CuriousRambler
Contributor
To put the question up front: for those of you who have invested into multiple dive "kits," particularly folks diving doubles, with stages, OC bailout for CCR folks, etc. or even those of you who switch back and forth between single tank rigs and doubles, how do you select your next set of regs, and how heavily do you invest into one make/model?
I'm not asking how you choose a regulator, or which regulator to buy. Those are entirely different conversations. I'm asking if you already have ABC brand regulators, do you find yourself gravitating toward buying the same thing for your next set?
Background: I originally bought some Oceanic regs around 2007. No real complaints about them, but as I learned and dove more, I realized tech diving was where I wanted to wind up. I'm a mechanical guy by trade, so servicing my own regs isn't even a question to me, it's the obvious choice. Easy parts availability obviously narrows down the list of choices. I was fortunate and had a buddy who was willing to buy my regs for nearly what I paid, so I traded into a long hose single tank rig comprised of Salvo regs. Dove those for a while, then Salvo went out of business. I wound up getting Dive Rite XT1/XT2's. Somewhere in there was nearly a decade of no diving. Frankly, I don't have nearly enough dives behind me to be working on my third set of regs, so I'm almost certainly overthinking my next steps.
Since tech diving was always "just around the corner," I initially bought two XT1's and three XT2's, with intent to have a dedicated single tank setup and separate doubles rig. Honestly, I have no idea what my logic was when I bought those numbers, so let's choose to ignore how I planned to squeeze two complete setups out of five regulators for now.
I just landed a good deal on a doubles rig. Brand new HP100s (out of hydro), aluminum plate and a 40lb wing. So now I'm in the situation where I need to choose my next regs. I currently have an XT1 and two XT2's set up for my single tank rig, which leaves one of each stage still sitting in their boxes.
I can obviously buy another XT1 and another XT2 and have matching single and doubles rigs. My other thought is "should I comb the market and see if I want to go with something else for the doubles?" Prior to finding the doubles rig, I was planning to set up the spare regs I have on an Al40 of O2 to keep in the truck instead of a DAN O2 kit, figuring I'll eventually reach a point where it will be a handy deco tank instead.
Have any of you ever invested heavily into one type of reg, only to be bitten by it somehow in the future?
Do any of you really care about standardizing regs across your equipment? Or do you have matched stuff for your doubles, plus a hodgepodge of whatever else for stage and deco bottles?
While I'm not particularly concerned that Dive Rite is going to go out of business, I am definitely afraid of "over investing" into one flavor of reg only to kick myself in the future. I don't think I'll out dive the DR regs anytime soon, but should I upgrade now and be done with it?
[Edited for clarity.]
I'm not asking how you choose a regulator, or which regulator to buy. Those are entirely different conversations. I'm asking if you already have ABC brand regulators, do you find yourself gravitating toward buying the same thing for your next set?
Background: I originally bought some Oceanic regs around 2007. No real complaints about them, but as I learned and dove more, I realized tech diving was where I wanted to wind up. I'm a mechanical guy by trade, so servicing my own regs isn't even a question to me, it's the obvious choice. Easy parts availability obviously narrows down the list of choices. I was fortunate and had a buddy who was willing to buy my regs for nearly what I paid, so I traded into a long hose single tank rig comprised of Salvo regs. Dove those for a while, then Salvo went out of business. I wound up getting Dive Rite XT1/XT2's. Somewhere in there was nearly a decade of no diving. Frankly, I don't have nearly enough dives behind me to be working on my third set of regs, so I'm almost certainly overthinking my next steps.
Since tech diving was always "just around the corner," I initially bought two XT1's and three XT2's, with intent to have a dedicated single tank setup and separate doubles rig. Honestly, I have no idea what my logic was when I bought those numbers, so let's choose to ignore how I planned to squeeze two complete setups out of five regulators for now.
I just landed a good deal on a doubles rig. Brand new HP100s (out of hydro), aluminum plate and a 40lb wing. So now I'm in the situation where I need to choose my next regs. I currently have an XT1 and two XT2's set up for my single tank rig, which leaves one of each stage still sitting in their boxes.
I can obviously buy another XT1 and another XT2 and have matching single and doubles rigs. My other thought is "should I comb the market and see if I want to go with something else for the doubles?" Prior to finding the doubles rig, I was planning to set up the spare regs I have on an Al40 of O2 to keep in the truck instead of a DAN O2 kit, figuring I'll eventually reach a point where it will be a handy deco tank instead.
Have any of you ever invested heavily into one type of reg, only to be bitten by it somehow in the future?
Do any of you really care about standardizing regs across your equipment? Or do you have matched stuff for your doubles, plus a hodgepodge of whatever else for stage and deco bottles?
While I'm not particularly concerned that Dive Rite is going to go out of business, I am definitely afraid of "over investing" into one flavor of reg only to kick myself in the future. I don't think I'll out dive the DR regs anytime soon, but should I upgrade now and be done with it?
[Edited for clarity.]
