Too much choice!!! Help

[Boogie711]

It's Rodales. 'Nuff said.

 

[Diver Lori]

I love my Mares Abyss. I've got two of them I use for my cave diving rig with two Abyss second stages. No complaints, sweet breathers and smooth. I've got a V16 with the Orbitor second stage & an Abyss Octo......but both the Orbitor and the Abyss second stages are the same.....just different faceplates.

 

[JohnF]

SeaJay once bubbled...
...Was the fact that they ranted and raved about the "new" ATX100 first and second (which has been sold in Europe for many months now), which is identical to the ATX200, except that the ATX100 has a slightly different design on the first stage. Internally (and therefore performance-wise), they're identical.

Not great last year, but fantastic this year? Weird.

Mebbe all the others had a serious performance drop?

John F

 

[mmcdds]

NaCL H2O Boy once bubbled...


I agree with you. There's too much hyping of Apeks on here, and they really don't live up to all the hype they get on this board. If you want a real good comparison of many regs, just check out this site:

http://dive.scubadiving.com/html/200210regs_charts.html

As you can see, Apeks ain't all that.

What regs do you use?

 

[bigredbill]

Every reg you originally listed will be a fine and safe and hopefully a comfortable reg for you. Make a pocketbook decision and an emotional decision (which reg do you think looks cool?), and do not believe that pondering over this excessively will lead to a better decision. You are at the beginning of your scuba life and really do not know where it will go, or what type of gear will be most appropriate in the long run. There is a avalanche of great dive gear out there and any decision you make will likely be a good one. Could be that going really technical will be what you want to do - or perhaps you will be like me and decide after a few deep dives that the planning and cost and trouble of deep dives are not for you. I find most of my entertainment at 30 to 80 feet and usually when I go below that it is for a very specific purpose, and I am usually disappointed. Maybe you will do an extreme cold water dive only to discover you would rather be home watching football. Who knows?? And if you do go technical and feel you need to upgrade, your old reg is not going to be wasted...you can still use it somewhere i am sure - as a pony bottle, on a hang tank, on a deco tank etc..

I enjoy screwing around with this older equipment as a hobby because it is interesting to me, but diving is about diving. What is important is that you get in the water. Perhaps it would be better to spend half as much on the reg - get a nice safe comfortable reg with the unbalanced piston and use the other half you would have spent on the supposedly super-duper extra special reg instead on an underwater camera or a pony bottle setup for wreck diving. When the time comes to upgrade your reg you will know it - and it may never come. In the past, I've dove all over the world on an older Scubapro Mark 2- an unbalanced piston - with an older HP (108) non-adjustable chrome 2nd stage. I never felt inadequately outfitted.


I am not saying that performance doesn't matter - of course it does. I currently dive a smaller companies reg which I believe absolutely blows the doors off the big names at a rather moderate price. I liked the reg so much that I ended up rep'ing for them (right place at the right time sorta deal).

Nevertheless, what you use is less important than that you use it. Stay away from the weird mail-order regs and you will be fine. Any on your list, and a few others not listed but less expensive, would be a good start.

P.S. - my guess is that your wife is more likely to object to you spending all your weekends splashing around with your buddies than she will on you springing for a new reg in a few months or years time. Our wives usually want us to be safely and adequately equiped. Now as for being out with the boys all weekend.......? Either get her involved with diving, or share the strategies you discover work best with the rest of us!!

 

[Tekkie]

In BSAC Dive Magazine (Jan 2003) they tested the best cold water regulators. The Apeks ATX200 got 10 on preformance and 6 on value. The Mares Abyss got preformance 10 and value 6. And the Scubapro Mk25 AF / R380 got preformance 8, value 8. The rest of there review might be on there website. Also check out www.scubadiving.com and www.divernet.com/
Good hunting!
Tekkie

 

[NaCL H2O Boy]

mmcdds once bubbled...


What regs do you use?

I've been using my original(crappy) Mares MR12 Axis, but have tried an Atomic B1, Aqualung Legend LX, and an Apex ATX50. Of the three that I tried, I liked the Apex least. It didn't breathe as naturally or as dry as the others, and it just didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable. I noticed far more jaw fatigue with the Apex. Bottom line, with the Apeks, I always was aware of the fact that there was a regulator in my mouth. With the other two, I didn't find myself thinking about it. Was the Apeks better than my Mares? Absolutely. It definitely was a big step up over the Mares. I think some people on here are mistaking what my point is about the Apeks. Some people on here are making Apeks out to be the end-all of regulators, which they aren't. There are other regs just as good and better, and that should be recognized instead of just saying that one brand is the only one a person should want or get. I'm not here to bash, but am just trying to remind people that there is more than one reg out there that can offer performance above and beyond the average. Now if I was only to have tested an Apeks and had only that to compare to my Mares, I would be sold on it and probably purchase one. The thing is though, I wanted to be open minded and still look at what else is out there.

 

[Stig]

I've read all your posts & it's helped alot. Unfortunately trying them all is not an option because theres no shops near here that stovk more than one make so which ever shop I go to will tell me that there make is the best & it's not easy to do a comparison.

weighing up the pros & cons I think bigredbill has probably hit the nail on the head & whichever I choose from that list will be good enough for this stage of my Diving. & having hunted around the country I've found some good deals further up north where I can pick up the Apeks ATX200 for a good price. & at only £50 more than the ATX50 the cool looks of the first stage sold it. LOL


Cheers for the input it has helped. especialy as the Apeks wasn't even on my list to start with. I'll come back & update this once I've used it in anger & let you know what I think.


Cheers
Stig

 

[JohnF]

Stig once bubbled...


Cheers for the input it has helped. especialy as the Apeks wasn't even on my list to start with. I'll come back & update this once I've used it in anger & let you know what I think.


Cheers
Stig

Opinions and recommendations come without guarantees. 8)

For what it's worth I can't remember anyone ever being disappointed from choosing Apeks. Good luck with the decision making.

John F

 

[large_diver]

FWIW...

I have 2 Apeks TX-100s. On my back gas I use a TX-100 with a TX-40 back-up/octopus.

I have a second TX-100 that use with a stage/pony rig.

Things I like about the TX-100 --
- Easy to use adjustment knobs, even with heavy gloves on
- Comfobite mouthpiece -- very comfortable
- Easy to find/use purge buttons
- Smooth breathing regardless of depth or position
- Decent hose routing (I use a long hose DIR rig...although I mount the TX-100 first stage upside down on the tank)
- Easy to get Apeks service in US (serviced by all Sea-quest/Aqualung retailers)
- Proven performance under extreme/technical diving conditions

Things I don't like:
- Larger than average second stage...although this doesn't really bother me. You can solve this by going with the 200 series.

I think you can get some pretty decent deals on the TX series now that the ATX line has been out for some time.

-Chris