Increase in Scubapro Pricing pending(?) and SP MK 16 vs Mk 18

[vablackwater]

Hi all,

I am new to the board, but have been browsing as an unregistered user for a while.

I am reg shopping, and wanted to give people in the market for Scubapro regs that the prices on the MK16/S550 and MK25/G250HP are going up by $50 as of the end of the month (probably other models as well) based on a tip from a local shop.

I mostly dive cold water, with a lot of sediment. I am a SP fan, and have an older reg from them that continues to take a beating. I have outgrown the reg, and am looking to upgrade. The MK 16 wins so far for the enviromental sealing... but I am not a fan of the single HP port of the two High Flow LP ports on opposite sides.

I am still researching , but are there any fans of the MK 18 out there, and are there readily available via a local SP dealer in the current or 2005 line?

 

[headhunter]

Welcome to ScubaBoard! :happywave

You may want to post that info in the Regulators forum. More people will probably see it there and it could save them $50 bucks!

Don't forget to fill out your profile and dive info, so that we can add context to your future posts. Also, once we know where you are geographically, you may find that you'll have a whole bunch of new dive buddies to choose from locally.

Dive safe!

Christian

P.S. Due to the high volume of new posts in the Introductions and Greets forum, it's not always possible to keep up with all the new posts here. So, please help me out and send me a PM if you post anything you want me to read or repsond to in this forum.
almtree: :sunny

 

[DA Aquamaster]

In the past the new SP price list has come out in December so next month would be a little early.

The Mk 18 is, for what ever reason, not marketed heavily in the US. This is in my opinion unfortunate as the swivel on the Mk 18 offers some substantial advantages over the port arrangement on the Mk 16. Internally, with the exception of the differences needed to route the air forward to the turret in the Mk 18, the Mk 16 and Mk 18 are essentially identical.

I heard last year at a tech seminar that SP is working on a new diaphragm design, the Mk 17, but did not hear any details and have not heard anything since.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

In the USA, it seems you'll have to look for a pre-owned MK18 (this is how I got mine this January). Seems like they aren't supplied to US dealers these days. You can check out the Scubapro UK site for starters on their links to dealers if you're looking for brand new, or an Internet search on "Scubapro MK18" will bring up hits for dealers using all sorts of alphabet systems.

 

[Boat]

I own the Mk16/S550 and love mine. Have about 50 dives or so on it in tropical water (Guam 82-84 degrees year round). Is this reg supposed to be good for cold water diving as well? I was a little worried about that part since I'm moving back to the mainland soon. Boat

 

[raposarose]

Hello,

I have the Mk 18 and appreciate the swivel and additional high pressure port. For these reasons I preferred it to the mk16.

I have seen new Mk 18s at two different San Diego dive shops. Both times they were offered as parts of promotional deals thus the prices were pretty good.

 

[vablackwater]

Thanks for the tip! Do you have names for the dive shops that may have the MK18? My lds is trying to find one for me now. Seems like I can find them on the United Kingdom SP page, but not much luck on the search otherwise.

 

[raposarose]

Thanks for the tip! Do you have names for the dive shops that may have the MK18? My lds is trying to find one for me now. Seems like I can find them on the United Kingdom SP page, but not much luck on the search otherwise.

Hello,

One of the shops is Ocean Enterprises. You can contact them at (858) 565-6054. I have only seen them sell the mk18 during their big tent sales that they have a couple of times each year. They may or may not have sold all of them.

The other one is Diving Locker at (858) 272-1120. They have become more of a tech diving store since their ownership changed a while back. Last time I checked was half a year ago, but they had mk18s on sale, so maybe you can ask about the sale price. I don't remember exactly what it was off the top of my head.

Good luck, I hope that there help!

 

[sauga]

Well, I picked up a 2005 ScubaPro catalog over the weekend. I haven't compaired the prices with the 2004 version. What I did notice was the SP was now selling the spring strap option for its Jetfins, along with the SP price, $80.00. The new list price for jets is up 2% to $102.00. A $50 price increase wouldn't suprise me one bit on their regs.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Well, I picked up a 2005 ScubaPro catalog over the weekend. I haven't compaired the prices with the 2004 version. What I did notice was the SP was now selling the spring strap option for its Jetfins, along with the SP price, $80.00. The new list price for jets is up 2% to $102.00. A $50 price increase wouldn't suprise me one bit on their regs.

Hmm. That's more than a 2% increase on the jets, its like 12%. Note though, the $150 drop in price on the smartcom.