Scubapro naming convention?

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BassO

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So, I understand Aqualung and their line-up and Apeks and their line-up. But Scubapro makes no sense to me: They have so many different names/types for their second stages. Does anyone know of a comprehensive, up-to-date list with all the 1st and 2nd stage regulators, their pros and cons and most-used combos somewhere?
 


A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Be kind, SB'ers. This member is new, and perhaps does not realize the breadth of his question (only new regs? new + vintage?). He may not know of the old Scubapro Museum. I'm sure he's not just asking others to do his work for him. It was an honest question.

Hi, @BassO! Welcome to Scubaboard. You're in the right subforum. Explore and enjoy. It's a huge question! But I'm sure folks will weigh in shortly.
 
I had no idea it was that complicated. It does explain why it makes so little sense to me, I guess. I'm also not asking anyone to do my homework for me: I'm perfectly happy with a link to a body of reference. But the scubapro site itself was of very little use and most searches come up with webshops.
 
I try to give a short answer.
There are historically 4 groups of SP regs:
- chromed brass (108, 109, 129, 156). The first is obsolete, the other 3 are my favourite ones. They can be all fitted with the balanced S-wing poppet of the G250, converting them in second stages that are almost the best you can buy, despite having been built 40+ years ago.
- central poppet: this generation started with the mythical Pilot (the regulator which is till now the easiest-breathing device ever built, but it was a nightmare to service and tune). That chrome beauty was soon replaced by plastic clones, such as Air1, and the long D series, culminating with the current D420, which is currently the top unit of the SP line.Expensive units well suited for very deep diving.
3) The G250 and all its variants, obtained on one side by declassing it to versions without effort knob and/or unbalanced, such as the G200, and on the other side improving the original design with many particulars, such as carbon fiber parts, titanium parts, gold-plated parts, and modern variants such as the G250HP and the G250V.
The G250 has been the most succesfull reg ever built, sold in large numbers and being manufactured for more than 30 years. Only recently the latter G250V was replaced by the G260, which is currently the SP reg tailored for usage by commercial and tech divers. This is what I usually recommend to buy to people asking advice on which reg they should purchase. My advice is to buy a MK17 or MK25 first stage and two identical G260 (I hate the idea of a lower performances secondary octo).
4) all the others, including the S series, the A series, the R series, etc. All these are models launched by SP for covering some niches of the market. For example the A700 is for nostalgics of chrome cans (but an upgraded 109 is still better, in my opinion), the S series are smaller and lighter for travel, the R series are octos with reduced performances, etc. I suggest to stay away from this 4th group, except in case you really need the specific features provided by them.
 
Regarding the meaning of the initial letter, that is the initial of the surname of the engineer who designed it.
Most of them are Italian, working at the factory in Casarza Ligure, where most SP regs are built.
 
Awesome, that actually helps a lot. Am I correct in understanding that the MK25 is actually a worse choice for cold water than the MK17?
 
Awesome, that actually helps a lot. Am I correct in understanding that the MK25 is actually a worse choice for cold water than the MK17?
Both very fine regulators, the MK25 has a lot of specific things done to it for cold water, they work fine. The MK 17 is sealed which helps in cold water but over all being sealed makes day to day maintenance easier, rinsing after diving is a snap and you don’t have to worry about fine abrasives getting into the inside, you can seal some piston regulators too but not the MK25.
 
Be careful they can be very addictive.

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