Mares v. Aeris v. Aqua Lung v. Apeks v. Sherwood regs

[SCUBA Seth]

SCUBA Board Crew,

I am looking to buy a new reg and wanted the groups opinions on the topic. I am interested in finding a reg that can be used for warm water straight through to Ice diving without having to buy multiple regs for each application. Also, I want something that has high output without draining my gas too quickly. I live in NYC and have about 10 lds within about 5 miles of each other (including Leisure Pro) that sell everything from Aeris, Aqua Lung, Apeks, Cressi, Mares, Sherwood, ScubaPro, Oceanic and Atomic, etc and all provide equipment service (except LP). I am kind of leaning toward the Mares Proton Ice (last years) but am open to suggestions. I also want something that is bullet proof reliable without breaking the bank. Any suggestions would be greatly valued.

Thanks for your input!!

 

[gluehuffer]

Scubapro just came out with the MK17. A nice 1st that will work good in cold water. If you want to spend a little extra, Poseidon just recently dropped the price on their regs. They will work in as deep and cold as you can go. Note Poseidons only come with DIN, you may need a yoke adaptor.

 

[Mike Newman]

Beware your inclination - the Mares Proton Ice is not a true cold-water regulator. The two brands that seem to prevail amongst cold-water divers are Apeks (or Zeagle) and Poseidon. Poseidon are easier to dive with - no in water adjustments once you've set some models to the 'dive' position - and awesome performance at all depths and temperatures.

 

[Diver0001]

Beware your inclination - the Mares Proton Ice is not a true cold-water regulator.

Mike, what makes you say that? It's one of the few regulators I know of that's specifically tested (and certified by the US Navy for what that's worth) for diving in water *under* the freezing point..... How cold do you want it, mate?

The two brands that seem to prevail amongst cold-water divers are Apeks (or Zeagle) and Poseidon. Poseidon are easier to dive with - no in water adjustments once you've set some models to the 'dive' position - and awesome performance at all depths and temperatures.

I know nothing about the Poseidon regs but I concur on the Apeks. I would also add the Aqualungs to this list.

R..

 

[cfdfirediver]

Personall I prefer Sherwood.
I dive the Maximus, my Girlfriend and son dive Blizzards, and my dive team and three others nearby all dive Sherwood (Blizzard or Maximus).
The best thing to do is get info from users of different brands and start there. Then go to your LDS and ask to tryout the ones you feel are the best choices.
Regs are a big investment to have something your not entirely happy with.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

What about Dive Rite? They are quite popular among the technical divers. DR just doesn't put as much money into advertising, but they are very solid. DR is very well respected amongst the DIR crowd. From what I've read, their regs are also very servicable. The RG1208 1st stage can be equiped with an environmentally sealed ice kit. The RG2510 1nd stage is cold water ready as all internal parts are teflon coated. Check them out at:

http://www.diveriteexpress.com/regs/regulators.shtml

I will most likely be buying a set for myself. They are legally sold via the internet with full warranty and the parts/service manual are all readily available.

Here is a related SB thread:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126456&highlight=dive+rite+regulator

 

[SCUBA Seth]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the great input. I haven't seen Dive Rite or Posiedon around here, but could definitely look into it. I've been impressed by AquaLung, Atomic, Mares and Sherwood, but only through reviews I've read and storers that sell them and we all know how reliable (or not) these resources are. I must also take a step back and say that the bulk of my diving will be split between Northeast diving and warm water diving with the very occassional and rare mixed in ice dive. Given the small ice diving time, do the suggestions still hold or are there others you all might suggest?

Regarding the Sherwood Maximus, one of the things I really like about them is the underarm routing of the hose. I think this could also be accomplished by one of the regs with a swivel, I'm just a little nervous about having additional features that could potentially fail at the wrong time. Thoughts?

 

[spectrum]

T

Regarding the Sherwood Maximus, one of the things I really like about them is the underarm routing of the hose. I think this could also be accomplished by one of the regs with a swivel, I'm just a little nervous about having additional features that could potentially fail at the wrong time. Thoughts?

The routing sounds interesting. Some members here have said nice things about it. You are right about a more complex failiure point. Even on the Blizzard you have a axial rotating end fitting so it's already a live connection and that alone relives the hose torsion.

My wife and I both dive 2005 Blizzards. I have 81 dives on mine and am perfectly happy with the thing, she has 1/2 as much, ditto. I've been to 70 something feet a number of times and it breathed just fine. My wife's a mild astmatic (controled) and is happy as well. Coldest I've been able to take it is to 37F and it never skipped a beat.

We based our decision on: Great local reputation with the public safety crowd as well as most of the LDS regulars, readily serviced almost anywhere, highly recognized as rock solid reliable even if not elegant, affordable to acquire and service, we both started together so there was some $$ flying out the window. The dry bleed is a neat feature that achieves the balanced first stage function. The dry mouth relief of the Oasis is also part of the Blizard though it is plated to prevent frost buildup and in cold water serves a heat sink function too.

There are other regulators that breathe even easier but I was told by a number of board members that we'd be perfectly happy in the recreational depths, so far so good.

Remembeer that the need for a cold water regulator starts as you get down past 42F due to the adiabatic cooling that takes place when breathing compressed air. Here in Maine I can find that kind of cold 70 feet down in a lake on a July afternoon. In other words, cold water regulators are not needed just for ice dives.

Pete

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Remembeer that the need for a cold water regulator starts as you get down past 42F due to the adiabatic cooling that takes place when breathing compressed air. Here in Maine I can find that kind of cold 70 feet down in a lake on a July afternoon. In other words, cold water regulators are not needed just for ice dives.

Pete

I agree with Pete. We run into the same issue diving in the Midwest. Even if only a small percentage of your dives are in water colder than 42F, do you still want to risk duing it with a reg that may freeze up? Since any cold water reg will operate perfectly fine in warm water but the reverse doesn't hold, I'd go with a cold water reg.

I don't know much at all about Mares, Aeris or Sherwood, but I have heard good things about all of them on this board. I do know that you can't go wrong with either AquaLung or Apeks. I only mentioned Dive Rite because they are (1) available on the internet with full warranty (www.diveriteexpress.com) and (2) I believe they offer the same kind of performance as AL or Apeks for quite a bit less money. But that's just my 2 cents.

Good luck,

 

[m3830431]

Don't buy the Apeks from Liesurepro. Not an authorized dealer if you want the free parts for life.