Which Reg? Zeagle FH7, Atomic B2 or Mares Abyss 22?

[BB1]

Hi,

Trying to put together a shopping list for my first set of diving gear.

I currently live on Australia's east coast in warm to temparate waters but who knows where my travels will take me in the future!

So reg recommendations/opinions please:

My shortlist is:

Zeagle Flathead 7 or 7LT - I like the fact that they will sell you the rebuild kits (2 kits fit all 1st & 2nd Stages) so you can do your own servicing and the companies customer service and principles seem top knotch. Miflex hose is a plus but would like to swap out std hose for a longer DIR one. However I have heard very little about them in regards to performance and reliability - anyone care to share some real world experience?

Atomic B2 - I love the idea of the low pressure poppet seat saver as it appeals to my engineering background - a classic simple solution to the only weak spot during storage. Swivel on 2nd stage is nice as long as its not a non standard thread. Can a longer hose be fitted though? I assume all titanium 2nd will give some humidity from breathe back to ease cotton mouth.

Mares Abyss 22 - Recommendation from my brother in law (Dive Instructor) as a good solid performer. All metal appeals if the "humidity from breathes eases cotton mouth" is valid.

Probably looking at matching occy as I am not a fan of the octo inflator idea. I like some of what the DIR people do with their setups especially regarding regs and occy's, it matches the KISS principle I followed for many years while building and racing top fuel drag bikes. If it feels "right" it generally is "right" - hard to quantify but my engineering background understands that statement.

Thoughts, opinions and suggestions welcomed.

 

[keithdiver]

Hi,

Trying to put together a shopping list for my first set of diving gear.

I currently live on Australia's east coast in warm to temparate waters but who knows where my travels will take me in the future!

So reg recommendations/opinions please:

My shortlist is:

Zeagle Flathead 7 or 7LT - I like the fact that they will sell you the rebuild kits (2 kits fit all 1st & 2nd Stages) so you can do your own servicing and the companies customer service and principles seem top knotch. Miflex hose is a plus but would like to swap out std hose for a longer DIR one. However I have heard very little about them in regards to performance and reliability - anyone care to share some real world experience?

Atomic B2 - I love the idea of the low pressure poppet seat saver as it appeals to my engineering background - a classic simple solution to the only weak spot during storage. Swivel on 2nd stage is nice as long as its not a non standard thread. Can a longer hose be fitted though? I assume all titanium 2nd will give some humidity from breathe back to ease cotton mouth.

Mares Abyss 22 - Recommendation from my brother in law (Dive Instructor) as a good solid performer. All metal appeals if the "humidity from breathes eases cotton mouth" is valid.

Probably looking at matching occy as I am not a fan of the octo inflator idea. I like some of what the DIR people do with their setups especially regarding regs and occy's, it matches the KISS principle I followed for many years while building and racing top fuel drag bikes. If it feels "right" it generally is "right" - hard to quantify but my engineering background understands that statement.

Thoughts, opinions and suggestions welcomed.

OF all the regs you have mentioned here, the best one in MOI. Is the Zeagle , i have them and i would not trade it for another one. They breath very easy in cold water where i live effortless at all depths. They feel like feathers in your mouth, very light non restrictive. There support team is always there for you to. You call in the a.m. you get response in the a.m. Best of luck

 

[hg frogman]

The Mares MR22 Abyss is a workhorse. Very simple regulator but an enormous flow at any depth. It's a balanced diaphragm first stage, but the flow feels like a top-notch balanced piston : great ! It has been down to 313 meters with Mark Ellyatt.

A very good reg for cold water too, thanks to the full metal second stage (more robust and durable than plastic) which has a patented bypass that increases flow and reduces CO2 buildup.

The standard MR22 has no sealed diaphragm (unless you add the Mares dry chamber) but it's a bonus because this dry-chamber feature is useless in most cases (even for cold water), prevents easy tuning of low pressure (LP), and often makes LP non-linear (ie slightly increasing with depth) which can be an issue.

Very simple reg means also very easy to service by myself, or to fix on the field (almost no special tool needed, which is not the case of some other brands) ... and I switched from another famous reg to the MR22 Abyss partly because of this.

My full-metal Abyss second stage makes my mouth feel significantly less dry than my plastic-body G250V while diving.

To avoid engraving the seat of the Abyss second stage while not using it for some time, just unscrew a little bit the seat connector from the second stage's body (while pressing the purge button to not wear the seat). Very easy to do. Screw it again before using the reg. And store your reg in a clean, dry place to avoid potential bacteria's growth in the hoses when the reg isn't closed (same applies to all seat-preservers devices like Atomic, Scubapro, etc).

The MR22 comes with a bigger hose diameter for the primary only (its three other LP ports are standard ones). Mares sells a long hose (> 2 meters) that fits that port if you want it. Otherwise the smaller MR42 has four LP standard-only ports and is sold also with the Abyss as second stage.

Check about the spare parts because I don't know about Mares dealers in Australia. Mares is one of the three top European manufacturers, so in many places spare kits are not an issue, but it may be different in Australia or in the USA.

PS: Titanium rises some problems - threads are more likely to get "jammed" with titanium than with brass, and Titanium is not recommended with Nitrox due to its low combustion temperature.

 

[Jimmer]

Any of those regs are good quality, solid regs. They all have good performance. The Zeagles are very easy to work on as well, and parts are openly available from Zeagle. I would trust the Mares or Zeagle in cold water moreso than the Atomic (i'm not a fan of piston regs in cold water). Ultimately, I doubt you will be dissapointed with any of the three.

 

[a22shady]

I can't state on those you Listed. I dive a ScubaPro MK17/G250v and an Atomic M1 set. And couldn't be happie. I have tried several differnt types of reg's. for me these are the winners. they feel great extremly reliable. MK17 (I dive cold waters) So the sealed diaghram is great for freezing and keeping contaminents out. The atomics can also be sealed. Both are great breathers

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Any of those regs are good quality, solid regs. They all have good performance. The Zeagles are very easy to work on as well, and parts are openly available from Zeagle. I would trust the Mares or Zeagle in cold water moreso than the Atomic (i'm not a fan of piston regs in cold water). Ultimately, I doubt you will be dissapointed with any of the three.

1+

I can compare the Flathead VI (functionally identical to FH-7 I believe) and the Mares MR-22 Abyss since I own and service both models.

1.) Simplicity: The Mares has the edge with slightly less parts to change at service time. But in my opinion, the Zeagle is actually slightly easier to service and tune. The Mares 2nd stage is easy to tune, but you do need to make the slight effort to get it set right; some techs don't go the extra mile and you get "average" performance instead of the "outstanding" performance the 2nd is capable of. The Zeagle 2nd is a "no-brainer" to tune well.

2.) Design: Both 1st stages are balanced diaphragms, the FH-7 is "environmentally sealed" (the spring chamber stays dray). The 2nd stage on the Zeagle is a balanced, adjustable barrel-poppet design, composite construction with metal air barrel; the Mares is a "classic downstream", no external adjustments, all metal. The two companies use a different desing philosophy to acheive the same end result: Great breathing performance. Quality of construction and materials is comparable (excellent) in both regs.

3.) Performance: Differences here are 100% subjective. I dive both regulators, but prefer the Mares Abyss (when tuned properly!!). Breathing "feels" better, not any "easier", just more natural. Again, this is totally subjective, not something that can be measured, and another diver could easily feel the exact opposite.

I would buy either the Mares or Zeagle in a heartbeat, and have heard so many good things about the Atomic regs..... well, there is really no bad choice here!

Pick the regulator you like; you'll certainly be very pleased with any of the ones you are considering.

Best wishes.

 

[Jimmer]

One more thing to add, the Flathead and the DSV are essentially identical in terms of performance. If you want a killer reg for a killer price, get the DSV.

Jim

 

[local76sparky]

i vote for the B2. i live in the PNW and know tons of people that are diving Atomic and the B2 in particular. i have no concerns diving it. i actually got cert'd on an older Z2 and saw water temps at or below 50f.

 

[elan]

I have 4 Zeagles FHVI now, breathes great , customer service is awesome, you can get parts and do the service, I dive it in winter in 35-36F water never had any freezing problems. While you can seal Atomic as well but it will cost you a fortune to do so... but if you dive warm water it should not be a concern.

 

[SkimFisher]

The FH7 and B2 are both great regs. I've asked this same question many times and no one ever really steers me away from either reg - but the Atomic always wins by a slight margin.