Not going to bore everyone with a lot of inconsequential details. Just looking for suggestions.
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Looking to buy a new Primary regulator under $500 ... Suggestions
Not going to bore everyone with a lot of inconsequential details. Just looking for suggestions.
https://www.deep6gear.com/signature-...-2nd-only.html
about the only way you get a top quality first and second for under $500.
If you're looking for a good deal get SP regs on ebay. Who knows if d6 is still around in 5 years.
The parts kits are not something that you would need to worry about. The biggest objection I have to Scubapro is their refusal to sell parts to divers, and the requirements of special tools to service, both of which are important for cave diving. Deep6 has the lowest cost of ownership of any premium regulator out there since the first service kit is included and labor is free at Deep6 and if you take the service course they give you a free parts kit for every stage every year.Originally Posted by bent
I'd recommend the Genesis Piranha. Its a "new" reg they just released last year. It is almost an exact copy of the GS2000, with a "prettier" case . These regs retail for around $400. I have personally had its predecessor the Gs2000 below 300' in 38 degree water with 0 issues. The only real downside to them is they are currently coming from the factory set a little tight on the cracking effort side, its an easy adjustment you or your dive shop can make. Pros: user adjustable work of breathing, environmentally sealed first stage, fantastic breathing effort.
Tom, I told you many times that you can order parts and tools from Europe with no problem. D6 is not cheap especially considering they are a direct to customer brand. Also, not every cave diver wants to do the service at home.
What makes a reg 'premium'?
I like smaller companies but not for stuff that need parts regularly.
You can, but it's very expensive and gray market. D6 has a dealer network, small and strategic, but it is there. Also, since all of these companies are not idiots, they are using parts and kits that are standard in the industry. People said the same thing about the HOG regs when they came out, but they use identical parts kits to Apeks. When HOG had HP seat issues we used Apeks seats, and when Apeks has had HP seat issues we have used HOG kits inside of them. These are not crazy custom guts, the engineers that design them aren't stupid. The materials used in the soft goods by D6 are higher quality than anyone else with similar designs *including Apeks*, but the parts are still interchangeable if for whatever reason D6 goes out of business.
Scubapro makes good regs, I have quite a few, but I wouldn't want to use unsealed pistons for cave diving, too much #### can get into that chamber and score the pistons if you aren't careful and their diaphragm regs aren't anything to write home about, and they're made by TUSA so I fail to see the difference in that vs any of the other brands.
All that aside, the guy said "new" regs, which I took as brand new, not new to him and that precludes Apeks, Scubapro, Poseidon, etc.
I would (and do) buy used older model SP regulators. MK10 1st stages, G250 or balanced/adjustable 2nd stages. I don't think I've ever paid more than $50 for a MK10, maybe $75 for a G250, and the last time I bought balanced/adjustables I got 4 of them in a bucket for $100 at a dive shop that was going to toss them. Parts for these regulators are inexpensive and easily available. They are also very easy to work on.
Don't believe the nonsense about not using unsealed pistons in caves. For pete's sake, MK25s and their Halcyon equivalent have probably been used on more cave dives than any other 1st stage, and they are unsealed pistons.
Poseidon Extreme or Cyklon. Both side breathers. I have several serviced recently and all under $500.00 http://airheadscuba.com/real.html
An independent diver.
What do you think of Jetstreams?
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