Your favourite second stage and *why?

[buddhasummer]

My Mares Abyss. Because it has no levers and knobs to adjust anything. It just works.

And it's metal. I love its robustness and absolute simplicity. One day.

 

[buddhasummer]

I'm in love with my D400 - especially for photography.

I spent 5 minutes upside down in Indonesia trying to get the perfect shot on a pygmy seahorse and it breathed easy and dry the whole time. My HOG regs would have been waterboarding me if I tried that.

I'm in the market for new regs now that we're getting into tech so threads like this are great, thanks!

D400, nicest breathing reg I've ever owned bar none.

 

[MichaelMc]

1) Xstream. Tucking my chin to look down my body in sidemount or behind me was annoying with the cutter of two big regs between mouth and necklace. Xstream takes barely any height or depth. It breaths differently, but quite fine. Plus its very rugged and well performing (an understatement). I have forceps to adjust it, and have done so.
2) G250v. Nice breather. (over S600 and Deep6 signature)

 

[Herje8990]

I stay with significant brand regs (APEKS, Scuba Pro, Mares).

 

[Angelo Farina]

The thing I never understood about that award is that 2nd stages should basically basically function the same at 30 feet or 300 feet. They are taking pressure at X over ambient and reducing/delivering it at ambient. X doesn't change. It's the 1st stage that has to work harder at depth, because it is taking tank pressure (which does not change with depth) and reducing/delivering pressure of IP plus ambient. That, of course, does change dramatically with depth. At 300 ft, the 1st stage is flowing 8 times the amount of air as at the surface, from the same supply pressure, to keep IP steady over ambient. The 2nd stage is also flowing more air, but not in relation to what it is being fed. It's strictly a viscosity issue.

Maybe the big deal over the pilot's deep water performance has to do with the fact that 1st stages (not to mention the tank valve) simply can't keep up with that type increased demand, and as such, having a 2nd stage capable of flowing huge volumes of air with very low cracking effort can compensate for the inevitable drop in dynamic IP at great depths.

While what you say is true, you forget a fundamental point of the Pilot: thanks to its double input, it can be fed simultaneously by two independent first stages! This is shown in some vintage photos of the time, and this is the configuration recommended by Scubapro for very deep diving.
This made it possible to obtain the incredible performances testified by the US Navy award, which were obtained in this dual-first stage configuration, solving at once the airflow limitations inherent with one-tank-one-valve-one first stage.

 

[halocline]

While what you say is true, you forget a fundamental point of the Pilot: thanks to its double input, it can be fed simultaneously by two independent first stages! This is shown in some vintage photos of the time, and this is the configuration recommended by Scubapro for very deep diving.
This made it possible to obtain the incredible performances testified by the US Navy award, which were obtained in this dual-first stage configuration, solving at once the airflow limitations inherent with one-tank-one-valve-one first stage.

You're right, I had forgotten about that. I've seen photos of that arrangement, too.

 

[ElCarlos]

And it's metal. I love its robustness and absolute simplicity. One day.

Unfortunately, the Abyss is EOL (except for the Navy variant) and it's getting harder and harder to get one new. Here in Germany, the prices in the stores for new Abyss have increased by up to 50%.

If I had to buy today, I would take the Mares Fusion. This is basically the Abyss but with the added TPS system (useless to me but the market seems to want it).

 

[lowwall]

Unfortunately, the Abyss is EOL (except for the Navy variant) and it's getting harder and harder to get one new. Here in Germany, the prices in the stores for new Abyss have increased by up to 50%.

They haven't officially stocked the standard Abyss in the US since 2017. But the Navy II version is the same except for the black coating. There's also a Navy Octo which is the only one they officially sell as a standalone stage here.

Have you looked for the DR second stage from the Mares XR tech line? It's exactly the same thing as the standard Abyss except for (IMO) a better looking faceplate. For example:

Mares XR Second Stage DR - Gidive Store

Mares XR Second Stage DR

www.gidivestore.com

The standard Abyss octo is also still available in Europe for now. It's the same except for the yellow purge button and it's tuned for a slightly higher cracking pressure which you can adjust back to normal. Example: Mares Octopus ABYSS

 

[buddhasummer]

I stay with significant brand regs (APEKS, Scuba Pro, Mares).

As opposed to? and why? Cheers.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

They haven't officially stocked the standard Abyss in the US since 2017. But the Navy II version is the same except for the black coating. There's also a Navy Octo which is the only one they officially sell as a standalone stage here.

The Abyss Navy II more than just the black coating. It's a sealed extreme cold water reg.

Abyss 22 Navy II | Mares scuba diver regulator

The Abyss 22 Navy scuba diver regulator is specially designed to withstand the most extreme diving situations faced by US Navy forces around the world. The regulator comes with a special kit for diving in extremely cold water. T

www.mares.com