Good Travel Reg

[drjrt]

Hi! I'm hoping to dive more now my children are certified. We travel to Greece
most summers and I usually have a couple of other opportunities for warm-water diving
during the year. I'm hoping to dive more in the future (going part-time in 2 years) and
want to advance my training/types of diving. We are going to Belize in march and I
would like to get my own reg/dive computer before then. I really can't justify buying my
own equipment from what I have done so far but I think my opportunities will be increasing
significantly in the next few years. Having said that, I'm looking for a mid-range set-up
that doesn't limit me if, for instance, I decide to do cold-water diving or more technical diving
in the future.

I like the weight and feel of the Aqulung Mikron but it isn't sealed and may not be the best
for cold water. Also, the local dive store in Greece only services Apeks/ScubaPro.

The MK17/S555 seems like a good choice; a little high for my budget and clearly alot heavier
than the Mikron but the reviews look good.

I'm not sure if my LDS services Apeks; at the very least they don't have anything in stock
for me to see.

I might be over-emphasizing the need for local service when I'm on vacation. However,
I would hate to lug my equipment to Greece for a month and have a problem that can't
be fixed.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[scubafanatic]

well, what ever you get, you can shave off some weight by swapping out the factory hoses with MIFLEX hoses.

 

[vistasbelow]

You probably want equipment that can easily be serviced locally for convenience. getting your stuff fixed while traveling is going to be a roll of the dice whatever brand you buy but that issue should be a non issue if you buy quality gear and have it serviced regularly. Then there is not much that should go wrong that can not be resolved with a save a dive kit or swapping some parts with whatever the dive shop has at your travel destination. Apex and Scubapro are excellent brands and you should be able to find a authorized dealer to service them most anywhere.

as far a traveling with your regs, I don't think weight is an issue but i like to take my regs in my carry on bag so it does not get roughed up by the baggage handlers at the airlines. I remove my hoses from the first stage so i don't have to loop my hoses in my bag and risk over folding them to cause damage, plus it takes up way less room in my luggage that way.

 

[claymore]

The new Aqualung Titan LX or LX supreme are very good travel regs. Small light first stage, second stag appears to be the same one used for years By AL.

Add Myflex hoses and it will pack up very small & light.

It got very good reviews from Scuba Diving Magazine.

AquaLung is one of the two reg manufacturers that are most serviceable all of the world.

 

[drjrt]

Would you consider Aqualung and Scubapro the 2 most servicible brands
in the world?

 

[claymore]

They are the two largest manufacturers of scuba gear. If you were to need service anywhere in the world the odds of getting service on one of their regs is greater than most or all others. there are other reg manufactures the make as good or possibly better regs than AL or SP but they do not have as many Dealers/Service centers with parts on hand world wide.

Getting someone to service the regs is not the biggest problem if you need a repair, it's the parts that may be needed that can be the problem.

That being said if the regs have been well maintained, serviced and checked to be working properly before leaving on a trip the chances of it failing is quite small.

 

[Downing]

Ditto on the MiFlex hoses. You can literally drop your reg in a reg bag and pack the hoses with one hand.

I use an Atomic reg, so I don't have to worry about reliability.

But seriously, as Claymore said, if you keep your reg serviced then you'll have no problems.

 

[drjrt]

Thanks for all of the great input. It seems that one of the reliability factors
in regs are whether they are sealed or not; particularly when it comes to cold
diving? If other factors are similar, a sealed reg is better?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Practically speaking, one can tune certain "unsealed" first stages so that they are less prone to freeflow in cold water. A diver who exercises proper cold water reg "technique" can also decrease chances of freeflow. You really don't need a sealed first stage unless the water temps are getting down into the low 40s (°F)...and even then some divers have been able to use unsealed first stages in those conditions.

Personally, I think that having a sealed first stage makes sense from a maintenance perspective. If you take apart a sealed first stage to overhaul it, it should be quite clean inside with no detectable corrosion. This may not be the case at all with an unsealed first stage, especially in the chamber open to the elements.

The trade-off of getting an environmentally sealed diaphragm first stage is that it breathes differently from unsealed, piston-style regs. With a properly tuned reg, I'm sure you'd be happy with any design. And, yes, I do realize that this statement doesn't make your choice any easier.

Here are the regs (all have environmentally-sealed first stages and balanced second stages) that I'd recommend you look into:
Aqualung Titan LX
Apeks XTX50
Scubapro MK17/G250V
These regs represent good value considering cost, performance, servicability, and reliability.

 

[claymore]

Concerning sealed regs my personal opinion is for the few extra bucks getting the environmental seal makes sense especially the ones that just use a diaphragm seal and not one that is uses Christo lube or some other medium in the sealing process (the tech's hate the mess and it adds expense to the service job.)

The seal helps in cold water but it also keeps sand, silt and other crud out of the working area of your reg.