First reg, need to buy two, rec diver

[cerich]

Dude,

Deep6 has been on the market for what... 20 months since the DEMA 2015 announcement of their brand, and 12 or so months since deliveries to select 'trendsetters' in the industry. C'mon, "many on the board swear by Deep6"? They may produce a quality regulator, but there is no substantial track record of their products, service, warranty claims, recall practices, etc.

Lots of innovative dive gear brands have come and gone over the years: Farallon, DACOR, U.S. Divers. Rather than Beta testing for a startup, I would recommend that a newbie stay with a recognized, well known brand with a substantial track record of good customer service: ScubaPro, Aqualung, Mares, those are brands in which many on the board swear by.

EOR

if somebody is uncomfortable with us as a newer brand, i recommend they stay with a established brand as well, enough of them have gone broke lately and been assets bought for a dime on the dollar lately, lots of good deals out there

If you want the best bang for the dollar and are ok with a new brand, I think they will be very happy with Deep 6

 

[halocline]

Whatever you get, don't spend too much. There is an amazing amount of BS and hype in regulator sales. This is cleverly intertwined with instruction and purported safety issues at many dive shops. By posting here, you are at least getting a more varied and sincere source of advice.

For me the best solution is to buy used regs. You do have to know what you're looking for and either buy from a reputable source or be prepared to fix things yourself. Often the prices are so reasonable you can do this and still come out ahead.

I don't know anything about the deep 6 regs, but they certainly do seem to be more reasonably priced than typical dive shop fare, and cerich is a long time SB member with a very good reputation.

 

[tbone1004]

Whatever you get, don't spend too much. There is an amazing amount of BS and hype in regulator sales. This is cleverly intertwined with instruction and purported safety issues at many dive shops. By posting here, you are at least getting a more varied and sincere source of advice.

For me the best solution is to buy used regs. You do have to know what you're looking for and either buy from a reputable source or be prepared to fix things yourself. Often the prices are so reasonable you can do this and still come out ahead.

I don't know anything about the deep 6 regs, but they certainly do seem to be more reasonably priced than typical dive shop fare, and cerich is a long time SB member with a very good reputation.

oh you mean like the $250 set of poseidon doubles regs that I picked up a month ago? Spend $200 in parts and hoses on them and have a reg set that you'd spend at least $1200 buying new? or the MK10/109 singles regulator set that I picked up for free out of the junk bin in a dive shop? Spend about $300 on parts and replacing all of the rubber on the second stages, new hoses etc. but you can't beat that.

That said, I'm extremely DIY oriented and refuse to rely on anyone else to fix my regs and also know what I'm getting into and accept the risk of buying used regs typically sight unseen. Not for everyone and the cost of doing that if you don't find screaming deals typically doesn't outweigh the advantage of buying new regulators, especially at the prices you can buy regs like the Deep6 for. I'm in for $300 for the MK5/109's vs. $700 for the Deep6. I have regulators that I'm happy with, but they aren't the prettiest looking second stages because they've been beat up, they don't have a venturi lever on them which helps with freeflows for a lot of divers, I'm going to get looked at funny with them by dive shops, and if I had to pay to have that work done, I would have been in for about $400 with no warranty. Also no guarantee that the regs would work properly since I bought them sight unseen.

 

[oldschoolto]

Almost all the regulator sets I have bought look like they had a few dives and we're washed up and have been in a closet for 20+ years...

Jim...

 

[USdiver1]

As a man with 45+ regulators (about 1/2 of them double hose, 1/2 single hose) plus parts to assemble several more in his dive locker, I too appreciate the benefit of buying used. Nevertheless, I would recommend getting a new set from a dive shop for novice divers. You've got to start somewhere and the added confidence of having new equipment for the beginner is worth the expense IMO.

 

[oldschoolto]

As a man with 45+ regulators (about 1/2 of them double hose, 1/2 single hose) plus parts to assemble several more in his dive locker, I too appreciate the benefit of buying used. Nevertheless, I would recommend getting a new set from a dive shop for novice divers. You've got to start somewhere and the added confidence of having new equipment for the beginner is worth the expense IMO.

I agree.. Unless the new diver is a handy DIY person with cars or bikes.. Then learning regulators would not be a big deal.. There are some great regulator sets for sale at great saving...

Jim..

 

[Centrals]

DIY is fun but only up to certain limit(for me personally). So I stay with Apeks.
However, I would never ever suggest to any novice diver to buy used equipment.

 

[RainPilot]

Just to make one thing clear, there is no requirement to be DIY with the Deep 6 gear. They can be serviced at any LDS willing to do so (mine took mine apart, had a good look and said no worries, the tools required are the same as the Apeks and HOG tools) using the service kits supplied.

Even better if you are in the US is to send them in to the factory, they will do the service for you (first one free) using the service kits you got with the regs, then send them back with new service kits. You can buy a service plan from them as well which will lock in the price per service.

Either way, you CAN service them yourself, you don't HAVE to service them yourself.

 

[halocline]

However, I would never ever suggest to any novice diver to buy used equipment.

I bought used regs as a novice diver with no problems and I saved a huge amount of money. I sought out the advice of an experienced diver/tech and paid him to service them. There's no problem for any new diver buying used regs as long as they have the advice of someone who can guide them. If they're on their own, buying on ebay, that's a different story. But there's no shortage of free advice.

T-bone, I have no idea where your '$300 in parts' came for a MK10/109 singles set. That's several times more than I have ever spent on parts to fix up a MK10 or a 109. I suppose if you wanted to replace every piece of rubber, silicone, and buy new hoses, poppet, mouthpiece, then you could spend a bit of money on a 109. It's still hundreds less than a A700.

 

[tbone1004]

I bought used regs as a novice diver with no problems and I saved a huge amount of money. I sought out the advice of an experienced diver/tech and paid him to service them. There's no problem for any new diver buying used regs as long as they have the advice of someone who can guide them. If they're on their own, buying on ebay, that's a different story. But there's no shortage of free advice.

T-bone, I have no idea where your '$300 in parts' came for a MK10/109 singles set. That's several times more than I have ever spent on parts to fix up a MK10 or a 109. I suppose if you wanted to replace every piece of rubber, silicone, and buy new hoses, poppet, mouthpiece, then you could spend a bit of money on a 109. It's still hundreds less than a A700.

they all needed new diaphragms, diaphragm cover, mouthpieces, and exhaust T which was the bulk of it. All needed new poppets as well. I think that plus the rebuild kit for the first stage was around $200. Needed all new hoses and a SPG as well which was just shy of $100. It was essentially the metal parts of those regs were all that was salvageable.