Yet Another Reg Poll!

[rpodos]

Jarrett, I just gotta give another shout for the X650 second stage... if they have it, try it. Although it's not as popular as the round regs, I know that the Scubapro R&D guys think of it as the top of their line.

BTW, no matter which second stage you get, also buy a SEACURE moldable mouthpiece. They rock.

 

[Jarrett]

I kinda shy away from the larger second stages. Not sure why, but just like the smaller ones. The 550 and 650 are bigger aren't they? I was wondering about that molded mouthpiece too. Thanks.

 

[rpodos]

Errr... the X650 is just, different. Yeah, I think it's physically a touch bigger than the traditional round regs, but it sits and vents very differently, so they are not really comparable. A few times when I;ve had gear problems and used rental stuff, I can tell you that even *much* smaller round regs feel like they drag much more than my own reg.

And no, I do not work for Scubapro.

[Dang, I like it so much I'm gonna be an evangalist, and put that in my sig!]

As to the SEACURE mouthpiece, trust me, once you've used it you ain't gonna go back.

And no, I don;t work for SEACURE either.

:lol:

 

[Jarrett]

Anyway, I told Joe I was was coming in to buy gear on Saturday and he said he would line up three tanks and let me compare the:

Zeagle ZX Flathead VI
Scuba Pro MK25/S600
Oceanic Delta 3 TDX5 Titanium (I think)

And based on that I will decide which to go with.

Man, I took a left turn on this one. I went in to ScubaToys (which friggin' rocks by the way) already decided on the ScubaPro out of this list. My daughter and I pulled on them all and liked the SP best out of the water. Liked the Zeagle the least. The Oceanic seemed nice to, but I was already set on the SP. So we go to get two of them and they only have one. So we try the MK25AF/X650 (I think) and it ranked 3rd or 4th next to the Zeagle on the highly technical "two total newbies standing in a store breathing on regs" test.

So based on that, we choose the SP for me and my daughter liked the Oceanic Delta 3/TDX5 equally, so she got that one. So skip for a couple of hours and we are in the pool. We go down to 11 feet and I am pulling on my SP Mk25/S600 reg and my daughter on the titanium Oceanic. I start noticing the SP is not giving me air like I assumed it would when I was reading how it won all the ease of breathing shootouts. So I play with the knobs a bit, and get an increase, but never really feel just great about it.

So while we are down there, I motion my daughter over to swap regs with me. We do and the Oceanic feels great. Giving tons of air. Actually turned it down a bit to get it where I liked it. Here's this reg that scored on the bottom of the "Mother of All Reg Shootouts" on ScubaDiving.com making me like it more than the much sought after ScubaPro Mk25/S600 which sat squarely at the top of that review.

The difference was so much to me that I asked the guys at ScubaToys (who friggin' rock by the way) if I could swap my SP reg for another Oceanic Delta3/TDX5. They did, and I happy with it. Larry dropped a great line on me after that, that really sunk in. Something like, "2 minutes in the pool is better than 300 hours on the Internet" when choosing a reg.

Now I was all feeling fine and dandy about my weird purchase until I got back on the Internet tonight and started reading the dangers of Nitrox and Titanium. I don't plan on ever using a mix of 40% or higher, but do I need to be concerned about doing lower, recreational mixes?

 

[murphdivers286]

I love my Atomic B2. It breaths the same on the surface as it does at 110'. It breaths dry and all positions and there is no change in the breathing at different positions. But it all comes to personal preference. Someone else may give you reasons why their reg is best. From the list you have, I don't think you will go wrong with almost anyone one of those. The Atomic is just my personal choice. I will never own any other reg. JMOT

 

[Quarrior]

Jarrett,

Glad you are happy with the regs you purchased. Now go wear them out diving.

 

[Moodiejeff]

So while we are down there, I motion my daughter over to swap regs with me. We do and the Oceanic feels great. Giving tons of air. Actually turned it down a bit to get it where I liked it. Here's this reg that scored on the bottom of the "Mother of All Reg Shootouts" on ScubaDiving.com making me like it more than the much sought after ScubaPro Mk25/S600 which sat squarely at the top of that review.

The difference was so much to me that I asked the guys at ScubaToys (who friggin' rock by the way) if I could swap my SP reg for another Oceanic Delta3/TDX5. They did, and I happy with it. Larry dropped a great line on me after that, that really sunk in. Something like, "2 minutes in the pool is better than 300 hours on the Internet" when choosing a reg.

Called Larry to ask him some questions about regs and he told me your story... ended up buying the Oceanic Delta 4.

Oh, and you're right... Scubatoys does friggin' rock!

Thanks for getting in the pool and doing my research too!

 

[Vie]

Here's this reg that scored on the bottom of the "Mother of All Reg Shootouts" on ScubaDiving.com making me like it more than the much sought after ScubaPro Mk25/S600 which sat squarely at the top of that review.

FWIW, Oceanic Delta 3s (paired with three different first stages but not the TDX5) shared top honours with two regs from Apeks in the ScubaLab review “New Regulators” (Scuba Diving magazine, April 2001).

The Oceanic Delta 3/TDX5 was not included in the ScubaLab “The Mother of All Reg Reviews” (Scuba Diving magazine, October 2002 or http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/regulators/the_mother_of_all_reg_reviews/). The Scubapro MK25/S600 was not included either, although the MK25T/S600T did make “the top of that review”—whatever that means...

 

[scubatoys]

Larry dropped a great line on me after that, that really sunk in. Something like, "2 minutes in the pool is better than 300 hours on the Internet" when choosing a reg.

Now I was all feeling fine and dandy about my weird purchase until I got back on the Internet tonight and started reading the dangers of Nitrox and Titanium. I don't plan on ever using a mix of 40% or higher, but do I need to be concerned about doing lower, recreational mixes?

Hey Jarrett, First thanks for all the kind words. It was a real pleasure having you and your daughter in the shop, and I'm glad you're pleased with everything you got...

As far as the titanium / nitrox thing. Those regs say 40% nitrox right on the box. Of course, we probably didn't give you the box - just your paperwork, and put the regs in the reg bags... but no problem... if you had the box - you'd see it says they are nitrox ready to 40% O2...

And to paraphrase myself... a few hours in my Nitrox Class Wednesday will give you more info than 300 hour surfing the net.

 

[Jarrett]

The Oceanic Delta 3/TDX5 was not included in the ScubaLab “The Mother of All Reg Reviews” (Scuba Diving magazine, October 2002 or http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/regulators/the_mother_of_all_reg_reviews/). The Scubapro MK25/S600 was not included either, although the MK25T/S600T did make “the top of that review”—whatever that means...

Ah, you are right I got mixed up looking at those things. Here's the review I was reading when I saw the low scores on the Oceanic: http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/regulators/best_new_regs/8/ Again, not that it means anything because I liked the Oceanic more in the water. Although, I may drop down to 80 feet and wish I had the ScubaPro, hehe