Regulator brand bias?

[Wreck/Tec]

I'll go out on a limb...........I use Poseidon Odins for everything but my deco units. There I use an Oceanic DX4 and a Dacor Viper Tec for 100%. The Poseidons have given excellant service, cost $50.00 to rebuild and have with stood cold water just fine thank you, ( please no long tec reports). Everyone has their favorite. Some work within a budget. Be POLITE! If you feel compelled to convert me, PM me and I will tell you where to send my new regs, and thank you for the jesture...........

 

[Pez de Diablo]

Zeagle sure makes some nice regs. To bad they cost so much. I am going with Apeks when I buy another reg this spring.

 

[RonaldGoat]

All Lab Testing By Decades of Experienced Divers Prefer Mares!!!!!!!!!!! Reserch it for yourself.........

 

[CJ-62]

More fuel for the fire...

How about this, everyone post a list of every reg they ever saw fail, malfunction, underperform or otherwise cause discomfort or concern. Then, that which is left unlisted must be the best.

The only exception would be something so horrid that it never saw saltwater, which could be excluded on that basis.

Any thoughts?

 

[divenutny]

CJ-62 Nice approach. But there is no easy way to address this issue (which is the best Regulator). This is way too subjective. Why? I have seen ScubaPro Mk-2 R190's perform poorly. Not due to the equipment, but due to how it was tuned. The dive service detuned the reg, reacting to the divers who did not know how to use the in-water/out of water control. Shame, That day, my 20 year old Mk5, with a R109 outperformed a 3 year old Mk2/R190. The MK2/R190 Reg was setup hard to breath to avoid free-flows on the surface. I have friends that refuse to look at Mares as they saw one free flow once. Then again, I will not buy Mares due to their decision to not manufacture Dacor parts. IMHO, If they ignore one brand or models, they will ignore others in the future.

I gave up on persuing this topic on this site. Too many attacks. People get too passionate about their thoughts and/or decisions.

My advise would be find out more about the LDS' in your area, which regs can you get serviced and how much to service. I use three shops as each services different equipment. The ScubaPro Mk5, R190 costs roughly $80-$100 to service. The Apex Tx50, Sherwood Magnum, Dacor 950's costs roughly $50 to service ( I have four rigs and one pony setup). Also, find out how good the annual service is. I have taken my Dacors to three shops over the years before I found the shop that tunes it well. Unfortunate how servicing and cleaning effects performance. I have used Rodales to help my research. I have overlooked a lot of good regs. If you pick a major brand that tested well, I doubt you will go wrong.

I love my Dacor 950's. Although I can still get them serviced, parts are an issue and switched to Alex TX50. The ScubaPro Mk5/R109 works nearly as good. I rarely dive below 100 ft. One buddy has Atomic B1. Loves it, dives very dry, easy breather. Needs less maint than the ScubaPro's. Other buddy had one to many issues with Scubapro (different LDS than mine), uses Oceanic and loves them. Other buddy has Sherwood, never failed but is not pleased with it. Four people, none of our equipment matches.

Happy Reseaching - Tom

 

[CJ-62]

I was thinking that when that approach produced a null set then everyone might settle down and consider that just about every piece of equipment has a best purpose.

After experience with 9 different brands, the only factors that mattered were appropriate application (Rental Dacor Pacer no deeper than 60') and SERVICE (Rental Oceanic never left the shop!).

BTW, currently using an Apeks ATX200, never a problem.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

 

[David P]

hmm interesting. I think there is MAJOR brand loyalty here. If you saw my gear you would swear I was a walking advertisment for Dive Rite. But honestly, it seems decent gear that is sold by my local dive shop, and it works for me. I have a SP 25/600, I bought it after my Sherwood reg set continued to free flow. I had an upcoming trip to the Yucon and didnt trust the Sherwood. So when I got the SP I had to try it out in my pool in 52 degree water, and the sucker froze up on me and emptied my tank in a hurry when I hit the purge... Lesson learned, but I still trust my SP. Im not going to say Sherwoods suck, it breathes easier than my SP at the surface (but why burn air if your at the surface?) Im not going to say SP suck as it is a known issue about cold water, and these regs can flow so much air its no wonder that it froze. Im not going to say I will only buy SP in the future, I may look at Apex if I ever set up doubles.

I think a lot of the brand loyalty is heard here on the board, and it grows with newer divers and the brands are preached as gospel. Ive seen the DIR video and even the muscle bound guy says you dont need 7' in open water... and yet how many posts have you seen from people who only dive nice open warm water above 60 feet dives with 7 feet of hose wrapped around them? Hey if people on SB say I should use a 7 nfoot hose, it must be the best..."Hey 7 foot hoses are cool, why dont you use one and then you can be cool like me!"

Personally I think you should get whatever works for you. That said I drive Chevy and I think 68 Camaros rule!

 

[aquaoren]

Did you guys notice that you resurrected a 2 year old thread?

 

[Divedoggie]

Is this like snow skiing, where you go to one ski village and EVERYBODY swears by Rossignol and then go to another ski village and EVERYBODY swears by Volkl?

Anyway, I'm just curious to see what you guys think...

Thx...Doug
A non-Apeks/Scubapro regulator user

I was reading all of the reviews and opinions on regs and it dawned on me that it was similar to the snow skiing world. I have been a involved with manufacturers as ski racer and a professional ski racing coach for the last 35 years. I have been to the factories in Europe and have seen the production of various brands. I have also sat in on meetings with the sales reps at the ski shops. Reality and sales are very different!
Fact: All of the ski manufacturers make some absolutely great top of the line skis with very comparable performance.
Fact: All of the ski manufacturers make some cheap. low end, poor performance models.

Fact: The dominant ski on the world cup and olympic venue is Atomic. The only people who can appreciate why the Atomics are dominant are Bode Miller, and Hermann Myer! Not because of their skill, but because of their skill and immense power.

I ski on Dynastar and I really like them. My athletes use every ski made, and they are all good!

I breath off my Apeks ATX 200. I also have tried my girlfriend's Oceanic Zeta, and I have a Zeagle Flathead ZX and some Dacor Vipers. I like them all for basic rec diving!!!

 

[BradNC]

Ten years ago I would say Scubapro only. Truth is that nowadays there are lots of great regs for recreational diving. I wouldn't be super picky unless I were to do deco, enriched air, cold water, and the like.
I have a Mares, Scubapro G250, 550 (the wifes), and 650. The 650 is my favorite but it does look funny.
I would be comfortable using mid to higher end Zeagles, Aqualungs, Apeks, Atomics, Ocenics etc. I just finished a 70' freshwater dive with a borrowed Aqualung Titan and found it to be a very comfortable breather.
I think selection would have a lot to do with your LDS service.