Atomic, all the way. American made. every reg quality control tested, innovations galore, and a reg that is just plain awesome. Downside, not cheap, but doyou want a base model porsche or a tricked out geo metro.
Really Bad Regulators
- Thread starter johm77
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GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
Regulators are not cars, they only have a couple of moving parts, not a couple thousand. For casaul diving, I have not seen all that much difference between entry level regs, they all seem to be based on the same core design. Yes, their are some features on the higher end that serious dive fanatics may desire, but the OP indicated casual diving. Servce and price are probably the driving factors. He just wants to avoid turkeys.
Sorry forgot to add: I would not buy either a base porsche or the tricked out geo. Neither fits my needs, I can't haul any dive gear in them. I do have a mini-van. Nothing to brag about, but it hauls the dive gear for 3 just fine and that is what is important to me.
Sorry forgot to add: I would not buy either a base porsche or the tricked out geo. Neither fits my needs, I can't haul any dive gear in them. I do have a mini-van. Nothing to brag about, but it hauls the dive gear for 3 just fine and that is what is important to me.
Leisure Pro Brett
Contributor
Bad regs are pretty hard to come by. I've read a few reviews of regs that when tested were actually considered unsafe due to low flow in demanding conditions. None of these regs came from any of the major manufacturers, they were very off brand. Atomic, SP, Apeks, Sherwood, Mares, Aqualung, Oceanic, Areis, Poseidon, etc all make descent regs. The one piece of advice I would offer is to stay from the very bottom of the line unbalanced first stages, but that usually only eliminates one offering from each manufacturer. The last thing I would say is if you are really looking to get a nice breathing reg then most offerings with balanced second stages tend to breathe really nice.
Hank49
Contributor
I don't know if they've changed the design but the year 2000 or so, Mares R2 I believe, unbalanced piston reg had a bit of a design flaw. (Or, maybe we were getting some bootleg hp seats from China or somewhere?) The high pressure seat stuck about 1mm out of the piston stem and would "mushroom" a bit which caused it to leak air out the second stage....an annoying hiss. I worked in a shop that used these as rental regs and I was constantly replacing or reversing the Hp seat. Some wouldn't last 5 dives before it started leaking.
jefffalcone
Contributor
I've noticed that with a lot of companies, there really isn't much difference between their top of the line regulator and the less expensive models. Often the less expensive models preform exactly the same as the really expensive ones and have almost identicle designs. An Atomic Z2, for example, is exactly the same design as a T2, but less titanium and 1/3 the price tag. Before you get sucked into buying something expensive, find out exactly what is different about it. I own an Apex XTX 50, which I've been told preforms exactly like the XTX200, just costs $200 less.
AbyssalPlains
Contributor
Capt.Rich:I dont believe there is such a thing as a "bad" regulator. Certainly there are some that are better than others.
But, I dont believe that any manufacturer could manufacture and sell a life sustaining device that doesnt work well.
This sums it up. It largely depends on your wallet.
I think you are safe buying a name brand regulator. I would not buy a regulator that has no name or known source. Oceanic, Mares, Sherwood, Scuba Pro, Atomic, Apeks, Aqualung are good. Some models are better than others but all of them produce good quality equipment. I wouldn't buy a requlator with no brand name out of the back of some guys trunk but I would to hesitate to buy a regulator from any of the previously mentioned makers.
Scuba Tech
Registered
Well.
The problem with this question is than almost every one who replies is not qualified to make judgment on what they recommend, it's all just opinion based on what they own. As Bret of Les Pro points out you can read ScubaLab reports, but thats even worse. A bunch of money based BS tests done by journalists not reg tech's. A soft exhaust valve can do more for the TWOB value then a low cracking effort. Reliability is never mentioned by anyone here but me, over all build quality, chrome, seat life and fail rates or never compared.
So,
The original post is imposable to answer.
Now what can I do to help?
Go to your LDS see what they recommend for the type of diving you intend to do. Talk to the Tech and ask if he/(she!) can recommend some thing. Ask if they work on commission and why they want you to buy the $1500 TI reg! Will you be diving locally to this shop or will you never see them again? Don't go to Les Pro or S Toys they just want to sell what they have most of.
I have the option to stock and sell almost all brands of reg's BC's and computers but choose not to, on an island I cannot afford to have stuff come back all the time so we pick items that have over the years proven to work well and last.
If I were to give an opinion would anyone listen anyway?
If my old posts were not lost in the SB crash search and see what i've said in the past.
D.M
Flame on boy's Flame on
The problem with this question is than almost every one who replies is not qualified to make judgment on what they recommend, it's all just opinion based on what they own. As Bret of Les Pro points out you can read ScubaLab reports, but thats even worse. A bunch of money based BS tests done by journalists not reg tech's. A soft exhaust valve can do more for the TWOB value then a low cracking effort. Reliability is never mentioned by anyone here but me, over all build quality, chrome, seat life and fail rates or never compared.
So,
The original post is imposable to answer.
Now what can I do to help?
Go to your LDS see what they recommend for the type of diving you intend to do. Talk to the Tech and ask if he/(she!) can recommend some thing. Ask if they work on commission and why they want you to buy the $1500 TI reg! Will you be diving locally to this shop or will you never see them again? Don't go to Les Pro or S Toys they just want to sell what they have most of.
I have the option to stock and sell almost all brands of reg's BC's and computers but choose not to, on an island I cannot afford to have stuff come back all the time so we pick items that have over the years proven to work well and last.
If I were to give an opinion would anyone listen anyway?
If my old posts were not lost in the SB crash search and see what i've said in the past.
D.M
Flame on boy's Flame on
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