Please tell me your personal experiences w/buying ScubaPro regs at LeisurePro?

[redacted]

paying msrp can save your life

How does paying MSRP save your life????

Is it because the gear costs you so much more that you can't afford to dive?

Where are you getting this crap?

 

[halocline]

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

I know you're a kid, so I'll try to go easy on you, but what you're saying is pure BS. You need to learn to think before you write. Don't take it personally.

 

[huntnhound]

I have purchased from both LP and Scubatoys and could not be more pleased. The owner of the LDS is a jerk so this seems to help with my decision to buy stuff online. I have purchased several regs from e-bay and had them checked out and serviced by Scubatoys service dept. Those guys are great to deal with. Just my humble input.

 

[ptyx]

well the great thing is as customers we are given options.
if price is your big issue then go online, if local support is what floats your boat then go to your LDS.

One option as well is to select a manufacturer which gives LDSs a fighting chance to compete. Online/big distributors will always be cheaper, but if "authorized dealers" policies weren't so restrictive, it would be fairly easy for a LDS to compensate with better service: you can actually handle the gear before buying, have some explanations and mini-training, and even sometimes try before you buy.

I don't know what dive shop owners think about it, but as a consumer I'm not under the impression that Scubapro (or Suunto for that matter) price fixing policies are helping LDSs much.

 

[jmorriss]

I have purchased all my regs locally form authorized dealers. The customer service and persoanl attention more than makes up for the price difference, Especially considering the fill cards and boat trips they kicked in to off set the price restrictions. Not to mention other discounts they give me as a regular customer. For example, I purchased a pair of Jet Fins at MSRP, but they fitted me for, provide and installed free of charge Manta spring straps. Total package price was less than LP. Then after 6 (now 8 or 9) years of free parts. Priceless.

Scubapro and USD/ Aqualung place the greates restrictions on their retailors. (Atomic now too perhaps. But fact is, anywhere in the world, you can find USD and Scubapro shops and service centers.

Florida is a whole different diving animal in IMHO-there is selection and availability down there-you can find pretty much anything you want from a shop within a 45 min -1hour drive.

That being said, I miss it-I am dismayed by the lack of selection at the Atlanta area shops-no Zeagle or Sherwood. I got a funny look when I asked for Kevlar gloves at the LDS up here-they seemed to think they were something brand new. I will be mailing my GF's stuff (SP) back to the FL LDS when I get back from our trip next week for its yearly service. Mine will follow in late September. So I support them with business even thou it is a bit out of my convience-b/c I trust them and their reputation. Had I bought my BC/Reg (Oasis/Stilleto) setup from LP I would have no qualms mailing it to NYC either.

I have spent a decent amount (sub ~1k) on stuff from LP and have been very pleased. Brett is very helpful and their perfect fit guarantee makes sized items a breeze. Would I buy a wetsuit from them-no, but other non-'fit' items and gear I trust them.

stay away from lesiure pro especially when it comes to regulators, don't by life support gear from then, fins and stuff is okay but stay away from leisurepro in general if you can. paying msrp can save your life

I don't even know how to politely address that statement :shocked2:
In reality its pretty slanderous IMHO




Edit:

On that note, LDS's f-up too-my girl took her reg into service at our adoptive LDS in Florida last year-we picked it up and found that the last shop in NJ had assembled her second stage? incorrectly and it may have had a hard time balancing at depth. Luckily the only dive she had used it on in the previous year was a 15' lake dive for setting up a race course.

 

[RJP]

paying msrp can save your life

Ok, there are few LDS proponents who are as strident as I am, but even I think that's a ridiculous statement!

 

[paddler3d]

I am a fairly new diver (~45 dives), and I am looking to purchase new gear. After some research, my first choice regulator is the ScubaPro MK17/G250v.



- Did you have any problems with the gear? What was their service like?

- How can there be such a sig price difference? Any chance of getting used equipment or parts-swapping?

Thank you.

Over the years, I've purchased at least three regs from LP. No issues. I don't have them serviced locally. At least my preferred LDS does not service them locally. They ship them out.

I know sp does the free parts for life, but parts cost $10. You're paying for labor.

I'm actually wanting to learn how to maintain my own regs. I have VH's (Vance Harlow) book on regulator maintenance and a regulator maintenance book form scubatools.com.

I think getting an environmentally sealed reg, diaphragm or piston, is a good idea for your region.

I just had an experience with a SP MK25 last weekend that has made me rethink my SP for cold water. My primary reg is an Apeks ATX100. My reg on my pony bottle was, notice was, a SP MK25/G250. We were practicing switching to alternate air sources. We were at 122ffw and the water temp, according to our computers was around 42 degrees. After four breaths on my pony, it went into free flow. I ultimately had to shut down the bottle to stop the free flow. We later tested the IP and it was 135, which is in the middle of the range for SP. SP calls this a cold water reg, but the VH book suggests that the MK25 used in cold water should be packed with silicon.

The VH regulator book talks about the SP MK17. He is not a big fan of this reg, simply because it is internally a lot more complicated that other balanced, and overbalanced, diaphragm regs out there.

I have personally dove the MK17 it is breaths brilliantly.

If you haven't yet, I may suggest looking at the Apeks line.

LP has competitive costs on these as well.

Good luck.

 

[halocline]

Vance wrote that book long before the MK17 came out. I think he was talking about the MK14, an early SP diaphragm reg. I might have the model number wrong, but it definitely was not the MK17.

The MK25 is not designed to be packed with silicone or Christolube. Instead it has a bushing/sleeve arrangement that has had less than stellar performance in really cold water. A good inexpensive reliable pony reg is the MK2. It's less likely to freeze and it can tolerate being flooded.

 

[paddler3d]

Vance wrote that book long before the MK17 came out. I think he was talking about the MK14, an early SP diaphragm reg. I might have the model number wrong, but it definitely was not the MK17.

The MK25 is not designed to be packed with silicone or Christolube. Instead it has a bushing/sleeve arrangement that has had less than stellar performance in really cold water. A good inexpensive reliable pony reg is the MK2. It's less likely to freeze and it can tolerate being flooded.

Nope, you're right about the MK17. He was indeed referring to the MK14,16,18.

I have found two written sources, one is VH's book and the other is some SP memo I dug up on the internet, about how SP approves the use of packing the spring in both the MK20 and MK25, but does not recommend keeping them that way year round.

 

[Twistedarts]

forget SP. 1 word... Sherwood. none of this price fixing nonsense. for recreational diving I will put my magnum up against any reg NOTE: "recreational" diving. I also dive AL Legend which cost twice as much but for these depths offers no additional benefit.

remember Sherwood = Bulletproof. Besides I have yet to find an LDS that can't service a sherwood.

Bottom line, if LP products were killing people, they would not be in business.
my 2 p.s.i.
let the flames begin...