Switching to SM - which regs??

[KentB]

so I’m doing my sidemount course in 2 weeks and am researching gear and what to buy.

I’m leaning towards the xdeep bcd seems very very common here and everyone I’ve chatted with have no complaints.
I’ll be picking up 4 al 80s
Any thoughts of Catalina vs luxfer?
Regs- I don’t even know where to start.
I want something of good quality but not break the bank. I have a budget of let’s say 3-4K for the gear.

Locally the bcd is 850-900 and tanks are 300 each. I’m going to see if I can get them slightly cheaper and not include the 10 air fills they each come with, since I fill my own tanks. Which leaves me 1-2k for regs and rigging. I have 2 spare spg already. Cold water drysuit diving. Typical is 40-48*F but would like to try ice diving this winter......
Any recommendations????

I haven’t really talked to any other dive buddies that dislike any regs but want to make the right choice first.
My buddy raves about his apeks regs but I can’t remember which model they were.

Keep in mind CAD pricing vs USD

 

[decompression]

Are you doing your course locally?

On my courses I have many different rigs and tanks. Lots of trial and questions before buying gear.

 

[KentB]

Yes

 

[decompression]

Ok, I’d talk to your instructor, I prefer to talk about gear in detail before any money changes hands.....but, generally a very good set up for our waters is the xdeep Stealth, steel tanks (I’d rather you have 2 steels than 4 Al’s) with proper valves, and either Apeks DST/ATX regs or Scubapro Mk 25 EVO’s with G260’s or others.

That set up routes nice and clean and performs about as well as you could ask for.

 

[KentB]

Ok, I’d talk to your instructor, I prefer to talk about gear in detail before any money changes hands.....but, generally a very good set up for our waters is the xdeep Stealth, steel tanks (I’d rather you have 2 steels than 4 Al’s) with proper valves, and either Apeks DST/ATX regs or Scubapro Mk 25 EVO’s with G260’s or others.

That set up routes nice and clean and performs about as well as you could ask for.

Why the steels? I rarely see SM divers with steels. Pretty much everyone I see here and the sidemount presence here is quite large all dive al 80s
The 4-al80s are for ability to do 2 longer dives but to sling 4 at once.
Yes will have proper SM Valves.
I will be keeping my halcyon BPW and 2x117s for single tank diving, indefinitely or until I realize I no longer ever dive Single tank if that ever happens

 

[decompression]

Steels have a couple of advantages here over ALS. Firstly, as most are neutral to slightly negative there’s not requirement to add lead to compensate. Many SM rigs are a challenge to find places to put lead so saving 8 lbs is nice. Size wise, HP 100’s are similar to Al 80’s, but 40+ cuft of gas over 80’s, when doing longer deeper dives it comes in handy. And lastly, they don’t get floaty like Al’s at 1500 psi so they don’t require front/sliding D rings which keeps your rig cleaner and simpler.

If you are willing to service your own regs you can save big bucks with a SM set up from HOG or Deep6, both excellent performer at half the price.
Xdeep-$850
Regs- $1000
Tanks-$1000
Misc- $500
Puts you under $4k

 

[decompression]

I know a lot of the SM divers and Instructors in Van, it’s a very good community.

 

[KentB]

I talked to 2 instructors when I was looking into doing the course and both said al80s. At least when learning.
Hmmmmm I also don’t do any deco yet. 154 cubic feet of air I think it’s plenty for now hmmmmmm decisions

I’m fairly handy I’m sure I could do it, but I’m also fairly busy so I tend to not spend my time off “working” on stuff
I’ll look into the HOG and deep 6

 

[decompression]

Some may favor al’s If they were trained in Mexico where that’s all there is, so if no biggie. I’m hoping it’s not because they like to swing them out in front of themselves to look cool but steels tend to nose dive when you bring them forward. So, that’s a red flag, red flag number 2 is if they put a lead weight on the tanks.........

On my courses I’ll use both Steels and Al’s so they can feel the difference. The students usually favored the steels. Cost is another factor with steels being twice the price.

 

[KentB]

I would like to do some cave in Mexico eventually but both instructors also mentioned if you do any liveaboards (going to Red Sea in Jan) you will more than likely only be able to get al80 or al100s so you should def at least learn to use al. Tanks at some point.

I’m sure I can find some hp100 to try