Regs for Doubles?

[ams511]

@ams511 all of the Deep6 regs are from ODS not much difference in reliability. The biggest thing with the ball swivels is when you get them, any of the ones from Asia, take them apart, clean the loctite off of the screw that holds the halves together, and loctite them. That is what causes them to separate. A lot of times the shipping from Asia will cause it to separate and/or it wasn't put all the way on during assembly so it doesn't hold properly. Very important part of assembly procedures and was the reason mine separated. Omniswivel is quite diligent about it on theirs and I have a dozen of those with no problems. The main reason I use omni's is because I got them for a screaming deal and they can double-duty as OPV's/adapters on my Poseidon regs.
That said, I don't believe DGX or VDH sell any of the ball swivels from Asia, only elbows. Cave Adventurers has the ball swivels. I don't like elbows as those have a lovely failure mode where the screw threads fail that hold the elbow together which is quite a treat to see happen. They're also not as comfortable and make storing regulators a bit annoying

I should have been more specific, I was referring to the elbow fittings that attach to the first stages,. DGX sells the Omniswivel while VDH sells their own brand. I believe both also sell a plain elbow that does not swivel.

Going back to the OP's situation. If he uses two of the first stage elbows (swivel or not) it should alleviate the sharp bends when using a MK-17 first stages. Provided the swivels are reliable of course. I thought you said you used them which is why I asked.

 

[ams511]

I state my opinion based on my experience. As I have stated somewhere above, I have used many brands and worked on many also over the last 3 decades and I state what I know. I am also passionate about what I do

No one doubts your experience and certainly not your passion. However the needs of a dive school are not the same as the needs of an individual diver. As a dive professional you are in the water more than the average diver. Consequently, your regulators get used much more and subject to more abuse. If Atomic regulators last for say 20,000 dives while a HOG or Deep6 only last 5,000 dives then you could say Atomic is the better deal. However, if the average diver only does 5,000 dives in a life time, does it really matter? In one thread you recommended a second stage that costs over $500, add a titanium first and the cost is over $2,000. That is way too much money for the average diver to spend on a regulator set.

As an engineer you must realize that regulators are a mature technology, any improvements in performance are incremental not revolutionary. Atomic's claim to fame is the materials used in its construction. However other regulators last a very long time if properly taken care of using conventional materials. I collect regulators and have many from the 80s and 90s, as well as a few from the 60s that still work well.

While Deep6 is a rather new company, HOG has been around for a decade, Being they both use the same OEM and the same individual started both I have no doubt that the Deep6 products will last as least as long as HOG products.

 

[tbone1004]

@ams511 the first stage swivels are fine from both brands. They use a circlip to hold them in and there's nothing really to them. Thought you meant the second stage swivels. That said one of the downsides of those swivels is how large they are. They block off the neighboring port on my Poseidon regs and I suspect would do the same on the Tek3 which is why I don't use them.

 

[ams511]

Found some more pics:

 

[ams511]

I don't like the hose routing on the Tek3 and I really don't like the V2, either (from looking at the info on their website).

I don't see how the V2 hose routing is any better for back mount doubles than any other 1st stage with no swivel turret and no bottom LP port. I also noticed that their pictures clearly DON'T show how the hose routing would look when you include a wing inflator and a drysuit inflator. And it looks like they even managed to make the V2 useless for single tank diving, too.

The V2 look like an Apeks FST with one side of the ports removed.