Which regulator to buy

[Colliam7]

Thinking back, the hoses that were on my second stage were almost always too long: I have a loop of rigid hose that curls out to the right of my face.

Even an extra inch, or lack of an extra inch, can make a difference, in some cases, in how the reg 'feels' in your mouth. For example, on my left sidemount bottle, I can tell the difference between a 33" and a 34" hose. The 33" just doesn't feel right, even with a swivel.

I'll remember to get a braided and custom length hose for my second stage.

I (personally) think the length is more critical than the hose material, but that is just me. I don't dive braided hoses (I am cheap, and have no problem with the hard rubber ones), so I guess I am biased.

And I will also stay away from a swivel. I prefer to have fewer moving parts and a low failure chance.

Very reasonable. A few years back there were some 'failure' problems with the 360 degree swivels. But, Omni (the only brand I would by, anyway) addressed that issue and I am not aware of any failures - with the Omni-brand swivels) sincve that time. Nonetheless, I wouldn't add a swivel if I didn't need one.

 

[Texasguy]

I have Atomic Z2, bought fully confident that these are the best. Then I tried HOG regulators, they breath much better. Now I am selling my Z2 and SS1. Plus with HOG (in addition) you can service these regulators yourself, no special tools to disassemble.

For swivel I use XS branded swivel on Miflex hose. No leaks.

Still keeping my Atomic first stage, though.

Swivel: http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.a...Relevance&DescSort=0&Page=3&Term=swivel&Hit=1

 

[JonOh]

With all the choices out there, I wish stores would have all there regulators in a tank of water where people can jump in and try them out. Is that fantasy or is there actually a place for me to do that? I'm going to FL next month and will be planning to visit Diver's Direct.

 

[Texasguy]

With all the choices out there, I wish stores would have all there regulators in a tank of water where people can jump in and try them out. Is that fantasy or is there actually a place for me to do that? I'm going to FL next month and will be planning to visit Diver's Direct.

Some regs breath differently at a deeper depth, usually cheaper ones. Others can allow some water when you invert upside down.

 

[261311]

I personally prefer Aqualung Titan regs, but again, user preference. I think it must weigh (unofficially) half of what any other regulator I've tried does thus far, feels incredibly comfortable to use as well. You can try a website like leisurepro or scuba.com, go to their regulator sections and select highest customer reviews. Read the positives/ negatives to each one. Picking a regulator is such a personal matter that it comes down to comfort once you know what features you want. It's like shopping like a digital camera these days, if they all don't have the same basic function, no one buys it. Atomic regulators always rank high in quality, they were something that I was looking at as well.

The venturi knobs (for adjustable ease of breathing) may make a difference depending on the climate you're diving in. If you don't have a cold water reg but you're diving in cooler waters, turning the knob down so that you have to draw a stronger breath may protect against annoying freeflows from the second stage if it's not a "huge" temperature issue. If it's too cold however, no amount of diver adjustables will improve this, only cold water solutions. The knob on mine does make a difference, but it's not "huge". With other regs without these you need your LDS to change this for you if you don't have the tools yourself at home. Can be annoying in a pinch. Again, like swivels, it's just another gimmick really but something I personally like.

I find it clever that the dive shop you're doing your training with only has swivels for rental, I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but clever if that is indeed to get people spending more. If not and it's genuinely about comfort, well- kudos for the thought of the customer; may not be entirely beneficial though because at least when you first try scuba/ learn you understand that it is an incredibly different feeling having all the gear on, the less entertaining bells and whistles to know what the minimum gear you need, the easier to learn what a standard rig looks like imo. Oh well, torn!

 

[JonOh]

I personally prefer Aqualung Titan regs, but again, user preference. I think it must weigh (unofficially) half of what any other regulator I've tried does thus far, feels incredibly comfortable to use as well. You can try a website like leisurepro or scuba.com, go to their regulator sections and select highest customer reviews. Read the positives/ negatives to each one. Picking a regulator is such a personal matter that it comes down to comfort once you know what features you want. It's like shopping like a digital camera these days, if they all don't have the same basic function, no one buys it. Atomic regulators always rank high in quality, they were something that I was looking at as well.

The venturi knobs (for adjustable ease of breathing) may make a difference depending on the climate you're diving in. If you don't have a cold water reg but you're diving in cooler waters, turning the knob down so that you have to draw a stronger breath may protect against annoying freeflows from the second stage if it's not a "huge" temperature issue. If it's too cold however, no amount of diver adjustables will improve this, only cold water solutions. The knob on mine does make a difference, but it's not "huge". With other regs without these you need your LDS to change this for you if you don't have the tools yourself at home. Can be annoying in a pinch. Again, like swivels, it's just another gimmick really but something I personally like.

I find it clever that the dive shop you're doing your training with only has swivels for rental, I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but clever if that is indeed to get people spending more. If not and it's genuinely about comfort, well- kudos for the thought of the customer; may not be entirely beneficial though because at least when you first try scuba/ learn you understand that it is an incredibly different feeling having all the gear on, the less entertaining bells and whistles to know what the minimum gear you need, the easier to learn what a standard rig looks like imo. Oh well, torn!

I actually requested the LDS where I was diving to let me try something with a swivel on it. I don't remember what brand it was but it probably was Atomic. It did feel alot more comfortable. But other posters did make a point that my hose might have been too long and I think that was the main reason for my jaw fatigue. The hose were sticking so far out to the right and I had to fight it to keep my head straight.

 

[fnfalman]

Thanks for all the input. If I had not asked for your opinions, I would have just bought the integrated swivel ones.

I bought my first reg (Atomic B2) and it came with the swivel. Didn't really help. Then I discovered Miflex hoses and it was like nirvana.

I have not been diving enough to know what I prefer for my first stage, but I will consider the environmentally sealed ones. I prefer my first stage to stay as contaminant free as possible since I'm breathing it. And since I got called out, it will also help with cold water diving.

Environmentally sealed stages are primarily for keeping the first stage from freezing and inducing freeflow. Piston type first stages are the only ones that would need an environmental seal kit (usually it's just a fancy grease like Christolube or Tribolube that they put inside the first stage). Diaphram type first stages don't need it.

The Atomic first stages are all piston types, so if you were to dive in cold water (like low 40s-F or less), then you'd need it to be packed with the grease. Either that or go with a diaphram type first stage. Aqualung and Scubapro has some of these types as are other manufacturers - ask your LDS which is which.

I used my Atomic M1 with packed 1st stage and my Aqualung Titan LX when I was diving in Idaho a couple of years back. Neither freeflowed even though the ice melted water hit 40-F.

Check into the Miflex hoses' lengths. They run the gamut from short to extremely long. XStreme Scuba is the US importer for Miflex so most any shop can order the hoses.

So which shop do you go to in Boise? Dive Magic/Boise Water Sport or the new one in Meridian? The people that runs the new one in Meridian also used to run Boise Water Sport until the owner sold the shop to Dive Magic's Mike and his family. Then the people that ran Boise Water Sport decided to open up the Meridian shop.

---------- Post added February 27th, 2013 at 08:19 AM ----------

I find it clever that the dive shop you're doing your training with only has swivels for rental, I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but clever if that is indeed to get people spending more. If not and it's genuinely about comfort, well- kudos for the thought of the customer; may not be entirely beneficial though because at least when you first try scuba/ learn you understand that it is an incredibly different feeling having all the gear on, the less entertaining bells and whistles to know what the minimum gear you need, the easier to learn what a standard rig looks like imo. Oh well, torn!

I know another shop in SoCal that also rents out regs with the 360-degree swivels coupled to short hoses. The owner believes in that setup for convenient hose routing and such.

I personally prefer Miflex hoses over the use of swivels, but that's me.

I think that it's good for a shop to have regs and equipment rigged in standard configurations and alternative configurations. That way the diver can rent and try out to see if the differences are worth investing into.

---------- Post added February 27th, 2013 at 08:21 AM ----------

With all the choices out there, I wish stores would have all there regulators in a tank of water where people can jump in and try them out. Is that fantasy or is there actually a place for me to do that? I'm going to FL next month and will be planning to visit Diver's Direct.

Boise Water Sport has a swimming pool, and I'm sure that they don't mind letting you try out the rental regs.

 

[USdiver1]

I would restrict your first regulator purchase to one that can be serviced at both at your LDS, as well as at destinations where you are likely to dive. In my experience, for divers who travels outside the USA to the Caribbean or Mexico for their diving, I would recommend Aqualung or ScubaPro as a good first regulator due to parts availability and the fact that most shops can work on them. Get an intermediate priced regulator, and if it does not come from the factory with the swivel that you want, the LDS should be able to put one one for a reasonable price.

I would seriously consider getting the cold water / environmental kit on the chance that you wind up doing some local diving, or some northwest Pacific diving as well.

Jaw fatigue may also be due to the mouthpiece that you were using (and the tendency of some people to bite too hard upon the mouthpiece). Also as another poster mentioned, Miflex hoses are great at providing greater flexibility to the 2nd stage and reducing the pressure from a rubber hose that a diver may feel in his mouth. (I use Miflex hoses on several of my nearly two dozen regulators, they are very good.)

 

[eelnoraa]

Colliam has it right. As soon as the 2nd stage diaphram is facing up, even the best regulator will breath harder. It is just physica.

This may be a matter of physics as much as / more than the performance of the second stage. Even most very smooth, high performance second stages will breath just a little harder if you are inverted. Think about it - when you are horizontal, and your face is down, the aperture of the second stage is positioned upward, toward your mouth - which is the natural direction for air to (want to) move underwater. If you are inverted, you are essentially 'sucking' the air down into your mouth, from the second stage that is above you.

For this purpose, I will recommeand a brand that your LDS supports, and also one that you can get support on vacation spots. Since you are vacation diver, you don't get to dive a whole lot. Being able to servicing reg yourself isn't much of a benefit to you. Also, I will recommend Yoke first stage just for convinince.

I'm in Idaho and I get enough exposure to cold water to not want to get back into it. My diving will be primarily somewhere warm.

I agree with USdiver1 here. Scubapro and Aqualung are good choices for you. You may also want to consider Apeks or maybe Atomic. Beaver has great price on scubapro, it is definitely worth a look.

I would restrict your first regulator purchase to one that can be serviced at both at your LDS, as well as at destinations where you are likely to dive. In my experience, for divers who travels outside the USA to the Caribbean or Mexico for their diving, I would recommend Aqualung or ScubaPro as a good first regulator due to parts availability and the fact that most shops can work on them. Get an intermediate priced regulator, and if it does not come from the factory with the swivel that you want, the LDS should be able to put one one for a reasonable price.

---------- Post added February 27th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ----------

I have Atomic Z2, bought fully confident that these are the best. Then I tried HOG regulators, they breath much better.

With properly adjustment, you shouldn't be able to notice the differences. So rather than getting rib of Z2, you may want to get it looked at. Or I will be happy take it offer your hand, hahah!!

 

[elan]

You atomic second is likely downtuned.
Just have it tuned properly instead of selling and buying another brand.

You can service any regulator yourself

I have Atomic Z2, bought fully confident that these are the best. Then I tried HOG regulators, they breath much better. Now I am selling my Z2 and SS1. Plus with HOG (in addition) you can service these regulators yourself, no special tools to disassemble.

For swivel I use XS branded swivel on Miflex hose. No leaks.

Still keeping my Atomic first stage, though.

Swivel: http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.a...Relevance&DescSort=0&Page=3&Term=swivel&Hit=1