Mares R2 Rebel Regulator

[kyfriedchipper]

Hi - My wife and I were Open Water certified this past January in the Cayman Islands. We are now planning another dive trip this upcoming January and am going to be buying our own dive equipment. I am interested in buying the R2 rebel package from Scubatoys.com. Being a newer diver - I am not so sure as to if I am making a wrong choice though based on price. I want a very tough/durable workhorse regulator. My wife and I are definitely tropical destination divers that are purely recreational (for now at least). Am I forgetting something that this regulator package doesn't have ?? Pros/cons, likes/dislikes? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[ScubaToys Larry]

That is a very simple non-balanced first stage... about as bullet proof as they get. The only thing non-balanced means is if you get low on air... down below 500 psi and are at depth... it will get harder to breathe... but if you are at depth with only that much air, someone should tell you to get up! So why not the reg!

Non-Balanced pistons are a very popular choice for stage bottles for tech divers since they are so dependable.

Now the reg does not have adjustments, which some people like - so if you wanted to make the next step up, I'd point you to the Tusa RS-130 package, and you will see when you check it out, there are a few threads over here from people who use that one and love it - especially for the price. rs-130

Either seems like it would serve you fine for your needs... But I'll back out now and let you get some unbiased opinions from the members - but feel free to PM if you have any other specific questions for me!

[cgvmer]

So larry, how do you compare the mares mr12rebel and the TUSA RS-130?

[ScubaToys Larry]

Personally, I'd still go with the Tusa... I like the ease of rebuilding the little balanced piston, and I like the adjustments. The Tusa is a great breathing reg at that price - I really haven't seen anything that is as good at that price point - or even if you throw another 50 bucks at it.

[FyVe]

hmm i think i'll listen to larry... i'm prolly gonna go with the tusa as well

[creggur]

Originally Posted by FyVe

hmm i think i'll listen to larry... i'm prolly gonna go with the tusa as well

Probably hard to go wrong with that decision...

[namabiru]

Mmm... I've gotta tell you. I used a Rebel R2 reg on one dive, and that was because I was taking my AOW navigation dive, and I didn't have a compass but my instructor's console did. I don't mean to be rude, but I can see why it is a cheap regulator. I had been breathing from an Aqualung Calypso, and I went to that Rebel R2, and I saw the difference immediately. The R2 was hard to breathe from. I didn't enjoy the experience at all.

It's a nice inexpensive set if you have someone who dives maybe once a year, so won't notice the difference, but... sorry to be mean... I didn't think much of the set. It's inexpensive for a reason.

Quite seriously--I'd go higher on the hog. If you buy an inexpensive reg and don't like it, then you've just cost yourself more money.

*or* perhaps you can try the reg out first, before you make your decision. Not in the pool so much, but be sure to go to a halfway deent depth. 15 meters or more. Then again, I was only at about 8, and could already tell the reg wasn't for me.

[kyfriedchipper]

This is great information - thank you all - Unfortunately I have my job I have to attend to - otherwise my wife and I would be diving all the time! We actually trained/certified w/ the Rebel and to newbies like me - I had no idea if something was hard or softer to pull on when breathing. I did take a couple of puffs of of my instructor's Poseidon - but that's a whole 'nother ballgame. Any opinions out there about any other simple non-balanced first stage reg ? Sorry to start this up - but some of my instructors said that Tusa was "cheap" - so perception is reality right now (at least for me) - was he wrong????

[Bigg_Budd]

I dive a Rebel, and I dig it. I've dove high $$ regs before, and I can't say I can relate to the "hard breathing" post above For the money, it's a steal.

[cgvmer]

Larry, one question? Can I get the TUSA with DIN? My cousin told me I could use his tanks, but they are all DIN. (if I can get DIN, is there a DIN-Yoke converter for the tusa ?