I will be in the market soon for a new regulator set. Most of my gear was purchased second hand when I got certified some years back and it has served me well. I will either pass it on to my family member when he gets certified this year or purchase a new set for him and keep this one. Either way, I will need to purchase a set and really am not sure what to look for when choosing it. This is for warm water rec diving. TIA
How to choose a rec regulator?
- Thread starter jejton
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halocline
Contributor
You can go eenie meenie miney mo at the dive shop and it will almost certainly be ok.
I bought one new regulator when I was certified almost 20 years ago and since then I've only bought used regs, so if I were in your shoes I'd buy another used set. There are people right here on this board that have some nice older SP regs they service and sell at a very reasonable price. Couv is one of those.
My philosophy for buying regulators is don't spend too much and get something that is easy to get serviced, it will need it periodically. I know a bit about the older SP balanced piston regs and so I use them all the time, including cave diving. They work great. But it's hard to find a really bad regulator, other than some that are over complicated and gimmicky.
I bought one new regulator when I was certified almost 20 years ago and since then I've only bought used regs, so if I were in your shoes I'd buy another used set. There are people right here on this board that have some nice older SP regs they service and sell at a very reasonable price. Couv is one of those.
My philosophy for buying regulators is don't spend too much and get something that is easy to get serviced, it will need it periodically. I know a bit about the older SP balanced piston regs and so I use them all the time, including cave diving. They work great. But it's hard to find a really bad regulator, other than some that are over complicated and gimmicky.
Barnaby'sDad
Contributor
If you’re leaning toward used, my recommendation would be to call around to local dive shops and find one that has used gear for sale. It wouldn’t hurt to post up where in Florida you are. Someone might have a recommendation of a good shop for you to hit.
You want something that’s been serviced. If you just run out and buy a random regulator set off Craigslist or wherever...it might look just fine on the outside, but that’s no telling what shape it’s in inside.
As far as brand goes, if you intend to have a dealer service, you’ll want to see what brands you can get serviced locally or if you don’t mind self-service or mailing off regulators to get serviced, that opens up your options. Ex. Deep 6, HOG, etc.
You want something that’s been serviced. If you just run out and buy a random regulator set off Craigslist or wherever...it might look just fine on the outside, but that’s no telling what shape it’s in inside.
As far as brand goes, if you intend to have a dealer service, you’ll want to see what brands you can get serviced locally or if you don’t mind self-service or mailing off regulators to get serviced, that opens up your options. Ex. Deep 6, HOG, etc.
runsongas
Contributor
used tanks from dive shops are sometimes a good deal. bcds and regs generally are not because they are coming from the rental fleet and are the most basic types. if you are going to own your own gear, get at least something mid range which means balanced 1st and 2nd. the scubapro mk5 or 10 and upgraded 109/156/g250 are a perfect fit if you don't care about how old the reg is. but you need to get them at a reasonable price after accounting for service costs.
or just get some new deep 6 regs.
or just get some new deep 6 regs.
Barnaby'sDad
Contributor
Back to the beginning though (if it weren’t for the Russian water...I would have started with this question)...what is your budget, OP?
A dive shop near me has an annual used gear sale on their old rental equipment. You might look into whether any of your local shops do something similar.
If I had to buy a new rec regset right now, $300 for this Mares 15x Prestige set (includes Prestige octo) is an amazing deal: Mares Prestige 15X and Prestige Octopus Package
The only drawback is Mares makes it difficult to self-service, so if you like to DIY, you might want to look at Hog or Deep6 instead. But if you were going to have a shop service it anyway (and it's a 2-year service interval to maintain the warranty), that's a tough deal to beat.
Note: this applies to US (and Canada?) only.
The only drawback is Mares makes it difficult to self-service, so if you like to DIY, you might want to look at Hog or Deep6 instead. But if you were going to have a shop service it anyway (and it's a 2-year service interval to maintain the warranty), that's a tough deal to beat.
Note: this applies to US (and Canada?) only.
I used to think this, but then as a club we bought 10 sets of entry level Oceanic Alpha regs.
First they freeflow early, second they have brittle plastic purge buttons integrated into the front cover. In theory the whole cover bends a bit, in practice they break. Oceanic cannot provide spares and the regs are junk now.
They also breath worse that the cheapest Apeks regulators that cost 10% more, and have replaced them.
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