If you were only allowed one reg what would it be?

[ams511]

The type of diving I do most is cold water 45 to 55 degrees, salt, beach, sometimes sandy silt, very rarely warm tropical, isolation could be considered moderate where I go if I find myself way up in the northern part of the state in no man's land where field repairs are a possibility.
As much as I love all my regs, if I was allowed only one it would probably be the Conshelf 21 with the 109/156 seconds.
Reason being is the Conshelf has a very long track record of reliability and durability, it's dirt simple to service, parts are available easily on the internet, it's sealed for dirty grimy conditions like beach entry/exits. The SP second stages also have great design characteristics, parts are available through the right sources, they are also a breeze to service, and being all metal they won't crush or crack like plastic.

But I'm glad this is only hypothetical because I would cry if I had to give up all the other regs I love so dearly.

A Conshelf 21 is not a sealed regulator. The diaphragm still comes in contact with the water. My first regulator was on Conshelf 21 purchased in 1991 or 92. I have never rebuilt one, but it has been mentioned that the Cousteau is actually the easier than the Conshelf to rebuild. In my opinion the older Scubapro metal seconds are not that well designed. They could have thought of a better way to attach the cover and the exhaust tee. If you need to remove the cover to clean sand out of the second stage you need to remove two screws. If you remove the exhaust tee it is a PITA to get it back on unless you have access to boiling water or a microwave. There must be more elegant solutions to these problems. I was never a big fan of field repairs, to me it is better to have another complete set ready to go then try to repair a regulator at a remote site. Granted this approach may not be practical for all people.

I guess the real question is do people like me and you feel the need to have so many different regulators?

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Funny you mentioned Sherwood Brut. I had one of those that I got cheap at a dive shop. Probably the worst breathing reg I ever used. I ended up flea baying it along with all the Dacors and other old crap I had including a AL DA Aquamaster that I had when I got into vintage, nothing but a maintenance pig. I felt like a re-enacter using that thing.
It was cool for a while but not the real world.

Like I said, the Brut is not the best breathing reg but so easy to repair and you can get them very cheap. Once you go Poseidon you will judge all others by their standards.

 

[ams511]

Like I said, the Brut is not the best breathing reg but so easy to repair and you can get them very cheap. Once you go Poseidon you will judge all others by their standards.

The Brut can be upgraded to a magnum by swapping the washer blocks with Belleville washers. I had an older Magnum (late 80s vintage) and once properly tuned it breathed pretty well. You need to watch out if buying them used because it was mentioned on SB that Sherwood isn't supporting the older pistons with the dry-bleed filter anymore. So if the filter gets clogged then the regulator becomes a paperweight.

 

[scubadada]

I'm see a lot of different regs mentioned but I'm not seeing the "why's" and "where's".
That's part of the question.

Breathing?

 

[halocline]

I think I'd go with a MK5 109. Like awap, I love the pilot, although mine are all converted. I also love the D series. But, part of the question implies availability of all parts for a lifetime worldwide. The MK5/109 could survive with generic o-rings and seats, even homemade seats.

 

[tbone1004]

Poseidon parts are no longer an issue as DGX and DRiS have become dealers and are stocking and selling full parts to people, DRiS you have to call, DGX have them all on their website. Parts are about half of what they used to be and readily accessible. The Jetstreams especially are a unique breathing regulator and not for everyone, the Cyklons are traditional downstream but require a boat load of IP so you are limited to a handful of first stages that can tolerate it for long periods of time, but are pretty normal in the grand scheme of breathing style. No nonexpensive *i.e. not omniswivel* hose adapters exist for them unfortunately, so you are stuck with Poseidon hoses. Xstreams breathe a bit more normal than the Jetstream, quite a bit less violent of a purge etc, but smaller less durable housing, still just as durable as any other second stage though which is good. Uses the same cheap adapters to normal hoses as the Jetstream and they run at a a super low IP which is good. Lots of concern about them being "upstream" and failing closed, but the only the pilot valve at the top is upstream and it will actually start to freeflow at high enough ip without an OPV but you should still use one, not violently like normal second stages, but it will give you air.

First stages are and have always been diaphragms, really old ones on the original Cyklons were unbalanced which is irritating, and up until recently the middle run of first stages had a questionable balancing mechanism, but the 3960 and new MK3 first stages are very nice and have OPV's built into them, super tiny to boot, I love them on doubles and stage bottles. Weather sealing on them is done via a cap that you fill with vodka though you really only need it for the most extreme ice diving, I've had mine out in the 30's with high 30* water and they were fine, the new MK3's don't have a sealing mechanism because they apparently don't need it. The vents in the cap are so big water has a hard time getting caught in it, they also use a ruby sphere instead of a normal HP seat and only have one sealing O-ring, it's an engineers wet dream of a first stage, unfortunately with sidemount I prefer the swivel turrets, and they don't have one.

They really are funky breathing regs and you either love them or loathe them, one of my buddies likes to joke that he'd rather drown than share air for an hour coming out of a cave breathing on them, but that's fine. Find a buddy with them and dive them not in a pool before you try to find some, they're unique

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A Conshelf 21 is not a sealed regulator. The diaphragm still comes in contact with the water. My first regulator was on Conshelf 21 purchased in 1991 or 92. I have never rebuilt one, but it has been mentioned that the Cousteau is actually the easier than the Conshelf to rebuild. In my opinion the older Scubapro metal seconds are not that well designed. They could have thought of a better way to attach the cover and the exhaust tee. If you need to remove the cover to clean sand out of the second stage you need to remove two screws. If you remove the exhaust tee it is a PITA to get it back on unless you have access to boiling water or a microwave. There must be more elegant solutions to these problems. I was never a big fan of field repairs, to me it is better to have another complete set ready to go then try to repair a regulator at a remote site. Granted this approach may not be practical for all people.

I guess the real question is do people like me and you feel the need to have so many different regulators?

I used the wrong word, the Conshelf just by design is a sealed regulator (around the diaphragm) but not completely dry sealed with an additional external membrane. There are no other moving parts affected like a moving piston would be with an o-ring potentially exposed to the water in a lubed cylinder, and with a diaphragm there is no grease exposed for silt and grit to cling onto. So even if the Conshelf gets sand in the diaphragm/spring hole it can be rinsed right out and nothing is affected.
I've never had the Cousteau apart but if it's even easier than the Conshelf then a 3 year old could do it.

This thread is just a mental excercise to get people to let go and just focus on facts of what is really needed for their particular situation...not to be taken seriously.
That would be like telling an art collector to choose only one piece of art to enjoy for the rest of their lives...yeah right!
Not that I would ever give up any of my most precious regs but thinking and talking about purging them just makes me love them more.
But the ones that have pissed me off the most, I don't even blink an eye when getting rid of them.
Seems like I have a river of regs passing through my posession ay any given time. The art pieces I keep and the crap I purge.

 

[axxel57]

Diving almost only tropical waters and always loving deep air dives for me there is only my MK25 - D350s (and early D400s).

For me the D-Series are the best 2nds ever built for these purposes.

I love the D- Series even more than my original Pilot 2nd.

Concerning breathing comfort and controlled Venturi at greater depths I think they are the best deep dive 2nds existing.

Concerning the 1st stage I could also lean towards a Legends 1st stages, which constantly show in my tests the best qualities of all 1sts.

But I'm used to my MK25, it's a good 1st stage.

Anyway 2nds are more important for breathing comfort.

Obviously the difference in easiness of breathing to other high end regulators is very small, but I'm happy that I have plenty of those 2nds and enough spare parts to be sure that in this life I will not have to dive anything else anymore.

 

[tr3a]

tough call, I would have to say my Mistral. Being single stage nothing to go wrong, breaths decent (better at depth)

 

[Fishpie]

SEA/Cousteau 1st with G250 2nd's.