Looking for first hand experience....

[Tamas]

...between a DiveRite and an Apeks reg set-up. More specifically between a DST/ATX50 and a DiveRite 1205 or 1208 and 2010 (or the older 1210).

I am looking for ease of breathing at depth, air delivery, adjuster functionality and hose routing on doubles.

So anyone that dove these two regs, please feel free to chime in and, if you would, give me your own personal little consumer report on the regs.

 

[rescuediver009]

The regs are very similar in layout so they would be the same for hose routing. The Apeks of course has the advantage of being environmentally sealed. This protects the first stage from cold as well as salt. They also come with a lifetime parts guarantee. I think that the deciding factor for you should be support in the area. If there is not a Dvie Rite dealer in the area go Apeks. Similarly, if one is significantly more expensive than the other, I would opt for the cheaper one knowing that you are not cheaping out on performance.

 

[Tamas]

Well of course the DiveRite would be sealed as well. Service/support is not a problem......for now I am looking for more performance comparisons.

 

[aquaholic901]

Funny, I was just about to post a thread about this exact thing except I'm interested in the DS4/ATX 50 vs the DR setup. I would also appreciate any info. Also, how useful is the enviro seal when all of my diving is warm water (FL Keys), I was thinking about the Apex US4 as I'd like to be able to service it myself and think this may be less complex than a sealed one. Thanks.

 

[Tamas]

Anyone else?????

 

[rescuediver009]

The sealed apeks is not at al more difficult to service than the US4. In fact it stays cleaner so there is less to service. I don't think that the Dive Rite matches the performance of the Apeks (or the price). And if support is not a problem, the Apeks wins there too as there is a lifetime warranty on parts.

The only thing that I am honestly not sure of is the dry kit on the Dive Rite. I don't know if they have copied the Apeks with the dry seal, or if they have adopted the silicone filled cap, which in my opinion would blow it out of my consideration.

 

[ChrisA]

...between a DiveRite and an Apeks reg set-up. More specifically between a DST/ATX50 and a DiveRite 1205 or 1208 and 2010 (or the older 1210).

I am looking for ease of breathing at depth, air delivery, adjuster functionality and hose routing on doubles.

So anyone that dove these two regs, please feel free to chime in and, if you would, give me your own personal little consumer report on the regs.

I have the Apeks atx50. It breaths good enough at 120 feet that I don't think about it. It is effortless. Normally I don't dive that deep. Mostly I'[m at 80 ft or above. I was at 65 feet last night and had the adjustmen knob turned to the halfway point. I could have opened it up and make breathing even easier but didn't need to

The Diverite will be so close in terms of performance that it will not matter. Any top name reg with balanced first and balanced second with an adjustable cracking effort knob will be very good, so good that you make the decision on other grounds. Like servicaability or price.

If you are going to be tech diving where you need 3 or 4 regs each dive in remote locations then the abilty to service Diverites yourself is attractive. OTOH Apeks lifetime warrenty and free parts is atractive too.

Just for another data point. I tried an Oceanic Delta at 110 feet it is as good as the Apeks and at 60 feet the Delta can do some positive pressure breathing unless you screw the knob down a bit, They are all so close you'd need a fancy mmachine to measure differences

I've said the above to people who do deep dives below 200 feet and thier responce was "of cource. all regs are good at recreational limits you need to get deepper to notice."

 

[ChrisA]

how useful is the enviro seal when all of my diving is warm water (FL Keys),

When I was shopping for a reg I asked that question to a few of the techs who service the regs. I was told that for my diving which is 85% beach diving in surf and low vis the seal will keep the insides clean. But for boat diving it not needed

 

[aquaholic901]

The silicone or Christolube filled 1st stage is what had me considering the US4. My Atomic M1 has that stuff in it and it seems like there is always some little bit of it that manages to get squeezed out. Does the Apeks not have that? I'm leaning more toward the Apeks right now based on price but can't seem to find anything on thier website about service locations, just a link to aqualung USA's website. Will an Aqualung dealer service them? I'd like to learn to do it myself but in case that doesn't work out I'd like to have a backup plan.

 

[darylm74]

The silicone or Christolube filled 1st stage is what had me considering the US4. My Atomic M1 has that stuff in it and it seems like there is always some little bit of it that manages to get squeezed out. Does the Apeks not have that? I'm leaning more toward the Apeks right now based on price but can't seem to find anything on thier website about service locations, just a link to aqualung USA's website. Will an Aqualung dealer service them? I'd like to learn to do it myself but in case that doesn't work out I'd like to have a backup plan.

....and some of Apeks are virtually the same design as an Aqualung counterpart. I would think that anyone who services Aqualung should be able to service Apeks as well.