my first regulator

[mugenheimer]

Hi, I'm sure this type of question pops up all the time and you are all bored of answering it, but I am looking to buy my first dive kit. I want to buy some decent equipment without breaking the bank. I have seen the Scubapro MK2 Plus first stage, with R295 second stage reg, plus an octi and pressure gauge online for 231.55 EURO which seems like a good deal. Am I wrong in assuming this is good equipment because it is scubapro?
I am hoping to do my divemaster in a few months and all my diving will be in warm conditions, i.e. Caribbean, Indonesia, Thailand etc. Is this set up good for this? Or if not can anyone reccommend some good cheap equipment, and/or where to get it? I am based in New Zealand.
Thanks for your help?

 

[tstormdiver]

While I personally feel scubapro regulators areamong the better ones, do realize however, that the MK2/ R295 is their lower end regulator. The best thing I may be able to suggest to you, is to get the best equipment you can afford. If you can afford the best,... go with it, chances are you won't be sorry. If you must go with something a little less, then there should be no issues, as long as the equipment can deliver what you need from it. Your best bet will be to determine what your diving goals are & then get equipment worthy of the task. If it can not meet your needs, then you may need to upgrade in the future.

 

[Solly]

I agree with Tstorm, I was in your shoes a while ago but trying to get the whole set of gear (of course not altogether but on by one) and the best way to do that is to buy the best you can afford in light of what kind of diving you will be doing. For a regulator I was targeting an atomic b2 or scubapro mk17(or mk25) with a G250v. but due to some reasons I had a chance to get a poseidon jetstream reg ... performance wise all the 3 are very good and no negative feedbacks were seen doing a search in the forum as for maintenance I decided to take the poseidon maintenance course and do it myself

 

[rab1412000]

go for the SP mk17/g 250v

 

[ToPpS]

Of course we get this question a lot But we've all been there at some stage in our diving careers and with all the new equipment that gets released these days, it's good to keep it all fresh! But check out the regulators section: There's bound to be something there.

Most people here on the board recommend a few regs. The usual culprits are Scubapro S600/MK25, Apeks XTX series (Personal fav), Aqualung Legend, Mares Abyss.... Is there anything "wrong" with ScubaPro? No their hard equipment is generally rock solid!

MK17/S555 and the MK17/X650 are okay choices that are arguably better than the 2nd stage you mentioned....

As you said, "you're after some DECENT dive equipment" and if you're going to be getting your Divemaster certification in a few months, you're going to doing a lot of diving. Rather dive with something that you can depend on rather than something even a dive school won't touch.

On-line shops: Leisure Pro (USA) , Simply Scuba (UK) (Simply Scuba shipped out to me in SA without any trouble), AbyssScuba (AU)


For Thailand are 3mm shorty is generally good enough. We had some guys diving in just a T-shirt or rash vest.

I assume that have done a fair bit of diving, so you should have a good idea of what you would want in terms of gear, based of buddies advice and your LDS. There's nothing wrong with buying your kit piece by piece.

Have you looked at Second hand options.... there are some people who start scuba diving and never really continue. Have the stuff serviced before you venture forth but it should be fine.

 

[I Dive]

The best thing I may be able to suggest to you, is to get the best equipment you can afford. If you can afford the best,... go with it, chances are you won't be sorry.

Bingo, perfectly stated. Personally, I absolutely love my SP MK18/G250HP. I have never once had a single issue with it, nothing, end of story.

 

[Fishpie]

If you will be working as a DM and spending time in a pool I'd recommend a diaphragm 1st stage as chlorine water does tend to be hard on the exposed o rings of piston regs.
Here are my usual recommendations for budget regs that perform as well as their top $ cousins.
Apeks XTX 20
Zeagle Envoy
AquaLung LX
.....all are diaphragm 1st's with balanced 2nd's and are as bulletproof and reliable as they come.

 

[mugenheimer]

Thanks guys, i've looked into the MK25/G250v combo and it has won me over, so i think i will wait a few weeks and buy it.

 

[halocline]

While I personally feel scubapro regulators areamong the better ones, do realize however, that the MK2/ R295 is their lower end regulator. The best thing I may be able to suggest to you, is to get the best equipment you can afford. If you can afford the best,... go with it, chances are you won't be sorry.

Spoken like a true representative of the dive gear industry. Buy the "best' (meaning most expensive, naturally), you just left out the punch line "isn't your life worth it?"

In your defense, you did not bring up the absurd expensive-equals-safer pitch, and I appreciate that. But, the truth is that the MK2 is a classic bulletproof reg that is proven over decades of world-wide use. It will work absolutely fine for the OP.

I bought one as my first reg, and eventually I got interested in older regs and DIY service as a hobby. Anyhow, at some point I decided to directly compare my MK2/R190 with a MK10/G250 (very high performance) on consecutive dives, and while there is a difference, it's nothing like 'the MK2 doesn't do the job' or 'gee I can't get enough air.' In fact, I've seen many dive professionals raving about their high end regs, tried them, and found them to be so badly tuned that they breathed far WORSE than my MK2. So the whole reg performance issue is at best subtle and somewhat subjective, and at worst filled with hype and narcissism.

I'm definitely a reg geek, and will spend an inappropriate amount of time working on my regs and trying different things to compare performance. But, that's just kind of a demented hobby. I'd be totally comfortable taking my MK2 as deep as I would ever dive or into an overhead.

 

[Wayward Son]

Thanks guys, i've looked into the MK25/G250v combo and it has won me over, so i think i will wait a few weeks and buy it.

I have this combo & couldn't be more pleased with it. That being said, I don't dive water cold enough to be a concern. if you do, go with a Mk17 1st stage. keep the G250V 2nd, have them all tuned & enjoy.