Time to buy a regulator....

[silverfish]

No ,I am not bidding on one of you guys.Although I saw some of your pictures and I must say ,"What an attractive group!" I am talking about a life support device.
Anybody want to take this opportunity to brag, complain or simply comment on your equipment.One of the brands recommended to me was (I think)Oasis,ever heard of it.I realize what an important piece of gear this is and want the best I can get at the most reasonable price possible.So please make reference to price range as you make reccomendations. Also, I have a small bite and generally speaking a small frame. Size of the product is a consideration,as I had some discomfort in my mouth for a few days after diving last weekend.I got a pretty bad case of cotton mouth on a 45 min. dive and that causes me to be curious about moisture control in the unit as well.

Opinions are like bellybottons,everybodys got one...bring em on.(Pics of the bellybuttons might make an interesting new thread too.

 

[GP]

Oasis would lead me to believe you are talking about the Sherwood Oasis regulator. I've never used one but I've heard many people say they are good regs for recreational diving and are easy to get serviced but they are not a true high performance regulator like an Apeks or Scuba Pro for more extreme depths. There are reviews of the regulator on the Rodales and Divernet websites. I've posted the links below.
http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/14regs/#sherwood
http://www.divernet.com/gear/dtst398.htm#sherwood

 

[TexasMike]

Darn...and I'm cheep to (just not easy)

One of the first questions we always ask folks buying their new gear is to let us know where you plan to take your diving. Warm water or Cold? Only recreational or do you think you might work your way into technical diving (deep, wreck, cavern/cave, etc)? Have you established any sort of budget?

The Oasis is manufactured by Sherwood, which is a good and reliable company.

One of the many brands that that members of the board like is the Apeks line of regs. These are tried and true designs and will perform well in all recreational settings and most technical settings. The TX50 model is one of the mainstays and a good choice. Apeks is distributed by SeaQuest dealers.

I dive with a Zeagle Tech50D (I have a bent toward learning tech diving) which is the Zeagle version of the Apeks TX50. This reg breaths very easy in all depths, attitudes, and positions that I have been in to date. The 2nd stage is adjustable so that when at deeper depths, it can be set to take less effort to draw a breath than a non-adjustable model.

There are also plenty of other choices out there and I'm sure our other ScubaBoard friends will be weighing in with their advice.

Jaw Fatigue: This is caused by many things and can be fixed many ways. One of the best fixes is to use a custom mouthpiece like the SeaCure. This mouthpiece is molded to your mouth by dipping it in hot water and then biting on it. And once you trim it for comfort, you will never actually have to "bite" down on the mouthpiece to hold the reg in your mouth. The reg just floats in place.

Other things that can fix fatigue is to change the length of the hose slightly, swith low pressure ports, and add a swivel between the hose and 2nd stage.

Cotton Mouth: A common malady with newer divers until they learn how to prevent it. The best (and simpletst) way is to be well hydrated (by drinking water) the day of the dive. Start the day before drinking plenty of water and keep on during the dive day.

Another "trick" that I use is to spread toothpast on the mouthpeice. This way you have something minty that will make your saliva glands kick in and you won't have dragon breath when you get back on the dive boat.

A more expensive fix is the Apollo bio filter. This is a system that uses a wet sponge to re-humidify the air from your tank. One of my dive buddies (Corsair) has this system and likes it very much.


If you have any more questions, ask away. And if I think of anything else, I'll add to the discussion.

 

[TexasMike]

Oh, and be sure to use the search feature of this board (see upper right hand corner) for past threads on the regulator(s) that you are interested in.

 

[silverfish]

Especially as "Tuxedo Mike"(Pretty sweet Tex.).And, now that I have started shopping and pricing gear, Nobody wearing Scuba looks cheap,lol.

Anyway, thanks for your input.I don't really know all that much about where my diving will take me.Recreational is all I intend, however I do plan on taking that to further levels at every opportunity.Here's hoping that will give me opportunities to dive under different conditions and in many locations.

After shopping around online and reading related posts,as you suggested,I am currently leaning towards Sherwood. I like the Maximus at the moment and am considering the Oasis as well.The online price differences at one site, Scubadepot,was approx 90.00.I don't know enough to know if that would be money well spent or simply additional dollars spent on features I wouldn't even be able to appreciate.I plan on getting a custom fit mouth piece no matter what I buy.Generally speaking I am the kind of person who wants good quality that is worth the money,so high middle end tends to be my budget range.(Such as it is..hah!)No big spender here.

Let's hear some input gang. Thanks!!

 

[Vettster]

Another consideration is service.
Whatever brand you ultimately decide on, make sure you can get it serviced locally.

Dive Safe,
Vettster

 

[silverfish]

Good point, I plan on going to my LDS before I make a final descision.I prefer to purchase anything I can from them.It is my wish to keep a dive shop in our town and I know it takes trade to keep the rent paid. I thought I'd simply tell them at the shop what I found online and go from there.

 

[TexasMike]

$90 for a regulator setup (1st and 2nd stage)??? That's sounds a bit too cheep.

One other small bit of advice is to remember that if you shop well, you definitely get what you pay for. Meaning, that spending low dollars will get you a low performance system. Spending high dollars will get you into a higher performance system that you are not likely to replace because it either fails beyond repair or you outgrow it.

Too bad you're not closer to me otherwise I'd go out to the quarry with you and let you dive my rig so you can see what to look for during an actual dive.


Vettster: Hey Frank! Long time no type! Can you make it up to Travis with us next month?

 

[Tavi]

Silverfish,
I tried about 7 different regs before I bought my Apeks Tx-50 with Tx-40 Octo. My wife (who is very picky) also tried at least 7 different regs. She didn't like any of them. Finally she got a Apeks Tx-1oo. She loves it! it is a little smaller and lighter than mine. These regs will work for us as rec divers (warm or cold water). and if our diving turns tech they will still work for us there.
One of the great selling points of the Apeks line is free parts for life,as long as you take them in annually (I was told this applys to the Zeagle-Apeks regs as well).

Tavi

P.S. I don't mind spending a chunk of money on life support.

 

[JustJules]

If you're willing to buy from your LDS, you might be able to get them to let you try the two regs you have in mind. I don't feel that it's right to ask something like that of your LDS and then buy online.

I dive with an Oasis, and happy with it. It breathes well down to 100+ ft. The second stage is lightweight and has a wide exhaust tee, so you don't spend your dive looking at your own bubbles. It's very durable (you should see the condition of the second stage housing after my boyfriend used it a while).

My only problem with the Sherwoods is that the first stage is designed to bleed a tiny bit of air. Every once in a while, the sound of it distracts me becuase it sounds just like a BC dump valve leak.

Let us know what you decide.

Julie