"disposable regulators" vs servicing?

[Lorenzoid]

hmmm, I might pick up a Deep6 Sig Series second to use as an secondary for my current setup. I’m kinda thinking about going primary donate or using a “better” octo.

If anyone sees @jellycatsdad out there, be sure to tell him how cool and gear-savvy he looks with that reg. The orange color is said to look especially cool, though I myself prefer mostly black.

 

[mr_v]

With Aqualung’s issues, I’m not sure how long they’ll be around for. Around here, Scubapro is the main brand shops sell. Bob Hollis was a local diving legend but from what I’ve read here, support just isn’t what is was.

hmmm, I might pick up a Deep6 Sig Series second to use as an secondary for my current setup. I’m kinda thinking about going primary donate or using a “better” octo.

Based on what you just said, I recommend trying Deep6 asap.

Scubapro is good at extracting $ from you. For full, disclosure, most of my regs are SP MK10s. I got into MK10s because they're relatively easy to service and when combined with G250 the entire reg set is marvelous.

Deep6 regs are probably the best regs available to US buyers given performance/price consideration. I have a Deep6 reg on one of my bailouts and it has been holding up really well. It breathes like a well-tuned ScubaPro out of the box. It is also a fully sealed diagram reg that will serve you well in cold-ish NorCal waters.

Finally, if you're into "coolness," modern ScubaPros aren't it. Shiny expensive gear means that its owner has a credit card. If you want to talk w guys who know what's up, seek out those with well-used SP 109s ;-)

 

[Exxilon]

After paying for recent (and a couple in the past) service cycles on my 12 year old Atomic Z2x regulators...

Well, after the parts and labor costs (~$450 for my wife's and mine's), I am considering just buying brand new DGX Gears XTRA Streamlines OW reg packages (that include new hoses for $549) every 3 years and selling the old regs every 3 years on EBay . Anyone else taken this approach rather than paying for servicing? I'm having a hard time seeing how this isn't a better route honestly.

My regular dive buddy does exactly what you are suggesting while I continue to service my regs. I haven't crunched the numbers down to the dime but in broad terms the costs are in the same bandwidth.

The difference is that he has new regs every X number of years and I have older ones that I've done a great many dives with and trust.

In terms of performance, I personally don't think that regs have improved much (if at all) over the last 25 years. Performance is not a compelling reason to want newer regs. The best performing reg I have ever owned is one that I bought in 2003/4.

 

[lowwall]

Bob Hollis was a local diving legend but from what I’ve read here, support just isn’t what is was.

Hollis got bought out by Huish Outdoors which also owns Oceanic (which Bob also founded) and Atomic and Zeagle. Quality should not be compromised, but you are dealing with big faceless corporation instead of the founding family.

 

[jellycatsdad]

Based on what you just said, I recommend trying Deep6 asap.

Scubapro is good at extracting $ from you. For full, disclosure, most of my regs are SP MK10s. I got into MK10s because they're relatively easy to service and when combined with G250 the entire reg set is marvelous.

Deep6 regs are probably the best regs available to US buyers given performance/price consideration. I have a Deep6 reg on one of my bailouts and it has been holding up really well. It breathes like a well-tuned ScubaPro out of the box. It is also a fully sealed diagram reg that will serve you well in cold-ish NorCal waters.

Finally, if you're into "coolness," modern ScubaPros aren't it. Shiny expensive gear means that its owner has a credit card. If you want to talk w guys who know what's up, seek out those with well-used SP 109s ;-)

I actually have an MK5 and an Sportways second on the way for me to take apart and learn how my gear works.

I currently dive a Mares rig - MR42T first, Proton Metal and MV Octo seconds. I’ve had my dive instructor tell me it’s a beautiful setup, someone else asked me it’s shiny and she was shocked that my second stage was metal and lighter than her Oceanic regs. When I had them serviced by a competent tech he said they were in fine shape and keep up my maintenance practices. I’m not in the market for regs anytime soon - I also have a relationship with two dive shops I like as well. But now that I read more about it(especially @cerich’s post about one of his customers not having a great experience with their LDS), I’ll give Deep6 some more consideration in the future.

 

[jellycatsdad]

If anyone sees @jellycatsdad out there, be sure to tell him how cool and gear-savvy he looks with that reg. The orange color is said to look especially cool, though I myself prefer mostly black.

Hey, I like some color with my gear!

I do own pink fins and my mask is white. But the rest of my kit except for regs is drab.

 

[jellycatsdad]

A lot of new divers get pushed into buying gear early do 25 dives and don't stick with it. There is a glut of really good gear that has been lightly used on eBay or Craig's List. I bought my tanks off of Craig's list. It took a while for exactly the ones I wanted to show up, but I got them (2x 120s) for $250 (plus a bunch of loose gear). I spent $400 on a BCD (SP Nighthawk) and SP G260/ MK25 with a gauge, compass and hose integrated computer. All this gear I have been using for more than ten years. All my used gear came from Craig's list, so I was able to inspect it first hand.

Even if you pay someone to service it, it is a lot more cost effective than buy retail new. You do have somewhat more risk buy a regulator that was run over by a car, but that is less likely. Good gear will be good as new if properly serviced.
Basically junking new gear that should have a 20 year life expectancy is terrible idea not only from an economic stand point, but from an environmental one as well. There are tons of perfectly serviceable regulators out there looking for homes.

I bought my regs off eBay when I was going to get certified years ago and didn’t do it - they stayed in my closet until last year. They were barely even used. I try to find good, used gear if it all checks out, and especially for things like lead and tanks. I did pick up a used pair of LP95s. Not my ideal tank but per my LDS, they’re in servicable shape pending hydro/O2 cleaning(I chose to do that so I can use nitrox down the road) and new valves.

It’s almost like skiing/snowboarding and cycling - people will buy the latest and greatest and find out it’s not their thing. My instructor encourages his students to rent gear to see what works for you, in contrast to what most shops do.

 

[Bigbella]

My instructor encourages his students to rent gear to see what works for you, in contrast to what most shops do.

Sadly, I have not seen a decent variety of rental gear at shops in a great many years, with most now geared toward the cheapest bargain basement models available . . .

 

[jellycatsdad]

Sadly, I have not seen a decent variety of rental gear at shops in a great many years, with most now geared toward the cheapest bargain basement models available . . .

Yea, the LDS I deal with primarily rents out nice gear, but it’s not always the case. Else, the stuff I see rented out is worse for wear.

 

[lowwall]

I currently dive a Mares rig - MR42T first, Proton Metal and MV Octo seconds. I’ve had my dive instructor tell me it’s a beautiful setup, someone else asked me it’s shiny and she was shocked that my second stage was metal and lighter than her Oceanic regs. When I had them serviced by a competent tech he said they were in fine shape and keep up my maintenance practices. I’m not in the market for regs anytime soon - I also have a relationship with two dive shops I like as well. But now that I read more about it(especially @cerich’s post about one of his customers not having a great experience with their LDS), I’ll give Deep6 some more consideration in the future.

That's a great setup, especially if you need to travel with it. I use an MR22T first with Proton Metal seconds (both primary and octo). IMO, the Proton Metal in its various forms is one of the all time great seconds. It's compact, all-metal, has a full-size exhaust, and is simple to tune and service. I think the only reason it failed in the marketplace is people assumed that high performance stages had to be big (or they didn't want to be seen with "girly" sized stages).