Help with first reg purchase

[rleslie]

My wife and I got our Open Water this past weekend and we're beginning to look for equipment. We both retire in January and will be living aboard a sailboat. We intend to do our primary diving in the Bahamas & Caribbean and intend to get our Advanced OW before we leave.

I want to support the local shop where we took the classes (I am also a small business owner), but I'm not "locked" into buying from him. He sells Atomic, Aeris, TUSA and Dive Rite. We have no intentions of doing any diving other than rec diving.

I like basic, well built, long lasting, quality, equipment and I'm willing to pay for it (within reason). One of my concerns is maintenance. We intend to sail into the lower Carib and will not always have access to techs, so I'm looking for something that I can service myself.

Your suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated.

Roger & Evans Leslie

 

[ppo2_diver]

Can't go wrong with Apeks. I own three of them. Very durable, well breathing, simple regs. They are also very affordable.

DJ

 

[Shannon M.]

Atomic Regulators are exspensive, but in my opinion, one of the best out there. Most regs have a one year maintenance schedule, I believe Atomic Titaniums have a two year. They also have balanced 1st stages, so in theory, breathing resistance should not change with depth. I dive with Atomics on both my technical rig and my open water rig.

 

[abrown203]

I own Atomic and Apeks and have dove Scuba Pro. They are all excellent.

Since you will be living on a sailboat (in the ocean I presume), your equipment will be in a continuous contact with saltwater. Also since fresh water is at a premium it is more likely that the regs may not get thoroughly rinsed off between dives. For these reasons I would lean toward the Atomic B2 or T2 regulators. Their important internal parts are made of titanium, which may hold up better in this environment.

Ask around the live aboard sailing community to ask if they have problems with keeping their SCUBA equipment in working order. If the consensus is that corrosion is not a problem then you may want to go with Scuba Pro. I get the impression that almost any dive shop is capable of servicing this brand.

Aaron

 

[abman]

My wife and I got our Open Water this past weekend and we're beginning to look for equipment. We both retire in January and will be living aboard a sailboat. We intend to do our primary diving in the Bahamas & Caribbean and intend to get our Advanced OW before we leave.

I want to support the local shop where we took the classes (I am also a small business owner), but I'm not "locked" into buying from him. He sells Atomic, Aeris, TUSA and Dive Rite. We have no intentions of doing any diving other than rec diving.

I like basic, well built, long lasting, quality, equipment and I'm willing to pay for it (within reason). One of my concerns is maintenance. We intend to sail into the lower Carib and will not always have access to techs, so I'm looking for something that I can service myself.

Your suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated.

Roger & Evans Leslie

you can't go wrong with any of the mfgr. top of the line regs. it really doesn't matter if it's scubapro,mares, apeks, zeagle, atomics, etc,etc,etc. they are all good regs. check out the service warranties. some of the mfgr's have a lifetime warrany on all parts, you pay for just the labor to have them serviced. that can save you a bundle over the life of a good reg. you know, there are hundreds of opinons regarding what reg to buy. i always try to support my LDS. so i check out the regs that they carry. i personally dive with a zeagle flathead IV, ledgend LX, mares 05 abiss. as my primary regs. but, i do have others....as far as service yourself, that can get kind of touchy as far as trying to buy parts from a LDS. unless you are factory trained and authorised as a repair tech most shops can't sell you parts due to liability issues.god luck i hope this helped, ken

 

[djanni]

Atomic is the top rated regulator on the market today. It's most significant and meaningful KPI is its breathing performance.

The T2, B2 and Z2 supposedly breath the same differing only in the materials they are built from. I can personally testify for the B2.

As others have said you probably can't go wrong with the higher end of any of the popular regs. They're all good. Your LDS sells Atomic and it's the best of the best.

 

[PerroneFord]

Since no one took up the cause of the Dive Rite, I'll mention they are one of 3 regs I am considering.

Reason 1: They are quite inexpensive for the performance. There may be better breathnig regulators out there, but not for this price.

Reason 2: Dive Rite services the technical diving community. They fully expect their regulators to see hard service at significant depths. Just because you don't take them to 400ft every weekend, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the benefits of a regulator designed to do that.

Reason 3: Since many tehcnical divers prefer to service their own equipment, the regulators are made to be taken apart at home. Also, parts are easy to buy online and have shipped.

Reason 4: They come DIN standard. May not mean a lot to you, but it means a lot to many divers.

So in short, it's a great breathing regulator, it's cheaper than it's peers (sometimes by a lot), its simple to work on, and the company EXPECTS owners to service them at home. Hard to beat in my opinion.

 

[Shannon M.]

Don't confuse what technical divers do as always a good example. You should never service your own regulator even if you can get the parts. Some Tech divers also put in a second or third burst disk which is a big no-no for the recreational diver. If you like Dive Rite, go with it. But don't do it becuase you want to work on it.

 

[*Floater*]

Reason 3: Since many tehcnical divers prefer to service their own equipment, the regulators are made to be taken apart at home. Also, parts are easy to buy online and have shipped.

PF, how do tech divers usually learn to service their own equipment? Is it something you take a course on, read books about, or just pick up by reading the manuals?

Do you need special equipment to do it? Will it actually save you money in the end, or is more of a hobby thing?

 

[Scottri]

I have an Atomic B1/T2 and love it. I have had it for 8 years and it's never let me down. I have it serviced every 2 years. I do at least 100 dives a year and it's been a great reg. Done dives to 150' with it and it performed like a dream at that depth. Apeks are also great regs. I've used them off and on over the years and would strongly consider buying one if I was in the market for a new reg.