small first stage?

[nyresq]

I'm looking for opinions on the smallest first stage thats around? (common and available, parts etc)

din prefered, and doesn't need to be any perticular type, piston or diaphragm, balanced or unbalanced. just looking for ideas for a friend who asked about a bail out system for a race boat.

it will be used in shallow water, probably no deeper then 30 or 40 feet max and one hose for a second stage and maybe one for an inflator hose for a raft. Probably on a 6, 13 or 19 ft pony bottle.

I was thinking an unbalanced piston like an oceanic or sherwood. Yes? No?

I also have an older poseidon unbalanced diaphragm, but was thinking an unbalanced piston would be more reliable for the bumps and bangs of crashing a boat at high speed, and the ease of service.

any thoughts are welcome, and pictures of any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks

 

[waterwraith]

Check out the Aqualung Titan Micra ADJ, it is one of the smallest first stages I have ever seen and my LDS owner swears by it.

http://www.aqualung.com/catalog/prodpage/regulate/titan1.htm#micra

 

[Boogie711]

Next to a cylinder of just about any size, a first stage in and of itself is going to be small. What's the difference between the smallest first stage on the market vs the largest - an inch? Maybe an inch and a half???

I'd go with something simple and reliable... like an MK2 from Scubapro, for example. Not the highest performance, but you don't need to worry about that in 25 feet of water.

 

[waterwraith]

Ignore my above reply I mistakingly mixed first and second stages up (ya I know stuuuupiddd).


Though the second stage of the micra adj is small and lightweight, Boogie711 is right there is no real difference in the size of most first stages.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

For what you are intending, a Scubapro Mk 3 will do everything a MK 2 will do but is shorter in lenght. It's also cheaper on the used market and the later production versions (more squared off in appearance and have 3 LP ports rather than 2) are still pretty common on E-bay. They have few parts and are easy to service.

 

[bigredbill]

The Oceanic CDX is the smallest first stage of a major that I know. There are also some tiny Prosub diaphram firsts that are out there, but Prosub is now caput. The CDX is a diaphram.