Ok so before I give you my opinion, I must first say that I'm not a seasoned veteran like a lot of people on here. In fact, I'm fairly new to the diving game, only about 2 years in. However, I dive pretty much weekly, if not more, and I have spent the summer getting certified and working as a divemaster, and now I do it at the local diving school on the weekends (I'm a teacher full-time, so that's about all I can do at this point). I am also not (yet) a technical diver, but one day I will make that leap. I want to continue learning and practicing skills for now because I'm having a lot of fun doing that and becoming super comfortable in the water. I only say all of that to say that yes, I have a lot to learn, but I hope you find my opinions helpful anyway... especially to anyone reading this that is also fairly new (or not) and might be deciding if Poseidon is right for you.
I wrote a post a little over a month ago asking for their opinions on some regulators. There are a lot of good folks on the forums here, so thank you for your perspectives. Big shouts out to @RainPilot and @tbone1004 especially on this one. I appreciate you guys.
After a lot of thinking and researching (and asking opinions on here), I decided to go with the Poseidon Xstream. I got the black models even though the difference between that and the Deep model is a cosmetic thing. I like black stuff, and I've been saving for this for a long time, so I went for it. I bought two 1st stages, two 2nd stages, 210cm hose for primary, 65cm hose for backup, and the Cirrus SPG (even though I'm using a DIR Zone black SPG to stick with the black motif... I'll keep the Cirrus for later).
My main hesitation came from the fact that I've heard service is hard to find for Poseidon because of their particular construction. That's just what I've heard. That being the case, I also heard that they're actually fairly simple in their design... minimal moving parts. I guess I'll see what that's all about the first time I need to service them. I would like to go to a workshop and learn how to service them myself, as I've heard that you can do that (correct me if I'm wrong). The 1st stages are heavy, and I like that. I feel like it's the equivalent of a '57 Chevy compared to a 2019 Toyota. The Toyota is nice and probably well-made, but the '57 Chevy is a big hunk-of-metal beast that is built to last. That's my impression of these 1st stages.
My other hesitation had to do with how they breathe. Lots of people say that they essentially push air into your lungs and it can be kind of uncomfortable. Actually, I don't really like to have to pull too hard when I breathe anyway, so I was looking forward to trying it. They said that these regs really come into their own below 40m. I've yet to cross that threshold (and I'm ok with that for now). They also said that above 40m they can be kind of annoying to breathe due to the servo-assisted mechanism.
Actually, I couldn't disagree more. After having them in the water now, I freaking LOVE they way they breathe. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. That's not to say that other regulators suck by comparison, but I am really, REALLY happy with these things. There is a noticeable difference in ease of breathing (*ease* of breathing being the key here... it's super easy). I had previously read that it's harder to skip-breathe or to take partial breaths, but that's not true either, I tried it. The mouthpiece is comfortable and big compared to other ones that I've tried before, so that's nice too (even though I could have changed it if I wanted to anyway).
One thing I read that I can totally agree with... when doing a free-flow drill or if you need to purge with the reg in your mouth, it will feel like it's blowing the enamel off of your teeth. It was all I could do to not laugh hard when I tried it. I tried it a few more times for fun, too. It's awesome! hahaha. One thing I also read that is true, and this is important especially for someone buying Poseidon for the first time. Due to the upstream design (which is completely save with the integrated overpressure valve, OPV), pressure is actually needed to keep the 2nd stage from flowing. When opening the tank, you've got to do it fast and you'll hear the second stage blow air for less than half of a second. I had read that it freaked some people out, that they thought something was wrong. They were just opening the tank too slowly, apparently. I've also heard that at very low pressures, you might have a free-flow. I don't plan on finding out.
These things are robust; I've heard they'll last forever if you take care of them (time will tell for mine, but I'm confident). If you're on the fence about it, I would say 100% go for it. This is my favorite purchase so far (and it was the last purchase to complete my own gear setup). Well, I'm super happy with all of my gear, but as far as regs go, I'm super stoked about these. On top of all of that, they're suuuuuuuper sexy too.
I've attached some pictures. Forgive the lighting, my table is dark and the I don't have a proper place to do photoshoots of things like this in my tiny apartment, and I didn't want to increase the exposure because - like I said - I like black
I don't have an UW camera yet, so no in-action pictures.
I wrote a post a little over a month ago asking for their opinions on some regulators. There are a lot of good folks on the forums here, so thank you for your perspectives. Big shouts out to @RainPilot and @tbone1004 especially on this one. I appreciate you guys.
After a lot of thinking and researching (and asking opinions on here), I decided to go with the Poseidon Xstream. I got the black models even though the difference between that and the Deep model is a cosmetic thing. I like black stuff, and I've been saving for this for a long time, so I went for it. I bought two 1st stages, two 2nd stages, 210cm hose for primary, 65cm hose for backup, and the Cirrus SPG (even though I'm using a DIR Zone black SPG to stick with the black motif... I'll keep the Cirrus for later).
My main hesitation came from the fact that I've heard service is hard to find for Poseidon because of their particular construction. That's just what I've heard. That being the case, I also heard that they're actually fairly simple in their design... minimal moving parts. I guess I'll see what that's all about the first time I need to service them. I would like to go to a workshop and learn how to service them myself, as I've heard that you can do that (correct me if I'm wrong). The 1st stages are heavy, and I like that. I feel like it's the equivalent of a '57 Chevy compared to a 2019 Toyota. The Toyota is nice and probably well-made, but the '57 Chevy is a big hunk-of-metal beast that is built to last. That's my impression of these 1st stages.
My other hesitation had to do with how they breathe. Lots of people say that they essentially push air into your lungs and it can be kind of uncomfortable. Actually, I don't really like to have to pull too hard when I breathe anyway, so I was looking forward to trying it. They said that these regs really come into their own below 40m. I've yet to cross that threshold (and I'm ok with that for now). They also said that above 40m they can be kind of annoying to breathe due to the servo-assisted mechanism.
Actually, I couldn't disagree more. After having them in the water now, I freaking LOVE they way they breathe. Honestly, I couldn't be happier with this purchase. That's not to say that other regulators suck by comparison, but I am really, REALLY happy with these things. There is a noticeable difference in ease of breathing (*ease* of breathing being the key here... it's super easy). I had previously read that it's harder to skip-breathe or to take partial breaths, but that's not true either, I tried it. The mouthpiece is comfortable and big compared to other ones that I've tried before, so that's nice too (even though I could have changed it if I wanted to anyway).
One thing I read that I can totally agree with... when doing a free-flow drill or if you need to purge with the reg in your mouth, it will feel like it's blowing the enamel off of your teeth. It was all I could do to not laugh hard when I tried it. I tried it a few more times for fun, too. It's awesome! hahaha. One thing I also read that is true, and this is important especially for someone buying Poseidon for the first time. Due to the upstream design (which is completely save with the integrated overpressure valve, OPV), pressure is actually needed to keep the 2nd stage from flowing. When opening the tank, you've got to do it fast and you'll hear the second stage blow air for less than half of a second. I had read that it freaked some people out, that they thought something was wrong. They were just opening the tank too slowly, apparently. I've also heard that at very low pressures, you might have a free-flow. I don't plan on finding out.
These things are robust; I've heard they'll last forever if you take care of them (time will tell for mine, but I'm confident). If you're on the fence about it, I would say 100% go for it. This is my favorite purchase so far (and it was the last purchase to complete my own gear setup). Well, I'm super happy with all of my gear, but as far as regs go, I'm super stoked about these. On top of all of that, they're suuuuuuuper sexy too.
I've attached some pictures. Forgive the lighting, my table is dark and the I don't have a proper place to do photoshoots of things like this in my tiny apartment, and I didn't want to increase the exposure because - like I said - I like black
I don't have an UW camera yet, so no in-action pictures.
