What to buy?

[devildog]

What is the best Reg. set to buy and why would you recommend it?

[ScubaToys Larry]

That's kind of like asking what's the best car to buy... A Porsche... but wait... I want to haul sheet rock. A Pickup truck... but I want to go 140 mph... a Ferrari, but I want to climb hills...

So if you give a bit more info like what kind of diving are you doing, cold, deep, recreational reefs once a year, etc, and do you have features you want?? Like adjustable, swivel, etc... Then we can give you a more informed answer.

[mitsuguy]

couldn't have come up with a better response...

at the same time, even though that ferrari is one of the best out there,
you can pick up a Z06 Vette that is arguably just as good, but 1/3 the price...

[teknitroxdiver]

I have two Zeagle Flathead VIs, and love them. They breath wonderful, seem to be quite durable, and the hose routing with them is wonderful! Also they're sealed so you can dive in whatever you want to. Just recently bought the second one for doubles, and look forward to pumping some helium through it!

Zeagle Flathead VI Regulator, Regulators, Zeagle, Zeagle Flathead VI Regulator

[Znaught]

I suggest you look at Atomic Aquatics. I dive a T1 and consider Atomic's regulators to be among the best in the world. I'm planning on buying an M1 as well. If you plan on doing allot of deep diving or decompression diving, Poseidon's regulators would be an excellent choice.

[SarahBella]

I always thougt the best reg is one you had tried and found to be acceptable as well as fitting into your budget. Everyone raves about the Zeagle gear here on the boards so that may be one to try. There are almost too many possibilities.

[CODMAN]

Good point Sarah!

Just for your info, most Reg manufacturers make good quality, dependable equipment covering a variety of price ranges. Unless you are doing something out of the ordinary (like very frequent diving, very cold water, very deep, etc...), most low end regs will be fine for recreational use. No need to buy the "Ferrari"... Now if you do have more demanding needs (for diving as I mentioned above) or you want higher performance out of your reg (like easier breathing, low weight for traveling, etc...), you'll need to start looking at the higher end regs and spending more money. Also, you might have personal preferences (in this case you will need to try lots of different models to determine which you prefer) which will push you to buying a more expensive reg.

These are all things you need to think about/ check before buying a Reg.

Oh yeah, one more thing! Buy a Reg you can easily get serviced near you. This will save you many pains in the future when service time comes around.

Have fun shopping!

Originally Posted by SarahBella

I always thougt the best reg is one you had tried and found to be acceptable as well as fitting into your budget. Everyone raves about the Zeagle gear here on the boards so that may be one to try. There are almost too many possibilities.

[Kokomo]

We have Aqualung and a Sherwood mainly because that is what LDS carries and he does the yearly servicing. But we do like them very much.

[whse56]

One of my diving buddys asked me a question when I asked "how much I should spend on regs"? He asked " if you were into skydiving would you buy the cheap shute that opens 95% of the time, or the more expensive one that opens 99.999% of the time?".
Now I like a little excitement when I dive, but having a reg problem at 100ft is not the kind of thrill I need, I like to breath.
Don't go cheap, buy a good quality reg unit. The one I bought was a Apeks 100, and I love it, but there are several good units out there.
just my 2 cents

[skdvr]

I have a sherwood Maximus (2 of them) and love them. I also just ordered a scubamax RG 1008 first stage with a scubamax XR 2002 second stage for my pony. I already use a scubamax XR 2002 as my backup second and like the way that it breaths at depth so I figured I would give the first stage a shot...

Phil