What's the most solid reg for the best price?

[kathydee]

Hi there,

I;d love some advice I really want to get my guy a new reg (he;d is a very occasional diver). Most likely he;ll only dive 10 times a year or much less, but might occasionally venture into our local 48 degree water if I twist his arm.

He;d got about 16 dives (in the last 3 years) & only OW now were heading down for some mellow reef diving in the southern Philippines Islands & since he;ll be my buddy for a few weeks-- I really want him off rental regs (I just don;t trust them especially in developing countries)!

I;d love some recommendations for a very safe, reliable, solid, relatively inexpensive reg combo. (I'm a grad student & don't have lots of cash)

Personally I have a SP MK17 G250V (I love it!!)! But I dive lots more than him & go to very remote places where service access could be an issue.

Don;t want to pay this much if he;s only getting in the water now and then & in his case service access isn;t really an issue.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[bwilcher]

Congratulations to your new dive partner and I applaud your decision to own your gear. I have been diving an Atomic for the past five years and love the regulator. The nice thing about the atomics are that every regulator they make performs the same. You don't have to trade off performance for price. They make several models, but the entry price regulator is called the Z2 which should work well for the types of diving you describe.
good diving.
bert

 

[stiebs]

If you have a MK17/G250V, IMO the obvious regs to purchase for him would be something like a MK11/R395 or MK2PLUS/R295.

 

[Just another Cinderella]

If service isn't an issue then I would go with Atomic, although they are a bit more pricey across the line.
I have had an Atomic for over 7 years without a problem. But service is a big issue as only a certified dealer/service can get replacement parts. I now live where I can not get my regulator serviced as there are no dealers. It is a huge pain and I will be looking for another brand.

 

[rstofer]

You eliminate a lot of regulators if you decide to dive below 50 deg F. As far as Oceanic is concerned, none of their piston first stages can be used below 50. AquaLung is quite clean on their web page re: which regs are considered suitable for cold water and at least one is fairly economical. ScubaPro isn't as easy to figure out.

The Mk11, for example, is suggested for temperate water but there is no definition of temperate. The Mk 17 is clearly the first stage of choice for cold water and there doesn't appear to be much difference in the package cost regardless of the second stage (at LeisurePro).

Buy yourself a backup Mk17/G250V and let your boyfriend use it. Boyfriends come and boyfriends go, some stay longer than others. But a good regulator will last a lifetime.

Richard

 

[kathydee]

Buy yourself a backup Mk17/G250V and let your boyfriend use it. Boyfriends come and boyfriends go, some stay longer than others. But a good regulator will last a lifetime

 

[claymore]

The old (last Years model) Titan LX Supreme is a very reasonably priced cold water reg. It breathes well at recreational depths is very simple, tough as a rock and fairly small in size.

The old Titan should be able to be found at a very good price as the NEW model is Available now. Try Leisure Pro.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

In addition to the good recommendations above, you might also want to consider another "closeout" model: The Zeagle Flathead VI 1st with ZX 2nd stage. Zeagle just released the Flathead 7, so there are good sales on remaining inventory of the Flathead VI. ZeagleExpress is selling them for $360 : Zeagle Express is the most complete source for everything Zeagle Systems makes

I just had the pleasure of rebuilding a well-used Flathead VI, and was really impressed with how well-built and easy to service it was. It looks like a really nice reg overall; I had bought it on E-bay as a "project" reg just to rebuild for fun, but with a little TLC it "cleaned up" so nicely I think it is gonna be a "keeper"

And I really like the fact that you can get rebuild kits for it without having to know any "secret handshakes" (as with Aqualung and Scubapro).

Have fun with whatever you decide!

Best wishes.

 

[rstofer]

I'm glad you weren't offended! Sometimes I am blunt...

Where are you heading in SE Asia? I lived in Singapore for 16 months or so and dove around Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Maldives. Best time of my life!

Richard

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Oceanic GT3 w CDX5 first stage. I've had mine to 155 feet, 38 degree water, and under the ice. And it's around 250 bucks if you look around. Get one minus the DVT- cheaper and not needed anyway.