Reg advice?

[Jimmer]

I will add that I have used Apeks, Poseidon's, Oceanic's and Zeagles, as well as rented another 5 or 6 brands, and the Zeagles have been my favourites. The Flathead VI is pricey for your budget, but have a look at the DSV. Absolutely butter smooth, and I've been able to compare side by side with a Poseidon Jetstream at 135 feet, and it absolutely smashed the Poseidon out of the water. Plus Zeagle is a fabulous company to deal with as far as customer support and service.

 

[jeckyll]

...Absolutely butter smooth, and I've been able to compare side by side with a Poseidon Jetstream at 135 feet, and it absolutely smashed the Poseidon out of the water. ....

Just curious, what gas were you using?

 

[TSandM]

My husband has the Zeagle DSVs, and they were VERY reasonable in price (from Scubatoys) and he likes them. I don't, but I'm diving MK25/S600s that cost me almost twice as much.

Another very nice, middle priced regulator is the Aqualung Titan. That was my first regulator, and is still my singles setup reg. Unfortunately, you have to buy a DIN convertor if you want to use DIN tanks, because the regulator is not available standard in DIN. The Titans breathe very well.

 

[Jimmer]

Just curious, what gas were you using?

EAN29. I can say I'm definetly sold on the Zeagles for smooth breathing. I just ordered 2 Flathead VI's to have a matched set on my doubles and move my DSV to a stage bottle for my deco class in the spring. Maybe I got lucky with one that was really nicely tuned out of the box, but I know a lot of people diving the lakes around here that are big fans of the Zeagles. I've never had even a hint of an issue in cold water, deep water, cold/deep water.

 

[Ben_ca]

Gom,
Go find a good deal on Ebay... Then just get it serviced. Here's a configured MK25 single tank setup... It'll save you the cost of the hoses, gauges ect.

Disclaimer: I know the guy selling it..... but no I'm not getting a cut... I actually am hoping to snag it for cheap

 

[Carribeandiver]

Depending on where you will dive, you might want to think about service. If off on a trip somewhere such as Bonaire, Roatan, Curacao, it will be next to impossible to get some brands serviced. Scuba Pro is sold and serviced about everywhere and is a very reliable, dependable quality regulator.
If you are on a tight budget, you can get good quality Scuba Pro regs new that wont set you back and arm and a leg and still will have relatively low work of breathing ratings.
You may consider a MK17 or MK 25 First stage with a R395 second stage and R295 as a secondary or Octopus. This should set you back well under $500 and you will have dependable quality. Still, even cheaper, you could opt for the R190 as a secondary / octopus.

 

[julio]

I see the new G250V regulator made from scubapro this week and with a mk17 first stage nice combination. Small firs stage, with the metal 2nd. Nice combo. My lds have them on sale cheap in Canada for $499.

I like and watch many people with the Atomic regulator, but G250v is nice pricing and an old reg make new again to me having use the g250 many years ago.

The divers I see in Ontario are diving the Atomic regulator, but back home, still mostly Scubapro, Sherwood for the rentals and sometimes Poseidon because there is distribution around Puerto Adventuras.

There are other regs like the diverite and atomic with Aquanauts dive store and Pro Tec also selling Diverite. I never like the Poseidon breathing, hard to draw and too much air on the delivering of air and no good for dir diving compare to Scubapro or Apeks or Atomic with all their normal hoses and design.

I would buy the MK17 with a 600 or a v250 because of price right now with Atomic's regulator M1 or ST1 as my favourite new one with a long hose, but too much $ for that.

If you want cheaper regulator, I think Scubapro or lower end Atomics for performing good Zeagle DSV or Apex DS4 for lower prices but middle performing regulator.

Julio

 

[mikes351]

As all other divers I am partial to my primary rig... Dacor Viper... love it, wouldn't change it for to many others... what ever you do get good advice and that can come from your local dive shop...

safe diving

Mike