Scubapro S600 vs D400

[MuscleBob.Buffpants]

I'm looking at buying my first reg. The options I have narrowed down are either

S600/Mk25
D400/Mk25

I can get a brand new D400 setup for about 2/3rds the price of the S600 (the LDS has one sitting on a shelf out back gathering dust).

I have done a fair bit of research on here and elsewhere, I'm just after opinions as to whether this is a good deal.

Cheers,
Bob

 

[SangP]

Hi,

My advice get the D400 but not the MK25. Although I don't dive in NZ and I'm not familiar with the conditions there, the MK25 isn't known for cold water performance and the S600 is really expensive.

I would much rather get the MK17/D400/G250 if I had to choose a cold water Scubapro reg.

The Apeks DS4/XTX50/ATX50 is another great cold water reg.

Cheers,

SangP

 

[eelpout]

Go with the D400, for the price and for the performance in cold water.

FYI- I have MK25/G250 HP set ups for my back gas regs, I dive in 38 degrees F, on a regular basis. I live in Minnesota USA, where we have these temps below 100 feet most of the year. I have never had a problem with my Scubapro regs in cold water. We had issues with the MK20 on our deco regs free flowing. We switched the bodies to the MK25 AF (finned) body and have had no problems since. Not all Scubapro regs before the MK16 or Mk 17 (diaphragms) were bad for cold water.

Out of our team of 8 divers, 7 of us have Scubapro MK25/G250HP as our back gas regs. I am also the techinician that services all our regs (both Scubapro and Apex).

just my 2 cents worth,
Jim

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I'd go with the Mk 25 D400.

I'll second that the Mk 25 is fine in cold water - especially with the D400 second stage. I dove with Mk 20 D400 regs on my doubles for years with no problems (although I switched to Mk 17 first stages a couple years ago) in water temps similar to what is described above - bottom temps below 100 feet in the upper 30 to low 40 degree range, and surface temps colder than that during the winter.

 

[realdiver7]

Definitely the MK25/D400, unless you can get a MK17/D400!

 

[Felon_Monk]

all the cold water issues with the mk25 were fixed as far as i read. If you get a mk25 now it wont have problems in teh cold water..

 

[MuscleBob.Buffpants]

Thanks, looks like I'm putting a deposit down on the D400 (which was the way I was inclining to go anyway).

 

[Packhorse]

I got a set of Mk25/S600's. PM me if you want to try them out.