No one was trying to push to sell me anything. My shop is a authorized Zeagle and Atomic dealer. They could care less in terms of money, I have spent enough money there to where the difference between the F8 and a B2 is pittance. They are virtually the same price. They are virtually the same reg besides mechanics too as Zeagle is now using Atomic's seat saving design.
I live in Naples, people around here have more money than they know what to do with, my shop doesn't care about my 1 regulator sale.
I was merely pointing out the differences between a piston reg and a diaphragm reg. The difference is clear, a piston reg can pump out more air than a diaphragm. This is why ScubaPro holds the record with a piston reg, because they can pump out absurd amounts of air, because unlike a diaphragm reg a piston reg can open all the way up.
Now there is debate on whether or not someone can actually over breathe a diaphragm reg, so far many posters have claimed that its impossible to do, but so far I have seen nothing but speculation. One person posted the ScubaPro record of 134 divers but I am not sure how that helps the argument, because we are talking about over breathing a diaphragm reg. The record was set with a piston reg.
Another poster said to turn my tank on at sea level? I am not sure how that helps the argument either because things would be totally different at 120 ft.
Then there is the post about diving a piston reg in cold water, and no I haven't done it, but many of my diving friends have and say they work fine as long as they are packed. One of Sherwood's cold water regs is a piston as well and uses pressurization to keep elements out of the first stage. So not sure if your implying a piston reg cannot be used for cold water diving but it goes against everything I have been told, by some divers I really respect and have hundreds of hours under water.
My original post that got this firestorm going had nothing to do with me advising the op to get a piston reg, I was simply sharing what I learned on my journey in deciding between a piston reg and a diaphragm reg, and that I do mostly warm water diving so its piston reg for me and if I really want to cold water dive I will get my B2 packed. Maybe the op will always be cold water diving and a diaphragm reg suits him better.
But at the end of the day lots of people are claiming there is no difference between a diaphragm reg and a piston reg as far as performance goes, but that is simply not true. A piston reg can deliver a lot more air. Period.
It would be like you telling me I have a choice between 2 cars, one of them goes 100 mph and the other goes 200 mph. You insist I only need the car that goes 100 miles per hour because due to road conditions I can't go over 100 mph anyway. But your speculating you don't know that for sure.
For me I don't really see the benefit of a diaphragm reg unless your always diving cold water, or you plan on having 2 regs, a diaphragm for cold and a piston for warm.