The First Question: Which reg?

[ProfessorAronnax]

That's large money for two dives per year. There are definately quality regulators at lower price point. We sell Zeagle gear so that's the direction I'm leaning. We have a world class Zeagle Envoy for about $260.00 and that's with a Lifetime Gaurantee. Check out the Scuba Diving Mag review here:
BEST REGS UNDER $300: ZEAGLE ENVOY

Rap

 

[halocline]

The SP MK2/R190 is probably less than $250 at full retail. Ditto for the aqualung titan (I think) Try that and run your numbers again.

 

[DivesWithTurtles]

Here's MY opinion:

M_B, there's more to it than economics. Would you use a rental toothbrush? You don't know who has had that rental regulator in their mouth before you. Own your own.

And I feel the same (maybe more strongly) about wetsuits, for obvious reasons.

One other non-equipment suggestion. Considering the infrequency with which you dive, a week or two weeks before you go on vacation do a checkout dive locally under the eye of an instructor from your LDS, even if it's just a pool session. It'll be an opportunity to check your regs for problems, recall your skills, and give you a greater comfort level at the beginning of your vacation dives. Leave enough time for equipment problems to be corrected and rechecked before you go. It'll be well worth the expense. (Maybe you can work out a deal on a pre-pay with the LDS when you buy regs. The more you buy, the more bargaining leverage you have.)

 

[M_B]

Mattboy, Rapiddiver:
thank you for the input. I put the Legend into my calculations, because, my research here on the board, lead me to believe that this is what people agree to be dependable, durable and overall good device. I also have seen quite a few comments that <$300 reg will not perform sufficiently on the deeps past 60f ( or 70f ).
The link is for 2003 regs. In new review there are no Zeagle products. Plus i can't find a way to compare regs from 2 reviews. I, personally, don't put a lot of trust into the reviews like the one - not because they are ( or can be ) "sponsored" by manufactures, just because i need to see the results of the tests. Plus if i take into account that this particular guys are doing reviews at least once in 2 years and IF they do have some kind of testing "machine"/facility then it's no-brainer to create a comprehensive report through all tested devices and years. We can speculate why they are not doing this, but for me - i have pretty much only one option left - go with the forums...

 

[TheRedHead]

I agree with Rapiddiver on the Envoy. Deep, upside down, lying on my back, the Envoy delivers. I had it serviced by my LDS for $30, even though I bought it online from scubatoys.com.

 

[scubatoys]

Mattboy, Rapiddiver:
I also have seen quite a few comments that <$300 reg will not perform sufficiently on the deeps past 60f ( or 70f ).

They are pretty much wrong... Any reg will do fine in the 60, 80, 100 foot range. The high performance regs only really matter if you are going to be diving in the 150, 200 etc range.

I've had many inexpensive regs, the Aeris sport, the Mares V16 proton, the Zeagle Envoy at 100 plus with no problems at all. They all did fine.

 

[jpsexton]

Larrys right. I have an Aeris A1 which is way less than $300 and I've had it down to 100' without any problem at all. In fact I could'nt be happier with this regulator overall. I got it in a package deal but the regulator alone is only $189 at ScubaToys.

John

 

[halocline]

They are pretty much wrong... Any reg will do fine in the 60, 80, 100 foot range. The high performance regs only really matter if you are going to be diving in the 150, 200 etc range.

I've had many inexpensive regs, the Aeris sport, the Mares V16 proton, the Zeagle Envoy at 100 plus with no problems at all. They all did fine.

So refreshing to hear the voice of reason from someone who actually sells high performance regs!

 

[M_B]

So let me rephrase what you guys just said :
there is no difference in performance on deps ~100 between (say ) $100 and $400 regs ?
Another thing i want to make sure i'm getting right - i'm not sure if 100 is the depth where i should " draw" the line . I guess it should be up to 160. ( i do understand that this is not the "cruising" range for rec. diving )

 

[jmps]

Mattboy, Rapiddiver:
thank you for the input. I put the Legend into my calculations, because, my research here on the board, lead me to believe that this is what people agree to be dependable, durable and overall good device. I also have seen quite a few comments that <$300 reg will not perform sufficiently on the deeps past 60f ( or 70f ).

I just went through this whole chain of reasoning and ended up with a Legend. The key reason for me was that I plan to dive at lower temps up here in the Chicago area and perhaps someday deeper wrecks. If I was only doing tropical diving I would not have gotten the Legend. The changing IP of the Legend requires a balanced Octo that raises the cost to over $600 as you state.

I recommend looking at the Envoy, Titan LX or other lower priced but very good reqs for your needs. If you do this math I think that you will find owning your own will be much closer to renting. My daughter was also just certified and I am going to get her one of those regs since she will be diving tropical.

I think you will like having known equipment that you trust and have used before. Although I think this is even more true of a BCD and wetsuit.