Regs......which one to choose

[jefffalcone]

PS

If you are into the political debate, Apeks/AL is French owned. ScubaPro is US owned. For some it an issue to spend money supporting a US company to booster the economy, ie Johnsons Outdoors vs. AirGas, during the economic down turn in the US.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, Apeks and aqualung are not the same company. AL is just the US distributer of Apeks. Apeks is a brittish company,

I use apeks because I like the simplicity of the DS4 first stage. I dive cold, so I wanted an environmentally sealed diaphram reg. The DS4 is fairly stripped down, with only 3 LP ports and 1 HP. It is small and compact. I believe the MK25 is a piston that would need to be environmentally sealed to dive in very cold water. When I was choosing regs, I had not heard about the MK17 so I didn't consider it. Another thig about Apeks is the DS4 firsts that I like can be had fairly inexpensively. I found an online retailer that sells them for about $150.

I do like the by US argument for SP. If I had thought about it when I was buying regs, I might have gone with SP. Something to consider when I can afford to by a dedicated singles reg, rather than using the same regs for singles and doubles and switching hoses around. I just got my doubles setup completed, so I haven't fealt the need quite yet. I do like only having one kind of reg, so I'll probably stick with DS4 XTX50s, but I'll at least consider MK17.

Can't really go wrong with either SP or Apeks. Never heard any complaints about either.

 

[peterbj7]

Apeks was taken over by AL in the last few years (I believe) but still operates relatively autonomously and the regs are still made in Britain (again, I believe). Certainly they retain their design characteriistics. They are highly regarded in the UK as well built, stable and suited to British conditions (inter alia cold water). SFAIK they are still the very high quality product they always were.

Scubapro on the other hand have made some good regulators in the past, but quality control has badly slipped and some internal components have changed from durable metal to plastic. In my experience most products under their name are no longer the premium quality that they once were.

Assuming you can buy at the right price and servicing won't present insurmountable logistical problems, I'd go for Apeks over Scubapro every time. Probably the only exception might be the Scubapro Mk2, which I believe remains the bulletproof basic regulator it always was.

Sadly the quality control of Aladin computers nosedived after being bought up by Scubapro. They used to be the standard by which all other computers were judged (!) but I stopped stocking them when 50% of those I bought were dead in the box.

Incidentally, AquaLung make some other fine regulators. I've been using a Titan for over two years now (that's several dives a day every day) and it's still performing very well despite not having been serviced (I'm not a certified technician and I don't know anyone here who is). The only problem has been a wet breath when the 2nd stage diaphragm developed a tiny hole. Funnily enough it happened to both primary and secondary within a month of each other, even though the secondary had barely been used. Like most Apeks regs, the Titan is highly suitable for deep diving - I've used it down to 300 feet+.

 

[keyshunter]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, Apeks and aqualung are not the same company. AL is just the US distributer of Apeks. Apeks is a brittish company,

I use apeks because I like the simplicity of the DS4 first stage. I dive cold, so I wanted an environmentally sealed diaphram reg. The DS4 is fairly stripped down, with only 3 LP ports and 1 HP. It is small and compact. I believe the MK25 is a piston that would need to be environmentally sealed to dive in very cold water. When I was choosing regs, I had not heard about the MK17 so I didn't consider it. Another thig about Apeks is the DS4 firsts that I like can be had fairly inexpensively. I found an online retailer that sells them for about $150.

I do like the by US argument for SP. If I had thought about it when I was buying regs, I might have gone with SP. Something to consider when I can afford to by a dedicated singles reg, rather than using the same regs for singles and doubles and switching hoses around. I just got my doubles setup completed, so I haven't fealt the need quite yet. I do like only having one kind of reg, so I'll probably stick with DS4 XTX50s, but I'll at least consider MK17.

Can't really go wrong with either SP or Apeks. Never heard any complaints about either.

Both Aqualung and Apeks are wholly owned subsidiaries of Air Liquide, a very large French company.

The Apeks DS4, which is a great little first stage, has 1 hp and 4 lp ports.

 

[shoturtle]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, Apeks and aqualung are not the same company. AL is just the US distributer of Apeks. Apeks is a brittish company,

I use apeks because I like the simplicity of the DS4 first stage. I dive cold, so I wanted an environmentally sealed diaphram reg. The DS4 is fairly stripped down, with only 3 LP ports and 1 HP. It is small and compact. I believe the MK25 is a piston that would need to be environmentally sealed to dive in very cold water. When I was choosing regs, I had not heard about the MK17 so I didn't consider it. Another thig about Apeks is the DS4 firsts that I like can be had fairly inexpensively. I found an online retailer that sells them for about $150.

I do like the by US argument for SP. If I had thought about it when I was buying regs, I might have gone with SP. Something to consider when I can afford to by a dedicated singles reg, rather than using the same regs for singles and doubles and switching hoses around. I just got my doubles setup completed, so I haven't fealt the need quite yet. I do like only having one kind of reg, so I'll probably stick with DS4 XTX50s, but I'll at least consider MK17.

Can't really go wrong with either SP or Apeks. Never heard any complaints about either.

Okay,
SP-US vs. Apek/AL-French/British.

MK17 is a diaphram very good cold water reg also.

 

[jefffalcone]

Both Aqualung and Apeks are wholly owned subsidiaries of Air Liquide, a very large French company.

The Apeks DS4, which is a great little first stage, has 1 hp and 4 lp ports.

You're right and it's a good thing it does, because I've got 4 lp hoses coming out of mine.

 

[vicdiver656]

PS

If you are into the political debate, Apeks/AL is French owned. ScubaPro is US owned. For some it an issue to spend money supporting a US company to booster the economy, ie Johnsons Outdoors vs. AirGas, during the economic down turn in the US.

Well, I'm a Canadian, and Quebec (France) has really made some problems for Canada, so I'd rather support the U.S. than France anyways!

 

[vicdiver656]

I 've never set up a poll on here before, but if "I don't care" is not a default option and you put it up, then you get what you made available. It isn't stupid; as posted by someone else (Damselfish): There are more than 2 regs available. You won't get honest opinions if you tell people they are stupid for giving their honest opinion.

Once again, I'll state that when I became a member of SB, many people offered their advice, among it being thus: If you don't know about it or don't use it, keep your mouth shut. It's only fair to expect that on here. If people use a different brand than SP or Apeks, they shouldn't be voting or posting on this thread. No offence to everybody, I'm just trying to make things simpler

 

[vicdiver656]

Apeks was taken over by AL in the last few years (I believe) but still operates relatively autonomously and the regs are still made in Britain (again, I believe). Certainly they retain their design characteriistics. They are highly regarded in the UK as well built, stable and suited to British conditions (inter alia cold water). SFAIK they are still the very high quality product they always were.

Scubapro on the other hand have made some good regulators in the past, but quality control has badly slipped and some internal components have changed from durable metal to plastic. In my experience most products under their name are no longer the premium quality that they once were.

Assuming you can buy at the right price and servicing won't present insurmountable logistical problems, I'd go for Apeks over Scubapro every time. Probably the only exception might be the Scubapro Mk2, which I believe remains the bulletproof basic regulator it always was.

Sadly the quality control of Aladin computers nosedived after being bought up by Scubapro. They used to be the standard by which all other computers were judged (!) but I stopped stocking them when 50% of those I bought were dead in the box.

Incidentally, AquaLung make some other fine regulators. I've been using a Titan for over two years now (that's several dives a day every day) and it's still performing very well despite not having been serviced (I'm not a certified technician and I don't know anyone here who is). The only problem has been a wet breath when the 2nd stage diaphragm developed a tiny hole. Funnily enough it happened to both primary and secondary within a month of each other, even though the secondary had barely been used. Like most Apeks regs, the Titan is highly suitable for deep diving - I've used it down to 300 feet+.

I have one dive shop in my area that services Apeks, but I'd rather stay away from him, for certain quality reasons. Also, I have another dealer in my area who services SP, and has had a very good track record with my dive buddy. I'm actually going to be buying the regs in Oregon, as there is no shipping, and I can get about 25% percent off: major savings for me!

 

[peterbj7]

I hear what you say about buying more cheaply, but if you didn't buy the reg from one of your LDSs don't be surprised if they refuse to service it or to help you. It's tough to survive in the diving industry these days because people don't think their purchases all the way through and only see the headline price. As long ago as 6 years most of the LDSs in my area of England would have adopted the attitude I describe.

 

[shoturtle]

I hear what you say about buying more cheaply, but if you didn't buy the reg from one of your LDSs don't be surprised if they refuse to service it or to help you. It's tough to survive in the diving industry these days because people don't think their purchases all the way through and only see the headline price. As long ago as 6 years most of the LDSs in my area of England would have adopted the attitude I describe.

Oh No, this thread is headed that way again, LDS vs. Online. Possible hijack coming up. I think that the OP had already weigh in on the LDS vs. Online thread before. So should we site back and pass around the