Money-no-object reg; what would get?

[sibermike7]

Scubapro MK25/S600. I dive plenty of cold water and love that reg.

I am leery of using it in the mind-numbing cold that we have here in the Baltics. Granted water can get kind of hard below 32F/0C, but usually there is some surface time before entering the water that can chill a reg down pretty good.

The OP said that he wasn't interested in ice-diving, but having done a LOT of cold water AND ice-diving, a reg that will operate in the water after an hour SI at below freezing surface temperatures, should be fine under the ice or in "simply" cold water because the water is going to be close to the same temp anyway. I don't think I want to try my MK25/X650 under those circumstances. But, hey, I could be wrong. However, I DO own a MK17/G250 AND Xtreams, so why bother?

 

[heavyjeffd]

I didn't say I was not interested in ice diving.

Just said I wanted to see what regs you guys would buy if money was not a factor.

 

[sibermike7]

I didn't say I was not interested in ice diving.

Just said I wanted to see what regs you guys would buy if money was not a factor.

Hmm. O.K., I thought that was what you meant when you said, "If you could have any reg you wanted that had to cover all the bases (fresh, salt, warm, cold but not ice, air/nitrox, etc.) what would you get?"

It appears that your question has provided some unexpected results. It seems that most of the divers HAVE the rig of their desire and money wasn't the motivating factor!

I wonder how many of the Apeks XTX 200 recommends came divers that were NOT diving with them currently, i.e., they are currently using a 40, 50, or 100 because they felt the jump to the 200 wasn't worth the price. However, if money was no object, ...

If money was no object, then I might upgrade my Poseidon Jet Stream set to Xtream.

 

[Luis H]

If money was absolutely no object that means I would have more time to design (or re-design) my own regulator… I have already done some of that.

My first preference would be a double hose regulator similar to my Phoenix Royal Aqua Master, but the second stage would take some of the ideas of the US Navy/ Aqua Lung Mentor. The exhaust would also be similar to the Mentor.

For a single hose regulator, I would have a hard time improving on the combination of a Scubapro metal Balanced adjustable (156) second stage and an Aqua Lung Titan first stage.

The Titan first stage is an excellent design and does everything a first stage is supposed to do. The mechanical design has been around basically unchanged since 1965 (in the Royal Aqua Master) and parts support should be available long after I am gone.

The Scubapro BA (156/ 109) has not been built in well over a decade (maybe two), but it is mechanically one of the most copied regulators to this day. Most Scubapro use the same (or similar) mechanical parts as the 156. The 156 does have the advantage of having a metal housing with a reasonably sized diaphragm.

IMHO, if money was really no object we would see a lot more metal second stages in production.

 

[elan]

I am leery of using it in the mind-numbing cold that we have here in the Baltics. Granted water can get kind of hard below 32F/0C, but usually there is some surface time before entering the water that can chill a reg down pretty good.

The OP said that he wasn't interested in ice-diving, but having done a LOT of cold water AND ice-diving, a reg that will operate in the water after an hour SI at below freezing surface temperatures, should be fine under the ice or in "simply" cold water because the water is going to be close to the same temp anyway. I don't think I want to try my MK25/X650 under those circumstances. But, hey, I could be wrong. However, I DO own a MK17/G250 AND Xtreams, so why bother?

You might not be wrong at all. I do not know exactly how S600 is related to X650 whether they are of the same design or not (from the back of my head something tells me that they are of the same class) but bellow 40f S600 does not work well.

while talking to local divers here I have found the general agreement is that MK17/G250V is the reg of choice for below 40 water.

 

[heavyjeffd]

Hmm. O.K., I thought that was what you meant when you said, "If you could have any reg you wanted that had to cover all the bases (fresh, salt, warm, cold but not ice, air/nitrox, etc.) what would you get?"

It appears that your question has provided some unexpected results. It seems that most of the divers HAVE the rig of their desire and money wasn't the motivating factor!

I wonder how many of the Apeks XTX 200 recommends came divers that were NOT diving with them currently, i.e., they are currently using a 40, 50, or 100 because they felt the jump to the 200 wasn't worth the price. However, if money was no object, ...

If money was no object, then I might upgrade my Poseidon Jet Stream set to Xtream.

True, sorry about that. The only reason I didn't want to specify ice that the requirements are very unique and differ quite a lot from everything else.

Meaning, you could use the same reg for cold/warm/fresh/salt, etc. but maybe not for ice.

I was just attempting, though maybe failing, to keep it simple.

 

[fnfalman]

Money is no object? Then I'd want the prototype M5 from Atomic Aquatics. It's an all Monel version of the M1.

 

[heavyjeffd]

Nice! That's what I'm talkin about.

 

[khacken]

Interesting question, but why would the presence of a 7 ft hose make a difference? You would put the swivel next to the 2nd stage, just as you would with a shorter hose. Perhaps, I miss the actual focus of your question, though.I use swivels on both regs when diving sidemount - one is a 7 ft hose, the other is a shorter necklace unit. No problem with either.I am not aware of a reason why the swivel and hose must be purchased together. The swivel itself is not inexpensive. But, it is not linked to the hose.

The problem with the Atomic swivel that came with my B2 what that the swivel was directly attached to the hose. Ordering a new 7ft hose from Atomic would have been around $200 at the time. For me, the Miflex hose makes the swivel unnecessary in a long hose configuration. But I could see how swivels would be nice on sidemounts. Again, I have no personal issues with swivels on tech gear, what I meant was that tech gear is generally going to have a long hose and the above reasons make the swivel redundant for me. But do what is best for you and what works for you. My gear is far from DIR and I am not one to cast stones at others, either rec or tech. (I realize no one is flaming me, I just wanted to be clear)

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

Mares MR22 Abyss Extreme