Opinion please

[Jrock1062]

Hello All
I am a new diver and new to scuba board I have a question on regs I am buying my own gear and would like an opinion on what reg do you think is best for 20-40 dives a year mostly warm water some north east diving as well not so worried about expense for the reg thanks for the help

John

 

[ronbeau]

Hello All
I am a new diver and new to scuba board I have a question on regs I am buying my own gear and would like an opinion on what reg do you think is best for 20-40 dives a year mostly warm water some north east diving as well not so worried about expense for the reg thanks for the help

John

You can't go wrong with Atomic regulators. The Atomic B2 regualtor would probably be a good choice and would serve you weel in both warm water and in the cold water of the northeast.

I use the same regulator both in the caribbran and in 48 degree F water of the coast of Massachusetts/Rhode Island and in quarries in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

I have had no problems whatsoever with the B2. The service interval is 2 years or 300 dives whichever comes first.

The regualtor breathes as easily at 105 feet (deepest I have been) as it does at 20 feet.

 

[Jimmer]

Zeagle ZX-DSV is an awesome bang for the buck regulator, and breathes incredibly smooth at depth and is rock solid in cold water. Free parts for life program with them as well.

 

[Couv]

Hello All
I am a new diver and new to scuba board I have a question on regs I am buying my own gear and would like an opinion on what reg do you think is best for 20-40 dives a year mostly warm water some north east diving as well not so worried about expense for the reg thanks for the help

John

Hello John,

Welcome to Scuba Board. It is a good idea to take a little time to fill out your profile so we can know a little more about you.

Shortly, you will be swamped with advise about buying a regulator, mostly by people who own a brand and are very fond of it. One thing about regulators, most are great at what they do. So how do you separate the weed from the chaff? That will not be easy, but it will be fun and entertaining. You will soon find out there are quite a few gurus on this board in each section. You will it find helpful to pick out a few of them and read lots of their post and you will be off to a good start. In the regulator section I can highly recommend the post of (in no particular order) Awap, DA Aquamaster, Captain, Pescador775 and Luis H …there are lots of others but that will keep you busy for a while.

At any rate, you want a regulator brand that has a good track record for keeping parts available for each model. Of course, unless you will DIY, you also want a regulator that can be serviced by your local dive shop and lots of locations in the world. The two best companies in both those cases are Aqualung and Scubapro.

Anyway, I have to recommend the Scubapro MK 17 coupled with a G250V for reasons you will discover on your own.

Good luck, do not rush into anything and let us know what you decided.

couv

 

[Jrock1062]

thank you for your help i have a question why the mk17 over the mk 25 i was of the thinking the mk25 was a better first stage thanks for the help and advice

 

[evil_xander]

thank you for your help i have a question why the mk17 over the mk 25 i was of the thinking the mk25 was a better first stage thanks for the help and advice

You will not notice any difference in how they perform, 2nd stage is the bottleneck in the story, not the 1st stage, and the MK17 is cheaper.

I have the MK25 and I rinse it fanatically as I dive in sea exclusively. Look at the photos of each first stages if you can't see them in person. Notice the holes in the body of the MK25. A regular salt trap... I just had first service done on it after two years/100 dives, no signs of any problems. I did the service more for the peace of mind then because I felt any decrease of performance. So, MK25 requires a bit more attention post dive wise, and that's about it.

OTOH, MK25 routes hoses very nice due to the turret and 5th LP port on the end of it. Don't know if that matters to you, but it matters to me (2 first stages on a single tank at the moment).

 

[Stu S.]

Are you in Florida, or coming soon? You may wish to stop by one of the Diver's Direct Stores. This is the biggest selection of gear around here. They are also on-line. I am really pleased with their service. There is a tech named Tim that does it for all stores.

After picking up Aqua Lung, they have all the major brands - except Scubapro. That brand is kind of dying on the vine around here. The product is still good. I've been told that there was some friction between the distributors and dealers.

Happy shopping.

 

[David P]

thank you for your help i have a question why the mk17 over the mk 25 i was of the thinking the mk25 was a better first stage thanks for the help and advice

Sure the Mk 25 flows enough air to have you and 24 of your buddies breathing off one first stage, but who wants to buy all those LP hoses and special adapters!?!

In the US the Mk25 is pushed as top of the line, from what the sales rep said the MK17 is TOTL in Europe. The MK 17 is environmentally sealed which is pretty nice.

I didn't read every word that has been posted here but I did skim through it.. didn't notice anyone saying that as long as you stick with known brands, you cant buy a bad reg. The scuba industry is small, if someone put out a reg that was unsafe, everyone would know it quickly and that reg would be gone. Sure there are regs of better design and better fit and finish. Are the Atomics regs great? sure you bet, but will you realy feel the difference between that and the industrial and reliable no frills Scuba Pro Mk2 (~$250) probably not right now with your level of diving...
All that said, Scubapro gives you free parts for life as long as you have your regs rebuild every year by an authorized Scubapro dealer. Labor still costs ~$30 a stage
Atomic regs you have to pay for the parts but only have it serviced every other year or every 300 dives, parts cost ~$20 a stage. Personally I like Apeks, but that is just my opinion.

 

[divad]

Zeagle ZX-DSV is an awesome bang for the buck regulator, and breathes incredibly smooth at depth and is rock solid in cold water. Free parts for life program with them as well.

What he said. That's why I bought one.

 

[Jrock1062]

I want to thank eveyone for all there help i have one more question what is the difference between a balanced piston first stage and a balanced-diaphragm ?