regulator opinions

[aquaoren]

I use a MARES Nikos I got it for free of a friend of mine, it have been used for a few years so I cant read the numbers on the first stage but it has 4 hoses and it works great! I have been to 60 meters with it all OK and only when we passed 50 it started to get hard to breath of it! My buddy said it might needed a service. Is it bad if the guage is jumping up and down when inhaling and exhaling fast? also sometimes when deep and using the inflator button it makes breathing harder! Anyone know why?

I would for definate by MARES again!!

Sounds as if something may be wrong with your reg.
The needle indicates that your first stage may have trouble maintaining the IP.
For your own safety, please service your regs. Esp. if you're going as deep as you wrote

 

[getwet2]

Okay, I know there have been hundreds (if not more) of postings regarding regulators and opinions about them. I just recently became open water certified and my fiance and I are looking to buy the gear. In class, I used a Dacor Eagle regulator which was sort of heavy. My fiance used a Sherwood Brut (which he liked, but I didn't).

Anyways, we have some choices of regs included in some "student packages" being offered by the dive store. We want the regs to be suitable for cold water conditions since we live in Michigan; however, we will also be doing warm water diving. I'm looking for a reg with good breathability, lightweight, and suitable for cold waters. I'm not sure if an environmentally sealed 1st stage is necessary or not.

Here is the list the LDS gave us in the student packages. Any opinions on these particular regs would be of great help!

Thanks in advance!! :dazzler1:

1) Poseidon Odin Regulator
2) Mares Proton Ice
3) Dacor Eagle Pro DPD Regulator
4) Sherwood Blizzard
5) Mares MR12 Proton

I choose #4 on your list.

 

[yknot]

wsugoalie-in essence, the regs being recommended to you are somewhat suspicious, not only for what's included but more for whats not there. What other brands/models of regs does your LDS sell? Just wondering if you're being pushed towards someones old stock or poor seller. If I sound a bit untrusting it's because I am- I've been in a lot of LDS's and basically their recommendations are all based on profit. I've never had them recommend a brand or model they don't sell and they often bad mouth the competition. Also, what kind of prices are they giving you for the regs you mentioned? Without a computer, at LDS pricing, I would figure on an additional $250 for an octo and gauge set so take that into consideration when pricing regulators. Your best value will be in determining what you want and then finding a local shop willing to sell it to you at a fair price, not trying to decide which model you want, based on their inventory.

 

[padiscubapro]

Good post except that I'd disagree on the Mares being med performance reg.
http://www.mares.com/NS_NewsView.asp?news=55

I think my comments on the mares regs he pointed to is right on.. The Mr22 is a much higher performance 1st stage than either the mr12s or mr16s.

On the dives that they are pointing out were dives where the breathing mix was predominately helium, very little N2 or O2. the Atomic weight of He is about 1/8 that of nitrogen so it would increas the regulators performance enormously. Even on all the deco mixes helium was used.. Even breathing 50% Helium will reduce the resistance to 25% compared to that of an "air" dive.

Thats the primary reason I limited my subjective tests to about 200.. I wanted helium in the mix so I was clear headed but I didn't want it skewing the results too far so the amount of helium was limited.