Hey SCUBA gear heads - best regulator for under $1,000 = ?

[buddhasummer]

So to be clear are Halcyon regulators just a re-stamped Scubapros?

R..

Yes, that is my understanding. I could be wrong but I don't think so.

 

[tbone1004]

@BurhanMuntasser the Genesis D.A.D. system is "Sealed" like the Sherwoods. Not truly sealed, but it's a dry bleed that bleeds on ascent. Works well.

@Diver0001 yes, they are rebadged scubarpros. I'm not 100% if Scubapro makes them or if TUSA makes them though. Tabata has a manufacturing deal with Scubapro which is why the Tusa regs look suspiciously like Scubapros. @DA Aquamaster may know more definitively though

 

[Diver0001]

Thanks!

 

[Darghu]

So Halcyon just changed color and put a big blue H on Scubapro regulators?
Is that what re-badged / re-stamped means?
What is the price differences between them?

I'm not able to find in stock Scubapro G250V but I found it 145 €

Halcyon Regulators
Halcyon Aura is 114 £ / 130 €
Halcyon Halo is 166 £ / 190 €
Halcyon H-50D is 168 £ / 192 €
Halcyon H-75P is 194 £ / 222 €

Scubapro Regulators
Scubapro MK25 EVO is 242 £ / 275 €
Scubapro MK17 EVO is 170 £ / 194 €
(sorry no idea if EVO is the model we are looking for)
Scubapro G260 is 228 £ / 260 €
(sorry not found the G250V and no clue if this G260 is an upgrade of G250V)

Apeks Regulators
Apeks XTX40 is 146£ and Apeks XTX50 is 176 £
Apeks DS1 is 128 £ and Apeks DS4 is 142 £
Apeks DST w/ 5th port is 240 £


I understand why you have not talked about it for a 1000$ budget.

 

[Dave Bevan]

No the Halcyon regs have a different coating it's not chrome it's supposed to be more hard wearing. I have two of each. The price is usually the same. I would recommend the MK25 I think it's the best first stage. But that's just me .

 

[Darghu]

I was told that Halcyon has a similar price but my friend forgot to tell me that Halcyon is a re-badged/re-stamped of Scubapro regs. Buy option would be Apeks > Halcyon > Scubapro

 

[Bob DBF]

I wasn't aware of this. The last Sherwood regulator I had was in 2002 and it had a dry bleed. I looked on their website and couldn't find anything about their current 1st stage design. What can you tell me about it?

R..

I picked my replacement Sherwood in 2010 and it had the air bleed. Now, in their literature they just use the words environmentally sealed, instead of talking about the air bleed environmentally sealing the first. I don't believe the SR1 had the bleed, which may have caused confusion to those that only look at "high end" regs.

When I had my 1980 Sherwood rebuilt, it was worn out but clean internally so I believe in the system.


Bob

 

[BoltSnap]

the Genesis D.A.D. system is "Sealed" like the Sherwoods. Not truly sealed, but it's a dry bleed that bleeds on ascent. Works well.

I very well familiar with the Sherwood dry bleed system. I used to sell and service Sherwood regulators for many years. I was responding to somebody's claim that Atomic's technology is "prehistoric" technology implying that there are more modern up to date piston first stage sealing solutions out there and not implying that there aren't any out there. One can argue if Sherwood's way is any better or worse or anything but it isn't something new or more modern than Atomic's way of doing it. Sherwood regulators are not known for their high performance compare with Scubapro, Atomic or any of the other high end regulators at all. They, the Sherwood regulators, are extremely easy to service however and they are very popular with the local rescue teams I knew and worked with in NY.

 

[tbone1004]

@BurhanMuntasser one of the things to think about though, especially with Atomic is that they may well be locked into a paradigm and aren't able to completely redesign a regulator from the beginning. It is something that engineers are very prone to. Atomic was started from the guys at Scubapro who developed the MK25 IIRC and if they are locked into that design because they truly believe it is superior, their brains may well not allow them to design something that is completely different. It has nothing to do with how good they are as engineers, nothing to do with how good those regulators are, but getting locked into a paradigm is something all engineers are prone to. It requires a VERY strong personality to come into a well established engineering team and tell them that there is something better out there, and someone in upper management with a legit pair of balls to tell them to shut up and do it anyway.

As good as the regulators are, there is actually nothing truly innovative about the Atomic design. They are just really really well executed variants of a design that is what 50 years old? There is nothing wrong with it, but in order for them to figure out how to seal that in a different manner would likely require a new engineering team over there and have them throw away everything in the first stage. There really isn't a justification to do that, so I would be truly shocked if a company came out with a truly innovative first stage design in the next 20 years.

Poseidon really is the only first stage that has taken a radical design step with the MK2/3 first stage that uses the ruby sphere instead of a normal HP seat. That is still really a step change though as opposed to a true redesign. A bit bigger step than the Jet Seat from Atomic, but still just a step

 

[oldschoolto]

I'm working on a first stage that turns sea water in to breathable air...

Jim....