/g265 and save the $300 or stay with the mk19 evo/d420? Is there any compelling advantage to staying with the mk19 evo/d420?
Did I get the right regulator? D420 vs g260
- Thread starter Ciguatera
- Start date
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I’m not a mk19 user and don’t see a need to be but if you feel the need for swivel turret it’s a good choice. I dive a MK17 and modified D420, MK 17 is a go to for me, the G260 is a near perfect regulator, the D420 is a touch better for me and keep in mind I’ve modified mine, out of the box it’s an excellent regulator but while I’ve tried a few that were very far from great performers, the two newest were excellent. The G260 is a very good choice, is very easy to tune to excellent performance and is rugged, it’s an older design because it’s so close to perfection than any change is superfluous or cosmetic.
I liken the D420 as one of the hotrods of regulators and unless you’re into hotrods and like to tinker, tuning yourself, I wouldn't bother. G260 is a far better choice for you.
No and yes, you can’t go wrong with a MK17 or a G260 but I don’t think you will go wrong with the 420 either but saving $300 is saving $300…
G260 for dependable high performance, it is one of my go to regulators for a day of worry free diving.
I have modified the seat to an o-ring and added an adjuster made by James79 as OOD points out the 420 is a hot rod, good off the showroom floor but a screaming tire burner when tinkered with. There are some long threads that you can search for.
Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm not planning on modding the d420 due to a lack of experience. Is it going to be a noticable improvement with the d420 over the g260 in quality of breathing? Does the mk19 evo offer any performance benefit over the mk 17 evo, other than swivel turrent? Thanks!
For the diving you describe the MK17/G260 will offer everything you could ever want, the19 has a swivel turret like a mk25 but offers no performance improvement over the 17.
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