Regulator for a new diver

[erbedo]

He said that for the MK17 one has to add more or less 100 euro, which would bring the price to (more or less) 450 euro (full set, with also octopus and manometer).

 

[erbedo]

So I got today for my wife and me:
2 MK25 EVO
2 S600
2 R195
2 manometers

I suppose Santa was late this year

Diving on Sunday, can't wait to try all the new stuff.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

If cold water is your thing then I would recommend MK-17 or Apeks XTX-50 over MK-25. MK-25 has a reputation for acting out in cold water.

 

[erbedo]

Water here is around 14 at minimum. I went with the MK25 EVO because over the "classical" MK 25 are certified for cold waters.

 

[halocline]

So I went to a local shop today, which gave me even more doubts about my first regulator.

His advice are:
- Cressi Xs compact mc9
- Mares rover 2s
- Scubapro mk2 with r195

all three more or less for the same price, way lower than the MK25 + s600. He said that they are equally reliable and safe, which is my first concern.

Since I have to buy 2 complete set (my wife and me), price is also a parameter, but I do not want to sacrifice even the tiniest amount of reliability, since my life is attached there.

First and foremost, get rid of the idea that your life is dependent on the quality or price of your regulator. It's utter nonsense, and often used to sell new divers just like you much more expensive regulators than they need. While diving, your life is dependent on your dive behavior and judgement, that's it. Every training agency teaches new divers how to share air and ascend in the case of equipment failure. If regulator failure were truly fatal, there would be WAY more dead divers and hardly anyone would dare risk it.

All regulators made by the major manufacturers and sold at dive shops are safe and reliable. If they weren't, nobody would be able to get away with selling them for long. In this sense, the advice you got at this dive shop was accurate. Paying more does not buy you additional reliability or safety. It buys you features and higher performance, meaning greater ease of breathing under more extreme conditions.

Of the regulators you just listed, I would recommend the MK2/r195. This is because it might make you feel better to understand that this regulator has not changed design in decades, and has been proven to be extremely durable and reliable over those decades, often in rental situations where the regulators are abused. The MK2 is an extremely simple design with very few parts.

Back to the MK25/MK17 issue, either one will work flawlessly for you and you will likely never be able to tell the difference between the two in terms of dive performance. Personally I'm more familiar with the MK25, and I know how long it will go between servicing, which is a long time. But the MK17 also has a stellar reputation. Really, either one is fine. They are both an upgrade in terms of ease of breathing from the MK2/r195, primarily due to the 2nd stage. The S600 typically breathes easier than the r295, but again, you may not notice much, if any, difference in normal recreational use.

Probably the biggest issue with regulator reliability is in the quality of the service they receive. Not frequency; in fact, doing annual service on regulators even after a relatively few dives (say less than 50 dives) is probably more likely to cause problems, not solve them. This is because: A) there is no rigorous training or standard for the people that work on these regulators, and B) even with good quality service, the most likely time for failure is the first dive back from service. Maybe an o-ring didn't seat properly, maybe some detail like a torque value wasn't correct, etc.

With that in mind, the warranties on regulators that require annual service to be honored are worthless. The 'free' parts programs are almost always a very bad deal, because you spend way more in un-necessary service than you ever save in parts.

Hopefully, the policies in Europe are better than they are in the U.S. regarding these service requirements and access to parts.

Edit: I wrote this rant before reading your post that you already bought regulators. Well, maybe it will be useful to someone else in the future. BTW, you will enjoy using the MK25/S600, it's a very high performing reg set.

 

[erbedo]

Thanks for all your comments.

Anyway, the three regulators I listed (Cressi/Mares/Scubapro) were advised at one LDS. I went to another one, where I bought my wetsuit and other gear, and he had this deal with a minimum additional expense over the other regulators.

basically, at the first dive shop, with (nearly) 300 euro I would get a MK2 + R195 + R095, then adding a manometer for a total of around 350 euro.

The package I got this morning is for the MK25 EVO + S600 + R195 + manometer at 500 euro. I preferred to spend something more and have some more features in it.