Regs Please Help Some impartial advice

[Tavi]

I've used my Apeks Tx-50 on 46 dives. From 15fsw to 103fsw. I haven't had it in water colder than 50f yet,but I've been told its the reg of choice for a lot cold water divers.. I love it, no problems. On 1 dive we were swimming against a real strong current.I was huffin and puffin. I could not overbreathe the reg. My wife tried a lot of regs too. She now has a Tx-100. she loves it. One of our Instructors Is training for Deep Technical Diving. he just purchased 2 Atx-200's a Tx-50 and is also using a Tx-100 that he had.
The record I mentioned of 833fsw has been broken by the same man. Im not sure what it is now.
Also there is free parts as long as the regs are seviced annually (if you buy from an authorized dealer).

Hope this helps, :

 

[CheeseWhiz]

Didn't Sheck Exley break the 1000 foot depth? Using a ScubaPro S600, by the way.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

I see many awsome regulator names tossed around like candy. In truth they are *ALL* good, meaning the apeks line, the mares abyss (non-titanium/non-ruby!) the scubapro (some of them). Sadly I didn't hear anything about the flathead V or the conshelf.

In all honesty it comes down to what your looking for. You looking for confort and a bit more maintance? ease of repair and lower performance? more than readily available parts and less performance? A bruit that you can throw around/kick around and abuse and always delivery air? As you can see the choice of regulators is a diverse spectrum that varries according to the application.

Typicaly your 'luxury' reg's are harder to work on and harder to get parts for. While your bruits are rugged, easy to get parts for and delivers gas but not a luxury breather.

I have an apeks tx-50 for my stage bottles and that is one AWSOME regulator. One recent test I tried to flood it by doing various moves, I failed every time. ( easily done w/ my seaquestion xr-2 and many many many others) I will be adding the mr-22 non-titanium non-ruby to my lineup shortly (when $ available) I have seen the navy performance testing and I was floored with the incredible amount of data, bottom line is this baby took the beating and came back for more and gave 200% performance in all catagories.

If you will be running enriched air thru the reg you need to look at some additional issues, like metal, o2 cleaning and o2 compliant parts. Personaly I stay away from all titanium and ruby's

Ed

 

[scorpiofish]

The Scubapro.

Both are high performance regs. Actually, the Abyss might be better as is for cold water diving. I've never cared for the ergonomics of the Mares regs. A bit heavy in the mouth and exhaust interference. The lastest SP combo is pretty nifty. The MK25 is easier to service and the 2nd stage is quite comfortable.

I am another Apeks user. But you didn't ask about them, so I won't elaborate.

CHEEZEWHIZ -

Sheck Exley died trying to break a record. No, he did not reach 1000 ft. If I recall correctly, his depth was recorded at around 925ft. when they recovered his body. Jim Bowden set the record at the time diving at the same time as Exley, although not as a buddy team. The S600 did not exist at the time.

 

[buff]

I don't know if you can fit a hoseless computer on the first stage of the Mares-ports are too close together??. That might be a consideration........but it won't be if you would JUST BUY AN APEKS.

If you are planning on ice/very cold diving you might want to consider the Poseidon Odin. I have never heard of one of them freezing and that's why I bought mine. I like them-but I think I'm the only diver who does.

I felt the same way about "never needing to upgrade", but you will, someday, because you want to! There's all that cool dive stuff out there and you bought this reg. in 2001 and now it's dated.......it happens to everyone. The only difference is never having to upgrade and just wanting to upgrade. With most regs. you'll be in the first category but if you really like diving then you will end up in the latter-no matter how hard you try.....just too many new toys.

 

[silverfish]

OK there are enough of you that like the Apeks that I would like to learn more about it. I can't pull anything up on the net under Apeks. where do I go from here? My LDS doesnt seem very interested in Apeks. I get the idea that they would like to sell me Sherwood for whatever reason.

FYI cold water shouldn't be an issue for me. At least not below 60 or so.

Thanks for all the input, I knew I could count on you guys.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

check this out, http://www.apeks.co.uk/ That's the home page. If you are looking at the apeks then I would recomend the tx-50. Minimal difference in the 50/100/200 to justify the higher cost. The other issue is serivce and replacment parts. You should really do your homework in this area with *ANY* regulator you decide to purchase. Also keep in mind that mail order apeks you may not have the 'apeks/aqualung/seaquest' warranty and may have issues with service/warranty for the annual repairs. What I did was chose to spend the extra $100 to make it 'legal' for the warranty status.

BTW 60F is NOT considered 'cold water' so you should be fine.

Ed

 

[ckharlan66]

Blacknet,

I may just be a WWW but I concider 60F cold when diving wet.

But I know you were just talking about reg performance.

Chad

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Same here. 55f is my bottom temp and not enjoyable if you ask me. I'd rather be in 80ish or around that Yea I was speaking of reg performance and not preference. I would definately call 60F COLD.

Ed

 

[Lost Yooper]

Silverfish,

I would recommend a TX50, TX100, or ATX200 second on a DS4 first stage with a TX40 back up. I like the DS4 first because it doesn't have a swival, and all the ports are 3/8" (the other firsts have a single 1/2" port to screw things up).
I have a TX100 with the Flat Head first and a Zeagle T50D (exact same as Apeks TX50). I've just ordered another TX40/DS4, and I will be ordering a TX200 second (weighs 25% less than the TX100 second) with a DS4 first (for my primary). The other regs will be replacing some old Sherwoods I use for deco bottles.
I'll e-mail you with a guy's addy that I deal with who has the best prices I've ever seen on Apeks regs. Shipping can take while longer, but his prices are awesome, and you don't have to worry about warrenty issues or customs. I don't have an Apeks dealer for hundreds of miles, but they don't break, so I don't worry about it. Actually, I don't have a dealer for 99% of the equipment I own.

Take care.

Mike