Regulators which?!?

[Don Lavanty]

I am a fairly newly certified diver and I am looking for a good regulator to buy. I am relitively confused with all the diffrent options out there I have been reading rondales (sp?) dive recomendations but I am still undesided.

I know basicly what I am looking for
I want a first stage with 4 low 2 hi with maybe a swivel head

2nd stage needs to be very comfortable with low bubble interference and a easy breather at depth.

I honestly don't care if its titanium or brass or .... as far as I can tell there isn't much diffrence with a properly maintained regulator.
I am relitively tight on budget as I am looking at a computer too so I basicly want the best I can get for a resonable price. something thats going to last a while (when its maintained well of course)

any Ideas help?
The dive shop is recomending the ATX50 regulator

 

[kavka]

Scoba Pro MK25 (piston design) or MK18(diafragm design).
But you will get so many opinions as there is regulators on the market.

 

[boney]

Another thing to keep in mind is where you will be diving? Is it cold or warm? You would want an appropriate reg for that environment. And I heard good things about the APEX regs... havent tried one yet - hopefully next time I go diving with my buddy...

 

[Ron Brandt]

Try out several first.

I own Scuba Pros,Sherwoods and Oceanic.

I have 6 Oceanics.Need I say more?


Ron

 

[diverlady]

I have Oceanic Delta 3 second stage and am very happy with it. Very easy to breathe. I've heard good things about Apeks too but I haven't used any of theirs.

I agree with Boney with respect to taking diving environment into consideration. If you are doing any cold water or ice diving, you'll need to be sure your regs are able to handle it.

Diverlady

 

[redacted]

Check it all out but don't miss the review of "13 Budget Regulators." The loss of performance is relatively small compared to the savings. For warm water recreational diving, the better budget regs will do the job & leave some $$ for that computer. Later, if you decide to upgrade, it can do duty as a spare or on a pony.

 

[DutchDown]

I can recommend both Oceanic and Apeks. They both breathe well. But they are all I have used, so try everything you can.

Phil

 

[jbichsel]

are Aqualung (US Divers) and Sherwood. Easily maintained, parts readily available all around the world, reliable.

 

[Phish-phood]

I myself am going with Apeks ATX40's not a lot of difference between them and the ATX50's.

From my experience, APEKS, really nice regs whether you go for TX or ATX, I just find the TX a bit heavy is all. They are very good cold water regs and breath as easily as the next one. I don't have a problem with bubble interference on the ATX's although another person I know has said he finds bubbles in front of his face so recommend you try before you buy if possible. TX's don't have this problem because of the bigger exhaust ports.

Scubapro, I used one of the lower end scubapro regs (R190) on a dive recently and it was a lovely breathe and we got down to about 20metres.

Tried Dacor regs, not getting my vote, although they breathe okay, they are prone to leaky regs and they rattle quite a lot which doesn't do much for confidence that they won't fall apart.

Also tried Spiro regs, okay but not fab.

HTH

 

[erwin]

Bottom line is there are a lot of regulators out there that can basically beat the breathing machine but choose one that makes you most comfortable with your style of breathing.

Try out several makes and decide which makes you most comfortable.

To illustrate the point the following is a list of regs I have owned and used in the past:

Owned:

My first reg was a Tusa TR 400

USD Conshelf 21, Spiro Arctic, Oceanic Alpha ( unbalanced piston), Oceanic Delta 2, Poseidon Cyklon, ScubaPro Mk5/Balanced Adjustable, Mares Mr12 Voltrex, Aqualung SEA Impulse.

Used:

Beuchat VX 10, USD SEA Micra, Apeks AT20, Apeks TX50, Sherwood Oasis, Scubapro mk20/g500, Dacor Extreme, Scubapro Mk20/R190, Oceanic Alpha ( BP ), Poseidon Jetstream and others I cannot recall right now


The regulator I use regularly is the Tusa TR400.