Used vs unused, old vs new?

[northernone]

When you purchase regs, which you like? How did you decide what market and mindset was right for you?

I'm most comfortable with tried and true designs from the used market. I like lower initial prices (even including rebuilds), my investment not depreciating, and diving something that has been tested by thousands of other divers for decades. I feel safer knowing the weaknesses and likely failure points of the designs.

If I purchased new and a modern design I'd go for with something like a deep 6 or the kraken because they are designed and produced by experienced divers without much of a marketing budget or huge overhead.

Buying used modern regs for shallow dives for spare regs or if I can ever find a good deal on a 'high performance' reg I'd use them as my primaries.

I'd never buy midlevel new due to not knowing what flaws are in the design, enormous depreciation and higher ongoing maintenance costs.

I dive too much for only rentals and don't mind maintaining my gear. I don't trust unknown regs on 'real dives' without a few test dives first, not possible on a random rental. I've technicality rented cave diving reg sets a few times but they were from trusted personal friends.

Looking forward to seeing our diversity and maybe getting a less biased view on gear as some students really look to me for purchasing advice and I won't recommend something.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[tbone1004]

I'm in a bit of an extreme side I guess.

If you want tried and true, the Poseidon Cyklon has remained unchanged since 1958. Doesn't get any more tried and true than that.
That said, if we look at different regulators on the market, the Scubapro 109, then Balanced Adjustable, then the G series, are all using interchangeable parts. Small step changes as the years went on, but still basically the same regulator.
First stages really haven't changed much either, incremental changes as the years went on. Exception to this is the Poseidon MK3 which uses a really unique HP chamber design with the sphere.

You talk about design flaws. I don't think they're flaws, they are compromises. The regs function just fine, but due to pricing constraints have been forced to use cheaper materials that then get spun into some marketing BS. I.e. plastic air barrels.

New regs I typically don't buy due to the price. I can't justify it. The performance of them is great, but not enough for me personally to invest. I buy used Poseidon's for under $200 and rebuild them. I just got a bunch of vintage Scubapros for free and will rebuild them and use them. I am heavily DIY oriented, I'm an engineer, and am willing to accept the risk and cost associated with vintage regs. I.e. the almost $100/second stage I had to invest in the 109's to replace all of the rubber and diaphragms. That isn't cheap, for that price I could have bought new second stages that would have performed just as well if not better, but they lack the "cool factor" of the vintage regulators.

If I were buying new and diving single hose, I would buy a Kraken. Price for performance is right, and I think if you're diving backmount there is nothing wrong with going with a double hose. I don't fit the norms which is why the regulators that I dive *Poseidon Jetstreams* aren't the ones that I recommend people to buy.

 

[rhwestfall]

A little (okay, a lot) of everything..... Vintage through modern....

USD, ScubaPro, Poseidon, Argonaut Dive, HOG, DiveRite, DACOR, Healthways, and possibly others...

Very little purchased new.

@tbone1004 - there is an Argonaut Dive single hose (diaphragm first, and adjustable second) going through testing right now...

 

[tbone1004]

A little (okay, a lot) of everything..... Vintage through modern....

USD, ScubaPro, Poseidon, Argonaut Dive, HOG, DiveRite, DACOR, Healthways, and possibly others...

Very little purchased new.

@tbone1004 - there is an Argonaut Dive single hose (diaphragm first, and adjustable second) going through testing right now...

so I have heard, very excited to get one in the water

 

[snowdog61]

Sure i'd love new Ti Atomic or A/L set but I prefer to use my $ for actual diving as opposed to hot new gear. I dive Zeagle Tech50Ds and a FH6/XP (pony) which are both discontinued. Not too old but old enough - super easy to work on (diaphragms) and I can get parts readily. GF has SP MK20/G500 along with a MK17/S550 spare - still fairly easy to work on and parts are available for them too. The thing is, if they are set up right, I'm hard pressed to tell the difference under real use with any of the top brands over the past decade (some will say past few decades). Yes, some of them are slightly better performers but again, I'd likely need a machine to be able to tell them apart and since I'm strictly doing rec, I'm not missing it. I'm into the DYI thing, so it needs to be something I can service myself (new or used). There's always someone who wants to try scuba and buys all the gear (often top-of-the-line) and then decides to bail on it. Boom! 50% off retail if you can wait to find that deal. If I can afford it, sure I'll buy new and have a little peace of mind knowing I know exactly how my gear is being used. Sure, sometimes buying used is a crap shoot but there are some substantial bargains especially if you rebuild it yourself - you will also get to really know your gear and what it is telling you. I'm an engineer so I actually like that stuff. If I was buying new right now, I'd be looking hard at the D6 gear - seems like it has a good bit going for it.

 

[buddhasummer]

A little (okay, a lot) of everything..... Vintage through modern....

USD, ScubaPro, Poseidon, Argonaut Dive, HOG, DiveRite, DACOR, Healthways, and possibly others...

Very little purchased new.

@tbone1004 - there is an Argonaut Dive single hose (diaphragm first, and adjustable second) going through testing right now...

Colour me interested.

 

[buddhasummer]

Currently diving a mix of MK10s, SEA/Cousteaus, MK17s, conshelf 14s, G260s, G250s and D300s. I can't tell the difference between any of them except for the D300 which is very noticeably smoother/more natural. I like buying old gear as I enjoy bringing them back to life and where possible back to newish cosmetic condition. My best results cosmetic wise have been with G250s and Conshelfs. I'm very lucky in that I have relatively easy access to parts for all the models I deal with.

 

[bamafan]

I just bide my time on Ebay, CDF, etc and pick up used ScubaPro regs. My oldest ones are mk10 / G250's and I can hardly tell any difference between them and my Mk25's /G250V's. I don't dive cold water so the piston regs work great for me and I can get them serviced for $50/stage and the last 3 years or so. I really can't see buying new.

 

[Bob DBF]

Used is all I can justify, since I have too many regs around anyway. My go to reg is a Sherwood Blizzard with a SP109 second. I picked up a Poseidon Cycklon and may go to that if and when I get the hoses sorted out, I hate special hoses.

I like bringing into service older odd regs, and am pleasantly supprised at how well some of them breathe when tuned properly. Anyway it is fun to dive an old rig and have other divers show grave concern about my safety while diving, in their words, "old junk".

In addition to the Sherwood and Poseidon, I have old ScubaPro, Aqualung, Nemrod, and Dacor in service or lying about waiting.

Bob

 

[TrimixToo]

Right now, I'd prefer deco regs that all took the same darn rebuild kit...