What reg?

[SkipperJohn]

Having recently had to wipe Mares off my list, I need to start my research over again.
Which regulator manufacturer do you like best? And Why?
My LDS is pushing Aqualung. He says he owns 4 sets of regulators and they are all aqualung (secondaries too)

 

[Nemrod]

AL Titan LX, Leisurepro, 179 dollars.

N

 

[Rhone Man]

I am a huge fan of Sherwoods - rugged and reliable.

I recent bought (for the first time) a high performance Sherwood regulator - the SR1. They had some design problems early on, leading to some serious slashing of prices - now you can pick one up on Leisurepro for $399 and free shipping (see other posts for appropriate bashing of LP / grey market debate). It has been great so far.

 

[Jimmer]

Having recently had to wipe Mares off my list, I need to start my research over again.
Which regulator manufacturer do you like best? And Why?
My LDS is pushing Aqualung. He says he owns 4 sets of regulators and they are all aqualung (secondaries too)

I'm a fan of Zeagle regs. I own several, including some of the ZX-DSV and the ZX-Flathead VI. The reason they are my favourite is the fact that they just plain work in all conditions. On top of that they are reasonably priced, breathe nicely, american made, and Zeagle openly sells service kits to customers, instead of trapping them and restricting them like some other manufacturers do.

I do a lot of different diving, needing regs that can handle ice diving, tropical diving, shallow, deep, single tanks, double tanks, stage bottles. If I had to pick one reg to handle all of those uses, it would be a ZX-DSV, because I can't feel a difference in performance between it and my Flathead VI's, and it retails for a fair bit less. Best value for the money IMHO.

 

[fireflock]

Dive Shops like the brands they sell, and divers like the brands they use. In truth, almost any reg from a name brand company will be just fine for a new diver.

You get a performance bump from a balanced first stage, and some from a balanced second stage.

Almost any modern reg perform just fine for recreational diving. In many cases, divers with top performing regs are taking a race car for a spin around the block and only driving 35mph.

Dive retailers try hard to make regulators confusing to new divers. It's hard to differentiate products that virtually all do the exact same thing in 1 of 2 ways. If the salesman says 'how much is your life worth' or some variation of that.....then it's time to start looking at other retailers.

I like the Zeagle Envoy or DSV, as well as the Atomic Z2. There are dozens of other regs out there that are perfectly fine as well. Your best bang for the buck, in most cases, will be in the low to middle range of any manufacturers lineup.

 

[leapfrog]

I use AL for work. Legend ACD with a Mikron Octopus. Bulletproof. Ease of service should be your first priority. They are easy to service and if your LDS pushes them and you have a good relationship with them you would do well to buy them off the LDS. Then they are responsible for them.

There are loads of good regs out there and you'll get good suggestions from everybody about their own preference.

Whatever you do, don't go out and buy a brand that nobody uses or services where you go diving. I made that mistake with a brand and instead of something reliable you end up having "an Italian sportscar". After the first service, never the same....

 

[Standingbear56]

Personally I use Poseidons. They have never let me down using Tri Mix at 285 FSW, or doing a SARR dive under the ice + every type of diving inbetween. My secondary is a 20 year old Odin, and my primary is an X-Stream.
I swear by them simply because they work.
Take care,
George

 

[tomboyy]

Everyone knows that the MK25/S600 is the best with the MK17/250 coming in a close 2nd.

 

[DiveMaven]

I'm also a big fan of Zeagle regulators. If you check out ScubaLab testing results you'll see that the bottom of the line Zeagle Envoy has perfect scores, and outperforms many more expensive regulators. I like to say that from experience I know that my Zeagle Envoy breathes as well at 133' as it does at 13'.

Plus with the new Zeagle Flathead 7 coming out early next year, you can get the Flathead VI for a great price (at least you can from ScubaToys). It's an environmentally sealed regulator with outstanding performance and breathability...I know this because my husband dives the Flathead VI.

 

[J.R.]

Aqualung Legend primary and octo with an environmental seal retrofit on the first stage (for cold water stuff)...

Sherwood Blizzard first and second stage for icediving poiny.

Dacor Olympic 200 on my "old-school" rig... (did ya' know they only have ONE 'O' ring and the LP seat for a rebuild... sweet...) Not the smooth breather of the modern stuff... but then... not something I use for 'everyday' either... ;-)