Sherwood , Zeagle or Aqualung

[kradatzke]

After doing several intro dives on previous vacations I did my Open Water and am now a Padi diver. I have spent the last few weeks visiting loacal dive shops and found the one I felt best at. The staff were friendly and were able to give me lots of advise even after I bombarded them with questions. They really seem to care. I have decided to get my own gear and "believe" I have narrowed the choice down to three for reg's .

One is the Sherwood SR2 , the shop has told me they have a parts for life and they feel for a recreationally diver would be a great reg. There seems to be little out there as far as owner reviews for this one

Zeagle Flathead 7 , this is a new brand to the shop and they were unsure of the parts for life but will check for me. I have read a few reviews and it seems to be a good reg. One point I did read is that product support outside of USA / Canada may be weak.

Both the Sherwood and Zeagle are similar money

The third is the Aqualung Legend LX , at different shop , they have two display models for a great price about $175 less than the Sherwood or Zeagle . They are about 3 yrs old ( freshly serviced ) but I am told because they have never been registered they qualify for parts for life.

Any thoughts / advise would be appreciated

 

[buddhasummer]

The Sherwood SR2 is new so probably not many reviews as yet. Hope it's better than the SR1 which was plagued with problems. The Sherwood dealer in my home town dropped the model.

Zeagle make good regs as do AL. You Won't go wrong with either of those two.

AL have one of the biggest if not the biggest dealer network in the world which is worth considering if you travel dive a lot.

---------- Post added March 2nd, 2014 at 11:05 AM ----------

IMO the free parts for life is not a great deal, regs rarely need to be serviced annually or biannually if taken care of.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

The free parts for life is kind of a scam. If you don't trust me just walk into a dive shop and ask for your free parts. The parts are only free if you play by there rules and that always includes paying a dealer to service your regs on a regular basis. With that said I would probably go with the legend due to the price savings and world wide dealer network. Also check out the Apeks regs, they are very popular in the tech diving world and use Aqualung as a distributor, so world wide service should not be an issue.

I would stay away from the Sherwood. They made excellent mid range bullet proof regs a few years ago but decided to update them in the past few years. There updated regs have not had stellar reviews.

 

[Mike126]

I have owned an AL legend LX and it is a great reg. For the money I would definitely go with that.


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[ams511]

A few things: 1) Keep in mind you are not just buying a reg but a rig with an octo and gauges, so look for a total price and don't be afraid to ask for a discount.

2) Dive shop number 1 is trying to steer you to the most expensive (profitable for them) regulators, these are usually the worst values in regulators. Top-of-the-line regulators do not breath appreciably better than a mid-range regulator. Using Leisurepro prices for comparison, A Flathead 7 with a ZX second is $600 while a 50D with a ZX second is $375. I sincerely doubt you would feel a difference in breathing between these regulators as the second stage is what usually matters not the first. The difference is $225. BTW, Zeagle also sells parts to end users so you can buy kits and take them with you when you travel or even service them yourself if you are mechanically inclined.

3) I would avoid the Sherwood SR2. It is new and has not stood the test of time, so it carries more risk than your other choices. You do not want to make an expensive mistake.

4) I am unsure if the Aqualung Legend is a good deal or not. It depends on the price of the demo gear versus what a new one costs. As mentioned, Aqualung has a long history and a large international dealer network. If I had to make a choice out of the three you mentioned then I would pick this one. Again don't be afraid to ask for a discount. Regulators are not like fine wine they usually don't get more valuable with age.

 

[jIM STEELE]

some one just perched zeagle and atomic reg comp. may have good close out prices on the aqualung apex clones that zeagle was selling

 

[claymore]

Zeagle has not sold Apeks regs since about 2000. Zeagle redesigned much of the internal structure after Zeagle and Apeks parted ways, they look similar and the internals are SIMILAR but they are NOT Apeks regs.
Both are Excellent Regs as is the Aqualung Legend. I guess it is up to you to decide how you want to spend your money. As others have said The 1st ans 2nd are only part of the total package you will need to purchase, 1st, 2nd, alternate 2nd, SPG, Depth Gauge, compass, computer and?. If resale is a consideration The Legend may have a better resale value

 

[AdamXXL]

After lot of conversation at my dive club choise is only Apex xtx200 with xt40 octo.I order that one .About 500usd for set with 1st stage reg.

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[KD8NPB]

I would go for either the Zeagle Flathead or the Aqualung Legend LX.

They are both sealed, balanced diaphragm 1st stages with balanced downstream 2nd stages.

The Aqualung product will have "legacy" support... in 20 years, you will still be able to buy OEM service kits for the Aqualung Legend. The Legend is approximately equal to, if not, greater than the Apeks XTX40/50/100/200 series of regulator...it shares a lot of common parts with those models, but it also has as a few "upgrades" over the Apeks lineup.

 

[halocline]

Go for the aqualung if the price is right, but honestly all of these regulators are way more than you 'need' for recreational diving. For example, if the aqualung shop has a three year old titan for less money, go for that. Don't worry about the parts for life business, it ALWAYS ends up costing more to stay with those programs than to just dive the reg and service it when it actually needs servicing. With recreational use (maybe 50 dives/year) this could easily be every four or five years, or longer.

Have fun diving!