Halcyon Regs. Are They Worth It?

[halocline]

If you're getting into technical diving and looking for regulators, the most important considerations IMO are: 1)ease/convenience/cost of service 2) reliability, especially over long periods of time, and 3) consistent performance. That last one is very much related to the first two.

Almost any decent quality regulator will breathe perfectly acceptably. What you really need is consistency, regs that are simple and hold a tune well, and have readily available parts and service. I use older SP regs; my cave set is a pair of MK10s with a D300 and balanced/adjustable 2nd stage. I can service them myself with a few tools and they have very simple, highly proven designs and parts. I couldn't care less if some newer. more expensive regs perform better on breathing machine tests. They also cost me about $30-$40 per stage.

Fashion considerations in technical scuba gear are pretty well worthless, unless you want to be a model. So I would advise the OP to get over any fascination with a specific logo or brand. It won't matter once you actually start using the gear.

If I was starting over and knew nothing about regs, I would consider HOG due to the price and support for self service. I have no experience with them so I don't know how they compare in quality to the old SP regs I use, but they have lots of users in the tech diving world. The thing about the older SP is that the used market is really strong, as is the grey market for parts/tools/service manuals. So it's easy to find good regs and keep them maintained for a low price. Once you become a slave to the LDS for reg service, you're kind of screwed in tech diving, where you might own 5 or 6 sets and they want you to service each of them annually. That can really add up and it's totally unnecessary. I would keep that in mind as you shop for regs.

 

[Compressor]

As Halocline mentioned and nailed it its all about service, reliability and consistency. I have a Halcyon BP/W as well but all my regs are Scubapro. Why? Because of ease of service, proven reliability and consistency.

 

[KevinNM]

Yes, that's the only one out of 5? 6?

Also still not good for 100%

M1 is usable for 100% if appropriately cleaned IIRC. And you should never be using 100% on back gas, or anything more than 40%.

 

[eelnoraa]

Yes, that's the only one out of 5? 6?

Also still not good for 100%

In reality, 2 out of 5?6? are suitable for high O2 content. It is because lawyer type the spec. If anything, M1 uses the most safe metal for high O2 environment. Z2 uses same metal as every other reg in the world uses, so should have the same safety margin as any other reg.

 

[eelnoraa]

...... What you really need is consistency, regs that are simple and hold a tune well, and have readily available parts and service.....

I will get frame for this. Within my collection of regulators: Atomic B2/M1, AL Legend, G250V and HOG, HOG classic 2nd stage isn't the best in "hold a tune well". I need to make adjustment to it from time to time. Usually not a big deal, I still love it and use it often. I heard HOG improve their new seat material recently and should prevent the need for this. I will see if thing improve after next service. Having that said, I will still think HOG is far superior than Hollis/Oceanic high end model.

 

[redacted]

Unfortunately, the answer is there are no new regulators that are worth it. Most are worth about half the retail price or less. With a few exceptions, I value good used regs regs between $15 and $50 per strage. But to really take advantage of such pricing, you need to be able to service them yourself.