Which Apeks 1st stage for both single and doubles?

[theriel]

Hello,
I have decided to buy Apeks XTX200 as my primary and secondary regulators. I have been wondering, however, which 1st stages would be the best?

Currently I am diving with a single cylinder but I have already taken some lessons on a twinset and it is likely that I will switch soon. Therefore, it is important for me for the 1st stage to offer nice routing on doubles as well (to be able to use it with both sets).

I know that XTX200 by default comes with FSR. I also know, however, that some people order it with DST. Moreover, DST can have 5th port added which seems to make it much better an option than FSR (at least from my "seen it on the pictures" point of view :]).

I would be grateful for your opinion regarding 1st stages for XTX200. I know that Tec3 would be the best for a twinset but it seems to be really bad for a single tank setup.

P.S. I really do not want to make it another "Scubapro/HOG/whatever is better than Apeks" or "XTX50 is equally good, you don't need XTX200"...

Thank you for your help!

Best,
Theriel

 

[blabber]

I have DS4 but it only hs 1hp port. I use it for singles as well.

 

[Kern]

This is really subjective stuff on my part. I think the hose routing on the DST with a 5th port is a bit better than the that of the FSR for doubles. However, I prefer to have my environmental diaphragms to face each other as per the FSR than to face up & out as per what I consider best routing of the 5th port DST. For singles, I prefer the FSR hose routing to that obtained using the 5th port. Of course, you don't have to use the 5th port when you reconfigure from doubles to singles. Due to positioning problems it would cause with my inflator hose, I wouldn't consider a Tec 3 for my singles rig.

I'd suggest you play with them all & develop your own opinion though.

PS. The XTX 50/100/200 2nd stage are all exactly the same, except for the external cosmetics. :mooner:

 

[tbone1004]

Even the external cosmetics are pretty dang close, hence why the Tek3 has the XTX50 second stages, all the change is in the first stage, which are still damn near identical on the inside until it comes time to route the LP ports.

The DST IMHO is the best all around 1st stage. I don't particularly like the swivel for first stages as it tends to be irritating and I wish all 4 of the ports came forward, but alas nothing is perfect.

I have DST's, well HOGS, but same thing. Use them successfully on singles, doubles and sidemount. best thing out there for sidemount, and IMHO the best for backmount. Any of the 5 port turrets really are the dogs bollocks.

Not quite ideal for singles, the XTX200 et al win that nomination, so you MAY want to leave a dedicated singles reg set instead of having to move everything around. Even if it's just a first stage with hoses on it, and switch the second stages. An extra SPG is next to nothing in comparison, and keeping the XTX200 as your first stage is a good deal, and if you go to doubles you'll end up needing deco regs anyway, so bam. Win win. I think I've seen the XTX200 first stage on maybe 2 divers with doubles... They weren't marketed to the tech side of the world, the 50's and Tek3's were.

As far as Hog vs Apeks, you have to understand why a lot of us have been going that route. The Apeks are stupid expensive in the states, absolutely ridiculous, and the parts kits are through the roof, and for the tech divers, damn near impossible to get to service ourselves. HOG solved all of those problems for us with basically the same regulator. You can get Apeks a LOT cheaper than we can.

As far as XTX50 vs XTX200. Difference is in the faceplate, that's it. The guts are identical and the body is identical except for the plate that covers the diaphragm. So the difference in the reg kits are the first stage, and the face plate. If you want the XTX200's you're getting it for the FSR first stage, which is sweet for singles, and not that bad for doubles. Quite similar to the Tec3 as far as routing, and if you have the caps facing in, the HP hose actually routes better IMHO.
Tek3 is BAD for singles, especially in NY and UK diving because it doesn't have enough ports to allow use of a drysuit inflator, so stay away from that. Probably fine in wetsuit diving with miflex hoses, but no thank you. If you're likely to switch to twinsets, go ahead and buy the reg set that you want for twins. Buying a separate first stage for singles is not all that much more.

 

[deepstops]

There's an additional failure point with the DST so I use US4s and DS4s (I dive in warm water).

 

[ajduplessis]

Both DS4 and TeK3 are awesome stages.The Tek3 routes a bit better than the DS4 but at a price $$$$$. You currently dive singles, do you own a 1 stage already? The DS4 will work better for single/double diving.

 

[Ben_ca]

I have DS4 but it only hs 1hp port. I use it for singles as well.

Why would you need more than 1 hp port?

 

[Kern]

I think I've seen the XTX200 first stage on maybe 2 divers with doubles... They weren't marketed to the tech side of the world, the 50's and Tek3's were.

Actually, over here they were. You see a lot of tek divers with them even now, with their Tek 3 avaliable, which of course does have less compromises as they were only meant for doubles.

Why does the FSR give more head room when mounted upside down? Why did they change from cylindrical bodies to one with flat faces opposite each other? So they could do double duty, with pretty good routing for singles, but really good for doubles.

Why did they shave off all the extra metal they could from the body, making them the lightest Dry Sealed reg they made? So they'ed be less head heavy with 2 mounted on doubles.

Just some of the marketing rationals they used at the time.

 

[ajduplessis]

Why would you need more than 1 hp port?

AI Transmitter

 

[tbone1004]

The FSR routes fine now, but it's ungodly expensive in the states. I think there was a $150-$200 difference in the XTX50 and the XTX200 over here... which is another DST I could buy instead. I would buy a pair of FSR's before the Tek3's because of that routing and the option to have stuff on either side for singles or sidemount though if I had to pick a fixed first stage

You can say whatever about the added failure points, but I've never seen a turret blow off if it was maintained properly, same failure point is on the MK25 from scubapro...
I have seen them come off when people are idiots taking hoses out of the 5th port and don't screw the turret bolt back in... Big problemo there.

Still curious why the XTX200 over the XTX50, especially if you mentioned the Tek3 and the DST first stages which come with the XTX50 seconds...