Durable Safe Reliable Regulator??

[HoyaSaxa]

Hi Everyone,

I'm brand new here, but I've been diving for about 15 years. I am finally ready to buy a regulator and need some advice.

I have about $300 to spend on a 1st and 2nd stage set. I've looked at the Zeagle Envoy Deluxe and the Dacor American viper. I have no idea how to choose between them.

I am a recreational diver who never uses anything other than regular air. I stay above 120' and don't dive in cold water. I have, however, been at 100' when both my primary and octopus failed, and I didn't enjoy having to buddy dive with only ten minutes of air left in my buddy's tank!

So, I really want a regulator that will be reliable and safe. I will get it serviced yearly, but I'm not equiped to handle a lot of on-site tinkering and adjustments.

A control to adjust the flow of air would be a nice feature.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!!!
-- Brian

 

[mossym]

personally i'd go with the zeagle, but that's just brand preference on my part, i've never dove the dacor, but i've always heard good things about zeagle

 

[Wayward Son]

I'd avoid Dacor like the plague. Support has apparently vanished.

 

[deadend]

You can't go wrong with Zeagle-do a search for good testimonials.

 

[HoyaSaxa]

What about Aeris?

 

[rpodos]

Personal preference... If I were buying a new set-up, I'd go with Scubapro:

1st stage: MK16 (or MK25 for a bit more)
2nd stage: X650
Octopus: AIR2

That is more or less the up-to-date version of what I dive with now. I love getting rid of the extra octupus cord, the rig ALWAYS performs, and I find that just about every place I;ve ever been has Scubapro parts at some dive shop or another (not that one needs them often... but when you do!!). The second stage is a bit rare, but whenever we who have it see each other on a boat, we always rave about it compared to more convential mouth pieces.... the air flow control works great.

This is a touch more than you requested... maybe around $400.

 

[cooleyjb]

What about Aeris?

I have an Atmos Pro and having dove on only a few regulator I like it a lot. In my opinion for the price it is quite good. I found it better than all the Sherwoods and some old rental scubapros that I had in training. It was also nicer than the bottom of the line Atomics that the LDS had as demos.

 

[ghrousseau]

Zeagle service and quality is excellent. You can't go wrong with their products.

 

[keyshunter]

I am fanatical about those two properties. The Sherwoods, Aqua Lung Titans, and the Scubapro Mark 2 are the paradigm for those properties. Not the best breathers out there, perhaps, but tough as a range bull, and extremely reliable.

The Zeagle Envoy seems like a great reg, and will probably be my next purchase, but has not been around long enough to truly compare with those mentioned above. Personally, I think it will prove to be a great one, and Zeagle has a great reputation for service, as well.

These days, I only dive about 140 to 150 dives a year, but I still apply the parameters I used when I dived a lot, and amassed a bunch of dives between services.
That said, in my opinion, for the average sport diver, any reg for which competent service is readily available will do just fine.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

An SP Mk 2 R190 or Mk 2 R390 would fit your under $300 budget and is about as simple and reliable as it gets for a regulator. Breathing performance is also pretty good out of the box and can be improved quite a bit with a tech willing to set the cracking effort lower (at around 1.0" of water) rather than the specified 1.4" to 1.6".

Several divers I know use them to 130-140 ft and in water as cold as 33 degress with no issues.