Help me pick a regulator set for my 11 year old son, please

[lowwall]

All my transmitters only take one HP port....

No backup SPG?

 

[L13]

No backup SPG?

why? do you usually have 2 SPG's if you don't have a transmitter?

I normally only dive with 1 pressure sensor per tank.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

The OP wants to put a transmitter on the first stage, so the DGX First won't work (only 1 HP port).

Not so. Transmitters only take one port. Unless you have a second transmitter, you have no need for a second port!

(SPG stays in the bag, in the room, onshore, in thee last-ditch save a dive kit, just in case one of the multiple transmitters craps and then a second backup x-mitter craps too.)

 

[dulinor]

I know everyone is casting shade on doing SPG and Transmitter at the same time, but I think it makes some sense in this circumstance. A new diver who just did his OW (or Junior OW) with an SPG might want both for a bit to get used to relying only on a computer for pressure data.

 

[stuartv]

No backup SPG?

No.

Adding more O-rings and a HP hose that can each, individually fail and any one of which failing causes me to start losing gas does not make sense (to me), when I already have an SPG (a wireless, electronic one) that is showing me my tank pressure.

In my own personal experience - i.e. anecdotal, not data - a SPG is more likely to fail than a PPS transmitter (the type used by Oceanic, Aqualung, etc.) that is screwed directly into a 1st stage and has had basic maintenance (i.e. battery changes when appropriate). The O-rings on the spool that goes in between the SPG and HP hose are notorious for popping.

 

[stuartv]

I know everyone is casting shade on doing SPG and Transmitter at the same time, but I think it makes some sense in this circumstance. A new diver who just did his OW (or Junior OW) with an SPG might want both for a bit to get used to relying only on a computer for pressure data.

I think it never makes sense. Especially in this circumstance. His son is starting with AI. He will likely always use AI. He should get used to using his AI - and not have numerous additional potential failure points added to his reg because of an outdated ideology about AI transmitters.

People used to dive with J valves and they had no SPG at all.

As SPGs caught on, I imagine there were people who insisted on sticking with J valves, even after they had also added an SPG to their reg set. And done so long after those SPGs were no longer new-fangled and were well-proven.

The ongoing transition from SPGs to AI seems to me to be in the same boat. AI is a mature, reliable technology. At least, the PPS and Shearwater transmitters are. We should not cling blindly to the old just because it's what we cut our teeth on and it feels "comfortable".

 

[BoltSnap]

I have used, love, and recommend the Atomic Z2 regs for single tank. I think they are about the best value on the market among top quality, name brand, mainstream regulators for single tank use.

I use 7' hoses on my back mount doubles regs, my side mount regs, and my CCR bail out reg.

I do not use nor recommend a "long hose" on a single tank reg set. There is just no particularly good reason to have it and it just (slightly) complicates diving in single tank.

I have watched too many tech students struggle just trying to remember the correct way to make the loop that goes around their neck. Too many long hoses that have "escaped" from being tucked behind a waist belt or looped under something on the belt and are just floating up around the diver.

Thus, I would suggest a 22 - 24" hose for his primary and a 36 - 40" hose for his secondary. But that's just me.

I agree with @stuartv 's advice concerning the brand/model and hose lengths. I'd add the Scubapro mk11/c370 into consideration. Don't buy used or off brand for your son. Personally, when my precious only daughter becomes a diver or my youngest son, the closest one to my heart among 5 kids, I'll buy them a sealed first stage Z2 myself. My two elder boys use top of the line Atomic and Scubapro when they dive open circuit.

 

[L13]

I agree with @stuartv 's advice concerning the brand/model and hose lengths. I'd add the Scubapro mk11/c370 into consideration. Don't buy used or off brand for your son. Personally, when my precious only daughter becomes a diver or my youngest son, the closest one to my heart among 5 kids, I'll buy them a sealed first stage Z2 myself. My two elder boys use top of the line Atomic and Scubapro when they dive open circuit.

Your children never dive a serviced regulator? only new? Do you replace them every 2 years? Can I have your cast offs? I'll pay for shipping.

 

[stuartv]

If I were buying regs for any loved one, they would be new and as good or better than what I use for myself.

I don't think that's what is happening here, but I definitely don't understand some people who buy top shelf for themselves and then would buy regs for their wife or children that are not as good as what they are using.

 

[lowwall]

why? do you usually have 2 SPG's if you don't have a transmitter?

An SPG doesn't rely on two separate electronic devices (and their batteries) and a wireless connection to display the remaining gas.

But this is an unnecessary tangent. Thanks to the package pricing, there's no cost advantage to getting the DGX First over the DGX D6.