Regs for Doubles?

[JohnnyC]

Deep6 or DST's with the 5th port. They both have the right setup for hose routing on either backmount doubles or sidemount. My personal opinion is that the Deep6's are an improvement over the DST's.

I still use DST's for stage/deco/bailout tanks because I have them. If I were buying new, they'd be Deep6.

Apeks are probably easier to get serviced locally because of their wide distribution, however since you mentioned wanting to head in the direction of servicing yourself, the service argument goes out the window with the Deep6's as they offer parts kits and training and their manual is freely available.

 

[taimen]

Deep6 part kits cost $22.50 and $15 for first and second stages, respectively. Buying these abroad adds up quickly as you have to pay for shipping and then duty and tax for both parts and shipping cost.
Only way I could think of is to order at least 10 years worth of kits (to save on shipping) with the regulators. Even then they end up costing more than Apeks service kits cost in northern Europe.
I really hope deep6 will set up some kind of dealer or fulfillment center network internationally.

 

[JohnnyC]

The Deep6 stuff comes with a set of parts when you buy it, and if you get it serviced by them or one of their independents, the parts kits are free, you're just paying for labor. Hell, add a couple kits on the initial order and then you're not even paying for extra shipping.

Even if you bought 10 kits after the initial order, shipping is cheap for stuff that small, and no more expensive than if you were buying Apeks kits in Europe and shipping them.

 

[BoltSnap]

Here we go again …

OP asks: What do you think about A, B, C, D, E regulators?
Answer: Atomics M1. Preferably Titanium

So if the OP is making the wrong assumptions or doesn't have the full story on the choices available we just let it continue without weigh in with our experience and knowledge? The OP did indeed ask for opinions and recommendations and didn't specifically restrict opinion to his list.

BTW, M1 doesn't have titanium in it.

The M1 is on the same level as some of others listed in terms of price yet it is at a much higher level of reliability, performance and suitability for purpose.

In short, you don't know what you are talking about. Don't butt in before you get your facts straight first please.

 

[tbone1004]

@BurhanMuntasser what if he doesn't have access to Atomic and specifically excluded it? or they are prohibitively expensive in his area?

 

[BoltSnap]

@BurhanMuntasser what if he doesn't have access to Atomic and specifically excluded it? or they are prohibitively expensive in his area?

I didn't say that he "MUST" buy them, it was merely a "heads up" suggestion to consider them as he asked for opinions. It also appears that he dismissed piston designs thinking that they are all the same (M1 is sealed) where the M1 is different and addresses all of the objections he had against piston regulators while still being reasonably priced and far more reliable. The M1 can go for several years between servicing and easier to get services kits for it compared with some others making it an excellent value even if the initial buying price may appear to be very high. If he can't get it where he lives now or it is too expensive for him (it isn't more expensive than the MK17/G260 he is considering), or he simply doesn't like it, he is free to do whatever he pleases. Again, I simply made him aware of another excellent choice he may have not known existed for him to consider.

It is a free opinion and advice that were offered without any costs or strings attached for him to consider or totally ignore. What is interesting here is the objection to my advice to him where I thought, based on my experience as a dive professional with over 45 years as a diver and 32 years as an instructor/instructor trainer/CD and as a certified equipment technician for several equipment product lines with over 30 years of equipment service experience and with thousands of dives done all over the world, it will be worth it for him to know (know, not have to go by).

 

[ams511]

As mentioned before the DST, Deep6, HOG, MK-25, Atomic will all have similar hose routing.

One solution if you are unsure about the MK-17, is just to pickup a used MK-16 (usually pretty cheap) and experiment with this for a while. Use your Octo (assuming you are not using an Air 2) as a backup and your G260 as your primary. You can try this for a while to see if you like the routing then buy a new MK-17. If you don't then just sell the MK-16 and pickup something else.

There are some photos of hose routing here: Equipment Configuration | Global Underwater Explorers

 

[ams511]

More to the point:
DS4 / MK-17 Routing

MK-25, HOG, Atomic, Deep6, DST w/5th port

 

[Centrals]

The ONLY Specialist Apeks Site in the UK. In stock for fast despatch.
They might ship it to Malaysia.
DS4/DST + ATX50
No VAT(20% off the price) to pay if ship outside EC. And the saving should pay for the shipping.

 

[Chris H]

I've used variations of the Scubapro MK25 on doubles for the last 16 years. They route awesome, and breathe great and I've never had any issues, even in 38°F water.