First regulator - purely recreational vs. tec suitable?

[happy-diver]

the dude seemed so keen, just casually cruisin anyway we're having fun, not the same dudes today as yesterday

 

[Angelo Farina]

Unfortunately, this is not strictly true. While the seat is the same, the white collar of the Mk11/17 poppet is 0.15 mm larger than the black collar of the Mk19EVO. I tried using a Mk17 poppet and it stuck in the bore.

You can take a Mk17 poppet and sand the bumps on the white collar down with Micromesh, or you can slide the black collar off your old poppet and switch it with the white collar of the new Mk17 poppet. If you sand it down, you want a final OD of 11.70mm.

Thanks, great info there.
I was referring to the old "not EVO" version of MK19, which internally was a MK17.
Now I see that with the new EVO version things are changed slightly...
I do not own a MK19 Evo...
I looks a fine first stage, indeed, but I am a piston guy!

 

[Casualcruising]

thanks all for sharing! been reading every post in the last couple of days and kept on learning

the dude seemed so keen, just casually cruisin anyway we're having fun, not the same dudes today as yesterday

I'm hanging in there...doing my best to consolidate all the info

Being you live in NYC, why not check out Scuba.com (aka Leisure Pro) and see what they have. They may offer you a deal.

stopped by the shop over the weekend. not much room for deals as far as SP or Apeks goes.


If only shopping in the US, I'm inclined to go with the MTX-RC or Deep6. it simply costs more to put together a similar set of Scubapro without promotions.

 

[happy-diver]

Apeks Tek3 Dive Regulator, 1 first stage and two XTX 50 Second stages | eBay

Apeks TEK3 regulator with two Apeks XTX 50 regulators. Used. They have not been in the water since the last service. I would recommend servicing them again before use.

www.ebay.com

 

[ams511]

stopped by the shop over the weekend. not much room for deals as far as SP or Apeks goes.

If only shopping in the US, I'm inclined to go with the MTX-RC or Deep6. it simply costs more to put together a similar set of Scubapro without promotions.

I am sorry you didn't have much luck at Scuba.com. They used to deal in the past. In the U.S. Dive shops are required to post prices according to the MAP or minimum advertised price. That is why the prices are the same at different shops. However, it doesn't mean they need to sell at that price. You could call around to try to find a better deal. In EU countries they don't have MAP so the advertised prices are lower and vary.

Apeks makes quality gear as well as Scubapro, I have both. If you stick to a major manufacturer, there really is no junk gear, the litigation costs are too high if there is a defect. I would check out the regulators at Dive Gear Express, even if your not interested in their regulators the site has useful information.

Black Friday is coming up and there are usually some deals from various shops.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I am sorry you didn't have much luck at Scuba.com. They used to deal in the past. In the U.S. Dive shops are required to post prices according to the MAP or minimum advertised price. That is why the prices are the same at different shops. However, it doesn't mean they need to sell at that price. You could call around to try to find a better deal. In EU countries they don't have MAP so the advertised prices are lower and vary.

Apeks makes quality gear as well as Scubapro, I have both. If you stick to a major manufacturer, there really is no junk gear, the litigation costs are too high if there is a defect. I would check out the regulators at Dive Gear Express, even if your not interested in their regulators the site has useful information.

Black Friday is coming up and there are usually some deals from various shops.

A Scubapro dealer has to stick to MAP rules. The most they can discount is 10%.
If they get caught selling below that they risk their dealership.

 

[Nemrod]

View attachment 809325

Nice fins! . Is there a regulator in that picture, ha!

 

[Nemrod]

I looks a fine first stage, indeed, but I am a piston guy!

Thank goodness, at least somebody has retained their sanity! Pistons rule! Especially Mark 2 Evo pistons .

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Nice fins! . Is there a regulator in that picture, ha!

The only diaphragm reg that’s worth a damn AFAIK. It has a captured HP seat that’s pressed down inside the carrier. It can’t split apart.
I have two of them, but I must admit, they were free.

 

[drh08]

Yikes: Honestly it doesn't matter that much what you choose here, pretty much any regulator will give you gas and deciding you want to go TEC can mean so many things it's hard to quantify. My suggestion is to try them before, rather than compare specs, you probably can't tell the small difference in breathing, they all give air. Chances are after some experience diving you will change out what you like anyway. Find a decent middle of the road regulator that your dive shop can service and dive it. I spent a small fortune on high end regulators to have my family ( yes multiple people) hate them and go back to their sherwood oasis regs. Hey what ever, all they said was oasis doesn't dry them out. Fact or not, doesn't matter, if they think it, then its real for them and move on. Don't get caught up in specs of adjustability during a dive, with a little knowledge you can dial in any regulator to breath pretty darn good. Mix and match all you want, meaning first and second stages, just tune them and move on.

Yea not helpful, I get it, but you are way way over thinking and analyzing this. I would absolutely get a back inflate BCD. If you have a jacket now, that will be the first thing that goes on the used market and you then go to back inflate.