Which Brand Makes "Top-Notch" Regulators?

[H2Andy]

i've tried this before in a number of ways, but it's never quite worked.

i am wondering, if having to chose based on "brand" names, and considering
only the best regs each brand makes, what are the "best brands" for
regulators out there?

i've always read and heard that the top notch brands are Apeks, Poseidon,
Atomic, Scubapro, and Zeagle

followed by all the rest, with Aqualung sometimes categorized in the top tier

so ... my question is, which are the "top-notch" regulator manufacturers?

 

[MantaRey]

This is gonna be great...

 

[1_T_Submariner]

My vote is for Zeagle....Sure like mine.

 

[dbush]

Well SCUBA Diver Mag just did a review. You can check that out. I personally have been using APEKS since I started tech. They have worked well for me and they are incredibly easy to service. Parts kits are semi-easy to get. Ease of maintenance is important when you have four regs. Lot of techies use SCUBAPRO and I've heard really good stuff about Atomic too.

 

[scubadiverkarl]

My atomics are out of this world, but aren't cheap. I recently got some dive-rites, which are more affordable and parts are easy to get. A cave diver who owns a shop in florida recommended them to me. He even let me try a set of his. They were great. However, I've had my atomics to 200' and they performed flawlessly.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

Obviously, I use the regs I sell and they're terrific-but I must say there really are many excellent regs on the market-probably as good as they can be. Many of these regs breathe so well your average diver couldn't tell them apart. By the time this thread runs it's course, I'll bet at least 10 manufacturers are represented. Maybe there is no one "top notch" manufacturer.

 

[dannobee]

I like Rapidiver's response. Nobody makes junk these days, and everybody's top line reg seems to perform flawlessly. To say one brand is better than others would require identifying the criteria for "good" or "better." Too subjective for any meaningful analysis.

That said, I dive a Mares Proton Ice. One of my backup regs (and Bob, aka NWGratefuldiver will testify to this) is an Apeks ATX200. IMHO it doesn't breathe as nice as the Ice. You might think differently. I've dived both of them (among many other regs), and the Apeks sits in the reg bag with all of the other save-a-dive stuff. YMMV.

Dive with as many different regs as you can, then form your own opinions.

 

[vox]

Definitely going to be good...

 

[Jim Ernst]

i have only ever used sherwood and my scubapro, the sherwood really truly FELL APART at about 30ft and while on my octo picked up the pieces and called the dive. i love my scubapro!!

 

[lamont]

The problem is that the brand-new reg you buy from manufacturer X is generally going to perform better than the beat-up regs from manufacturer Y that have been rebuilt 5-25+ times...