Scubapro reg choices

[thbcthomas]

Looking for help picking between 2 Scuabpro regulators. I am currently looking at a like new mk21/c350 and a new in box mk11/c370. The mk21/c350 is $70 cheaper than the mk11/c370 but the mk11/370 is brand new.

All my diving is warm water diving, mostly while on vacation. The mk11/c370 looks like a great travel reg but not a lot of info on it so far. Both regs seem like good deals, but looking for advice and which maybe the better deal and better regulator.

 

[shurite7]

First, regardless of which one you get, you will not be able to tell a difference in terms of breathing effort. I know of plenty of people who have one or the other, and all of them are happy with their reg set up.

The Mk21 is a piston first stage and the Mk11 is a diaphragm regulator. Neither are environmentally sealed, which isn't an issue for warm water diving so long as you rinse it thoroughly at the end of your dive trip. The Mk11 is a little lighter in weight. The Mk21 service kit is a few dollars less than the Mk11.

The C series regulator is an underestimated second stage. I've been working with the C series for sometime and have found them to be very reliable and easy to service. The C350 is an unbalanced second stage and the C370 is balanced. The C350 does have a micro-adjust which allows a technician to fine tune the regulator, which is rare for an unbalanced second stage. The C370 also has the micro-adjust, which is fairly normal for a balanced second stage. The poppet in the C370 allows air to pass through it to pneumatically assist opening the valve when breathing, hence balanced. The service kit is the same for both, therefore cost doesn't play a role in this case.

Here is what I see:
Piston vs. diaphragm - if that means anything to you
Balanced vs. unbalanced - again, if that means anything to you
Cost of first stage service kit - the Mk21 is a few dollars less
New vs used - question is, what kind of shape is the Mk21/C350 in? At least you know the other one is new.

Good luck!

 

[Ukmc]

My son dives mk11/c370 he loves it. It is very compact but he loves how it breathes. My first reg was mk17/g260 loved it. I dive mk25/s600 now and love it even more. You can not go wrong with Scubapro. I would get it from the dealer, however, unless you get a super deal , otherwise Scubapro will not offer a warranty even if it is brand new.

 

[lexvil]

I’m diving the C370 in my own long term testing, so far it has been an amazing performer, the MK11 beats the 21 in my opinion, even though it’s not sealed it doesn’t have the slight chance of grit scoring, if the only difference were the first stage and you could save $70 it wouldn’t matter as much but for the slight $$ difference getting the balanced 370 is worth it to me.