The best Regulator for Deep-technical Diving

[will_tekkie]

Hi dear friends....It´s quite common to see diferents opinions about what´s the best regulator to be used in deep diving, technical, overhead or other dives requiring high performance and switching gases for deco. The most techinical divers are using poseidon, scubapro and apeks over others...I would be very interested in your comments about what is your regulator and the reasons for choose it...

Poseidon...the older max performer..and i think enough to fill to any requirement...but it´s a old design...expensive..VERY big 2nd stage....dificult to get a dealer-parts service. Some people told me it´s a little hard to clear due to its sided oulet design. I loved this config because have no bubbles problems and looks great and very "technical". I hope to own one just to collect it ( buy it from a desesperate diver). I´ve never used it. It´s a shame that this design have not been developed for others more popular brands.

Apeks..I like it..very simple and reliable design..convenience position of knobs at the 2st stage..good performer.I love the dry chamber design of the first stage..not for cold water ( i enjoy diving in tropical waters) it´s more for sand and salt in contact with internal parts (as in MK25) and the metal DIN knob...service and parts are the only bad things...they are not so popular as others as scubapro. Hose routing are better ( very nice for doubles and singles config) in my opinion than scubapro´s.

Scubapro...i´ve chosen this brand due to their good performance but the main reason was that it´s VERY EASY to find dealers and parts worldwide. I prefer diafragm regs. but MK20_25 series are very good devices...is posible to find good prices here in europe but still being a expensive model.

 

[Braunbehrens]

will_tekkie once bubbled...
The most techinical divers are using poseidon, scubapro and apeks over others...I would be very interested in your comments about what is your regulator and the reasons for choose it...

Will, I am using Apeks and Scubapro at this point, but I am phasing out the Scubapro in favor of Apeks. Specifically I use Apeks DS4's, Dry Sealed, no turret. This makes for a very reliable, easy to service regulator.

For the kind of diving I do, my most pressing concern is reliability. My second concern is ability to service the regulator myself. Third comes performance.

When breathing mixes high in Helium performance is mostly a non-issue. Apeks is certainly good enough. I once did a test breathing an apeks T100, Scubapro G250 and Atomic B1 at depth. The Atomic won out easily, being the easiest breathing regulator. However, I later examined the regulator to find that the IP had been set too high. Any reg will breathe fantastic if you crank the IP. I think it's better to keep the IP's low for reliability reasons.

BTW, if you service your own regulators, then Apeks are much better than Scubapro. Scubapro parts are harder to come by than Apeks. Also, the Scubapro tend to be a little fussier than the Apeks.

Don't even get me started on the Poseidons. Unless you are breathing air really deep, you don't need them, and the disadvantages of the high gas flow design outweigh the advantages.

The only place I use air is in the tires of my car...

 

[pos-tech]

No need to change a great design, and the Tech Look is :mean:
But poseidon des have the new extreme, same working parts in 2nd, but smaller
design still uses side exhaust. Parts were hard to come by, but now are very easy, but they are finiky.

 

[ElectricZombie]

I would suggest ScubaPro as #1, Apex as #2. The ScubaPros breath great, are easy to service and are very reliable. ScubaPro makes a sealed diaphram 1st stage also.

The Apex regs that I have used did not breath nearly as well and were prone to freeflow. They breathed ok, but not great. Maybe they were not adjusted properly, I don't know.

 

[ColdH20diving]

I like my Apeks, although I haven't tried Scuba Pro yet.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

I like my Apeks, DS4 with the TX 50 second stage. If it free flows, just turn down the adjustments.

That said, I think my old USD arctics are one of the best regs I have ever used.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

I have used Poseidons and Apeks regs for all my diving, and I have used a Scubapro before. I like the Poseidons for anything over 100 feet. I generally use the Poseidons for deeper stuff and use my APeks for teaching and general Open Water Diving (less than 100ft.).

As far as getting parts for Poseidons, Trelleborg Viking is the distributor in US for Poseidon, and I havent had any problem getting any parts for any of there regs thru VIking. In my experience, since Viking took over the distributorship, the service kits for Poseidon are actually cheaper than for a Mares reg!!! Kinda funny, huh??? I thought so too.

I do like Apeks regs too, and I have used them for deeper than 100 feet. I love the way both of them perform, and I trust both of those regs.

By the way.... Poseidon Odin/Jetstream, and APeks ATX-200.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Just had my new Legend on a 185' excursion - absolutely effortless breathing.
Rick

 

[atxdiver]

Rick,

Which version of the Legend did you use?

To others,
Anyone on the board with experience using Dive Rite regulators?

Thanks.

 

[mono]

I use Apeks.

Beware of Poseidon ... the regs might be OK ("as long as they're OK") but the service ability of the company as such is a joke (and I live in the country where they are produced)!

An (almost) untranslateable pun here in sweden is "Pyseidon" - which would translate to Psssssssseidon.