I know I asked a similar question a while back. I have been doing tons of research, most of which still has me totally overwhelmed. I know that most people that own brand X think best. I am trying to find a way to decide between 2 brands and probably 4 units. I am hoping to get units and get trained in the next 12 months.
First off my GF is my dive buddy so we are doing this together which means double the cost of everything. So getting the same unit makes the most sense to me. I know at some point we will be diving with others, but don't know who they are yet so I can not say what units they have. From what I have read/seen the Meg and rEvo are the 2 most popular units followed by Kiss. Of the people I "know", though the internet most dive Megs. When we did the rebreather demo day rEvos were the most common there.
Our main goal at this point is to get some more bottom time and get to some of the wrecks in our area. It seems like many of the things we want to see sit between 150'-200'. One of my major goals is to go to Bikini Atoll in 5 years. We do a bit of air travel so having a unit that is reasonably able to travel would be nice. Right now we do not have plans of going deeper but as we do more diving that could change if we find things worth seeing.
I keep going back and forth between the Meg and rEvo and not sure how to decide. Maybe it just comes down to preference. If it was something that cost even a couple thousand dollars that would be one thing. Setting both of us up with training and units is going to run at least $20,000 so it is a major thing to me.
I am not sure of any negatives to either unit. I know it often comes down to OTS or back mount but I don't think either are a deal maker or breaker for me based on all I have read.
Positive for the Meg is the company is local. They have a great reputation. I can get training right from the owner (big plus). Very modular. Easy to work on.
Positive for the rEvo. Again great reputation, they have a good local instructor, the dual scrubber (I hear is a plus but don't know enough), Easy to work on.
With the Meg I am either looking at a Standard or a Pathfinder. While the Pathfinder looks like it would be nice on the budget and fit most of our diving needs I worry about if we decide we want to start going beyond that ~200' depth.
With the rEvo the Mico seems best, especially with travel in mind. There are lots of used Mini's on the market though too.
That brings up my next, and hopefully last thought in here, buying used. Knowing very little about something makes it really hard to buy used. I am sure there are all kinds of great deals out there on both units but I have no clue what to look for. I am guessing the "base units" (can, loop, lungs, ext) are all the same but what is different is the electronics. I would hate to buy a "good deal" used unit only to find out it would cost so much to "get it up to spec" that I could have got a new one.
Hope that is not too random. I am also posting this on RBW so I might see some of the same posters there too.
First off my GF is my dive buddy so we are doing this together which means double the cost of everything. So getting the same unit makes the most sense to me. I know at some point we will be diving with others, but don't know who they are yet so I can not say what units they have. From what I have read/seen the Meg and rEvo are the 2 most popular units followed by Kiss. Of the people I "know", though the internet most dive Megs. When we did the rebreather demo day rEvos were the most common there.
Our main goal at this point is to get some more bottom time and get to some of the wrecks in our area. It seems like many of the things we want to see sit between 150'-200'. One of my major goals is to go to Bikini Atoll in 5 years. We do a bit of air travel so having a unit that is reasonably able to travel would be nice. Right now we do not have plans of going deeper but as we do more diving that could change if we find things worth seeing.
I keep going back and forth between the Meg and rEvo and not sure how to decide. Maybe it just comes down to preference. If it was something that cost even a couple thousand dollars that would be one thing. Setting both of us up with training and units is going to run at least $20,000 so it is a major thing to me.
I am not sure of any negatives to either unit. I know it often comes down to OTS or back mount but I don't think either are a deal maker or breaker for me based on all I have read.
Positive for the Meg is the company is local. They have a great reputation. I can get training right from the owner (big plus). Very modular. Easy to work on.
Positive for the rEvo. Again great reputation, they have a good local instructor, the dual scrubber (I hear is a plus but don't know enough), Easy to work on.
With the Meg I am either looking at a Standard or a Pathfinder. While the Pathfinder looks like it would be nice on the budget and fit most of our diving needs I worry about if we decide we want to start going beyond that ~200' depth.
With the rEvo the Mico seems best, especially with travel in mind. There are lots of used Mini's on the market though too.
That brings up my next, and hopefully last thought in here, buying used. Knowing very little about something makes it really hard to buy used. I am sure there are all kinds of great deals out there on both units but I have no clue what to look for. I am guessing the "base units" (can, loop, lungs, ext) are all the same but what is different is the electronics. I would hate to buy a "good deal" used unit only to find out it would cost so much to "get it up to spec" that I could have got a new one.
Hope that is not too random. I am also posting this on RBW so I might see some of the same posters there too.
I knew that, but I guess I forgot. I will email him. Believe it or not I am a member there too.
