Noob in cold waters searching for answers!

[Seraphimx]

Hi, I've been diving for 2 years now in Upper Canada and as you may know the water is quite cold here. I have been thinking about taking the second open water scuba lessons and would like to buy some gear.

The only thing divers buy around here is either Poseidon, Aqualung, Apeks or Scuabpro.

The rest is considered as basic recreational diving that will freeze (freeflow) when you dive ( I talked to some technical divers that tried the mares proton Ice and told me that it isnt worth the money)

So I am here wondering what to buy as a basic gear that I will dive with, and grow with.

First I tought about being a used Poseidon set, but it costs a lot to repair/service, and is kinda bothersome as Ive heard.

Second, Apeks are way too expensive if I try to buy retail, and buying on internet is a big no no for Aqualung/Apeks Regs.

Third, Scubapro is quite nice but i Have to buy it at a retail store and the retail stores that do sell Scubapro have eyepoping prices like 900$ for a X650 with a MK25.

So, I was thinking about buying a new Zeagle regulator on Internet and have it inspected and serviced here by the best store in the area, wich services the police and firefighters equipement.


What do you recommend

 

[johnny_bravo]

Get the Sherwood Blizzard...I dive in Canada. It's a great, dependable, workhorse reg with cold water features.

Cheers.

 

[scubapolly]

Don't know what the exchange rate is, but you might want to look into buying a SCUBAPro down here. Mk25 S600 is going to run you about $500 around me. Not sure on the X650 2nd stage- haven't seen that one around in the shops. The Apex are going to be about $500 as well. Also remember ScubaPro has a parts program- that will save you about $20-30 per year on your annual service.

Polly

 

[smoritz0370]

Warranties tend to be country specific. So if you buy the regulator online from someplace in the US expect to have to send it back to have warranty work done on it. If you are going to have it serviced up here expect to pay parts and labour. If you buy the regulator up here most manufacturers have free parts on the annual (semi-annual) preventative maintenance.

Where in Upper Canada are you? There is lots of choice other than Poseidon, Aqualung, Apeks and Scubapro although they are all good choices. I currently dive Zeagle. If you are cash strapped try looking at a regulator a couple levels down from the manufacturers top of the line, there is often very little difference in performance.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I'd recommend that you take a look at the Dive Rite RG2500 with the ICE upgrade. The full set is only $450 @ DiveRiteExpress.com with warranty! Here is a good discussion thread that includes at least one happy owner from Canada:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=126456

This reg also has received some very solid reviews over at DecoStop.com from the technical diving community.

 

[Diver0001]

Hi, I've been diving for 2 years now in Upper Canada and as you may know the water is quite cold here. I have been thinking about taking the second open water scuba lessons and would like to buy some gear.

The only thing divers buy around here is either Poseidon, Aqualung, Apeks or Scuabpro.

The rest is considered as basic recreational diving that will freeze (freeflow) when you dive ( I talked to some technical divers that tried the mares proton Ice and told me that it isnt worth the money)

So I am here wondering what to buy as a basic gear that I will dive with, and grow with.

First I tought about being a used Poseidon set, but it costs a lot to repair/service, and is kinda bothersome as Ive heard.

Second, Apeks are way too expensive if I try to buy retail, and buying on internet is a big no no for Aqualung/Apeks Regs.

Third, Scubapro is quite nice but i Have to buy it at a retail store and the retail stores that do sell Scubapro have eyepoping prices like 900$ for a X650 with a MK25.

So, I was thinking about buying a new Zeagle regulator on Internet and have it inspected and serviced here by the best store in the area, wich services the police and firefighters equipement.


What do you recommend

Here's my thinking:

All the regs you mentioned are good. I have personally have 5 Aqualung regulators including a 33 year old Aquarius that works as well today as the day it was bought. If you're looking for top quality, growth potential and servicability then you can't go wrong with an Aqualung.

I suspect fans of all the other regs you mentioned will tell you the same thing.

In terms of Poseidon you need to be careful which 2nd stage you buy. It's generally thought to be preferable to buy one with a downstream 2nd than one with an upstream 2nd. I think the upstream ones were called "jet .... something or other..." "jetstream", maybe, but I'm not good on Poseidons so you'll need to check.

With the Scubapro's you have to watch out which 1st stage you buy. Some of the Scubapro 1st stages look on the inside like they were invented by a rocket-scientist and needless to say some of them are a little prone to IP creep, which will keep your service tek smiling and your wallet empty. One of my friends who owns a bunch of Scubapros that he bought around the turn of the millennium says that they creep like crazy. Maybe some scubapro users can comment on that.

In any case I would highly recommend that you go for quality and look at the price last. Ultimately, the price isn't what you have in your mouth.....

One thing you might consider is to print the Leisurepro page and show the price to the LDS owner and ask them if they can match that price. They might not but i bet you can get a reasonable discount if you give them the impression that you'll buy from the internet if they don't deal with you .....

In any case, do yourself a favor and get something that your LDS can service. If you buy something they're not qualified to service they'll have to send it away, which can cause serious delays in getting your stuff serviced.

R..

 

[diveman7683]

I agree with johnny bravo on the Blizzard, also look at the Oceanic Delta 4. I dive with the Delta 3/ DX4 reg setup. I've never had it freeflow and I dive in Lake Superior all the time. The Genesis GS 2000 is a decent reg too. My LDS sells only the Genesis and Sherwood because thats what works really well up here and the price is good.

Where in Canada are you from?

Troy

 

[Seraphimx]

I am in Quebec and I would like to start diving in colder places like LES ESCOUMINS, where the water is about 5 celcius ( ill need to get drysuit formation and nitrox ) but Id like a reg setup that I'll be able to grow with, that is not expensive and will go in cold waters. Ive checked so far on other threads and Ive come to look at the

-Dive-Rite equipement ( not expensive, easy to get parts, LDS makes repairs on them , nitrox ready and bought directly from their site diveriteexpress.com)

- Zeagle equipement ( not expensive, easy to get parts & repairs, nitrox ready)
Cons; Bought online, may be older version.

-Oceanic Delta ( can be bought at LDS, repairs and stuff too)
cons; a bit 200-300$ more or so than the dive-rite setup.

AS anyone anything to declare ? Are oceanic check ups free when you buy it to a LDS?

 

[Seraphimx]

For me the price is something important, but I want the quality and facility, for a reasonable price. I am a student, and work part-time. So money can be a factor. Its not like a full-time employee who asks himself what should he buy. Its like I get the cheap one and eat, I get the expensive one and eat kraft dinner for months..... whats the choice.

Right now the Dive-Rite is appealing.

 

[Hyper-limits]

For me the price is something important, but I want the quality and facility, for a reasonable price. I am a student, and work part-time. So money can be a factor. Its not like a full-time employee who asks himself what should he buy. Its like I get the cheap one and eat, I get the expensive one and eat kraft dinner for months..... whats the choice.

Right now the Dive-Rite is appealing.

Dive-Rite are very good regulator for the price, I use them here in BC were the water is around 40F and on dives as deep as 250ft and never had a problem. I decided to go with the DR because the part are easy to get and I can service the reg myself. I did look at the apeks but the only shop in town selling them charge at least 2X more than the RG2500. I also owned a few blizzards before moving to tech diving and like them. But if you have the choice go with DR.