Scubapro Mk25/S600... Or wait?

[BoltSnap]

I have 5 MK25s/S600s. It is not that I need that many but I just do not want to keep changing my hose configurations on them. I have one configured for Yoke single tanks. I have two configured for DIN for backmounted doubles. And I just bought two more to configure for either DIN or Yoke sidemount systems. Now a days I live and primarily dive in the tropics but I have used them also in 1-3 ft vis in Dubai, Colorado and Seattle and in waters as cold as high 30s. Not once have I ever had any issues with them.

I also have Sherwood SR2s, Atomic B2s & Z2s and Aqua Lung Titans. Out of this bunch I would put as much faith in only the Atomics as I do my MK25/S600s. I just bought two MK17s/G260s for stage tanks but have not dived them yet.

So to J_Gig89 I say you are making a great investment in your regulators...If you can afford a great tool than buy a great tool.

I have the same opinion as you do with a lot more experience with SP, Atomic, Mares, AL, Sherwood, etc. regulators and nothing compares to Atomic and SP in performance, dependability and reliability. My experience and opinion are not only shaped by my own experience with regulators but is also based on using these regulators for our dive school's equipment fleet in addition to other testing and research with other agencies. My experience spans diving in the Northeast US (Maine to NJ), many parts of the world including Libya on the southern coast of the Med.

 

[tbone1004]

yet nothing about Apeks and Poseidon.... both of which are used by cold water navies globally... but if it isn't good enough for them, but is good enough for you guys, well they must be wrong, but what do they know?

 

[kelemvor]

yet nothing about Apeks and Poseidon.... both of which are used by cold water navies globally... but if it isn't good enough for them, but is good enough for you guys, well they must be wrong, but what do they know?

My understanding is that posiedon is the bees knees for performance. They're expensive and sometimes(?) require proprietary hoses. I thought I remembered hearing that they were upstream regs, which was presented in a very negative light in the NAUI OW books. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

That said, I don't dive cold and I've been eyeing a few really old posiedon sets at my LDS. They come with a fresh service. I'm pretty sure Moses used one of the sets in the Red Sea.

I'm mainly looking at the posiedons (and a few others) due to the problems with Scubapro not honoring their parts for life program. I know it won't matter to scubapro, but at least I won't have to get pissed off every time I get my regs serviced.

 

[tbone1004]

they have an upstream servo valve, but due to the integrated OPV they don't lock up with high IP since the opv will regulate it back to a normal level so you can still breathe.

There are hose adapters for the Xstream/Jetstream which share the same internal design of second stage and the same hoses, they are cheap from DGX or you can get the integrated omniswivel adapter/opv/ball swivel which while expensive do a 3-in-1 adapter function which is nice. Omni also makes a straight and elbow adapter for the Cyklons to use regular hoses and those are a standard downstream design

 

[Shotmaster]

Here is a good read on regulators tested by NEDU between 29F to 38F and the results.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a549745.pdf

 

[CptTightPants21]

My understanding is that posiedon is the bees knees for performance. They're expensive and sometimes(?) require proprietary hoses. I thought I remembered hearing that they were upstream regs, which was presented in a very negative light in the NAUI OW books. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

That said, I don't dive cold and I've been eyeing a few really old posiedon sets at my LDS. They come with a fresh service. I'm pretty sure Moses used one of the sets in the Red Sea.

I'm mainly looking at the posiedons (and a few others) due to the problems with Scubapro not honoring their parts for life program. I know it won't matter to scubapro, but at least I won't have to get pissed off every time I get my regs serviced.

You are not alone with the parts for life ********. Lots of people are unhappy. Talking to some shop owners, Scubapro really shot themselves in the foot with Subgear and the parts for life issues.

 

[Oldbear]

You are not alone with the parts for life ********. Lots of people are unhappy. Talking to some shop owners, Scubapro really shot themselves in the foot with Subgear and the parts for life issues.

There was probably either a Lawyer or an Accountant , or even worse a Lawyer with an MBA in Accounting involved somewhere at Scuba Pro.

I like their gear but this was not one of their shining moments in Customer Service.

 

[Shotmaster]

Dumb ideas like parts for life don't have a long shelf life, when half or more of the parts you make cost you money instead of make you money. There is no such thing as free. Scubapro only gets half the money you pay, the other half goes to the dealer. This is just how retail works, the manufacturer has to make money on the volume and the retailer makes it on individual sales. I don't know the dynamic of how the parts for life worked. Maybe the dealers had to eat part of the cost of parts. Maybe someone can tell us. I traveled a lot in the military and several times I was told that the I had to buy parts since I didn't buy from that particular LDS. I kept my original MK5 for 30 years. I had it serviced about every 2-3 years, I never had any problems with it. It probably cost them more in parts than I paid for it. Of course I fell outside their business model which expected me to sell it within a few years and buy a newer one, ending the their expense on the old one, and making money on the sale. Things change, and one of them was improvement in competitor products quality and performance narrowing the gap and taking market share. I'm sure this put pressure to cut costs.

 

[bmbeaty]

They still do parts for life, they just made the requirements a lot stricter to get it and to keep it. You have to follow their maintenance schedule and provide proof of purchase and service.