My Head is Spinning! Need Help Picking A Regulator!!!

[eelnoraa]

I would say all the brand/model OP listed are good regulators. I suggest
1) pick one that you can get serviced locally, so avoid those you cannot.
2) if you plan to dive outside of USA, stick with Aqualung, Scubapro, Apex. You can get support and serives for these brand all over the world. That can't be said about Atomic, Oceanic, HOG ... At least from what I have seen
3) if tranvel aboard is not a cocncern, then consider how far your regulator can take you in your future diving. Say if you ever go into double, tech, .... With this consideration, my persoanl choice is one of these: Apex, Atomic, Scubapro, HOG.
4) taking budget into consideration, HOG D1 and Atomic Z2 are the best bang for the buck regulator out there. They are very affordable without any compromise in performance.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have to take issue with the last post. As a long time Oceanic user before switching to HOG service is available around the world. And with HOG if you buy a kit or two when you buy the reg so is service since any competent tech can work on them.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I agree, I don't live anywhere near a Scubapro dealer (used to own a few Mk25/S600's). If I still had them, I'd have to deal with making sure I got them all shipped out of time or else I'd lose out on the "free parts" and have to pay for parts AND the service rate.

I was caught by this once before, which prompted me to sell them and get Dive Rite regs along with some service kits. My wife has a bunch of Poseidon regs, I bought a couple of them as well. They only have to be serviced every two years, if I happen to go past that I don't have to play/pay any games with the company over it.

Shipping regs out for service isn't an issue with me, having to make sure I accomplish this by an annual deadline is an issue for me.

With this in mind,(based on my personal experience) I'd suggest:

1.) Dive Rite or HOG.
2.) A brand that has a 2 year service interval and not an annual/"free parts" program. Try Poseidon, Atomic, I'm sure there are others.
3.) If overseas living or travel isn't a factor for you then go with a brand you like/a cool local shop that you like.

**None of this applies to the old school Scubapro and Aqualung guys on this forum that have forgotten more about regs than I'll ever learn.:worship:

 

[eelnoraa]

I have to take issue with the last post. As a long time Oceanic user before switching to HOG service is available around the world. And with HOG if you buy a kit or two when you buy the reg so is service since any competent tech can work on them.

Jim, don't get me wrong. I love my HOG regulator. But getting them service in CA Bay Area is definitely an issue. 2 dive shop I talked to don't even know this brand. Another knows about it. But all don't service it because they are NOT certified to service HOG. It is all about liability. I know I can always ship it out for service. Just being able to get things done "now" is benefitial.

 

[Dan G]

So since I have the attention of a bunch of people who are regulator savy, and the OP's questions seem to be answered, I thought I'd add my own question:

We are warm water divers, who must travel to dive. Looking for a full reg set up. I'll sacrifice weight for cost or performance. When I look on line to do research, I see comments about balanced and unbalanced first and second stages. Tell me about this. Also, we can't break the bank for our gear, so what recommendations do you have?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

PM sent on regs.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9550 using Tapatalk

 

[Slater]

So since I have the attention of a bunch of people who are regulator savy, and the OP's questions seem to be answered, I thought I'd add my own question:

We are warm water divers, who must travel to dive. Looking for a full reg set up. I'll sacrifice weight for cost or performance. When I look on line to do research, I see comments about balanced and unbalanced first and second stages. Tell me about this. Also, we can't break the bank for our gear, so what recommendations do you have?

Great question Dan...
Would love to hear the simple explenation balanced vs unbalanced as you stated!
Was at 60feet today on rental gear "S.P. reg" & it was very clear that it got somewhat harder to pull air from the reg...

 

[LowDrag]

This is where the search becomes a pain in the a$$ for me. I have read several threads on various products and find it even more confusing. My LDS is a ScubaPro shop, they are an "authorized dealer" which from my understanding is a good thing because they can service my reg (when I get one) with free parts with a labor fee of $25-$50/reg IIRC. Okay, so, I am good with paying the labor fee's seeing as I don't know squat about servicing a set of reg's. At the same time I read one post on here that say's don't be fooled by that. So, if most people are saying that most all reg's will perfrom well for the average diver without issue then what is a person supposed to use as a guideline for purchasing? I get that much of it is personal preference. I have been looking at it like, "my life depends on this equipment" so I want to buy good quality gear but like many others, I am not rich and will need to peice together my gear.

 

[crispix]

You can't go wrong with any of your choices. I vote for Atomic Z2 because it rocks and it only needs to be serviced every two years. Servicing is not that expensive: I send mine to scubatoys.com, and they return it quickly. While I can't remember the price, I remember being surprised because it was well under what I expected.

 

[halocline]

To answer the question about good quality affordable regulators, the good news is that almost any regulator model made and sold by a major manufacturer will work just fine for recreational diving. Too many divers (including myself ) get hung up on the particulars of regulators, and believe me there is an absurd amount of hype involved in the design and marketing of modern regulators. Don't forget, just a few decades ago professional divers were routinely making extreme dives on regulators that some of today's salesmen would tell you shouldn't be used in a bathtub.

To me the best way-by far- to save money and get good performance out of regulators is to buy used. Novice divers typically need an experienced mentor to guide them in buying used regs, but with the right guidance the risk is very small that you'll end up with something that isn't easily maintained and made to work as new. A best buy IMO would be a scubapro MK5 or 10 with a 109 2nd stage-one of the greatest 2nd stages ever, and a GOOD regulator tech to rebuild and tune these. There are all sorts of other choices....

For new, one of the regs that commonly gets mentioned as a best buy is the aqualung titan. This regulator is descended directly from the USD royal aquamaster, then the conshelf, etc...and it is a simple, proven design.

The balanced/unbalanced discussion can be found on any number of threads. The short story is that all modern diaphragm first stages are balanced, some piston regs are, some are not. It really does not make a great deal of difference; balanced 1st stages are simply not affected by (or compensate for) changes in tank pressure. However, unbalanced piston 1sts like the MK2 have a VERY SUBTLE loss in performance at very low tank pressures, such that most divers will not notice anything until the tank is well below 500 PSI, at which point a smart diver is back on the boat; and a not-so-smart diver might appreciate the reminder that gas is running low. With 2nd stages, the difference between balanced and unbalanced is even more subtle. In this case, changes in intermediate pressure (from the 1st stage) do not affect balanced 2nds.

The most important thing, IMO for new divers searching for their first regulator is to not fall for some of the BS hype that seems to permeate the dive gear industry. Buy something simple, look for a design that has been around a while, and stick with brands that have proven long term support of their products. One of the few things that can really cause a regulator to become unusable is if you can no longer easily get rebuild parts for it.