Reg price and choice

[Valhalla02]

So I already have a Scubapro Mk17 evo din/ S600/ R195 setup with "PADI" style hose lengths that I bought right after my OW cert. Lately after AOW and diving with a lot of more technical minded locals, I have been getting into the idea of the DIR/ GUE setup. I just got a BP/W from DSS and love it but didn't like hoses all over the place with my current Reg setup.

I know I could just cheaply change hoses but since I only have one more year here was thinking of buying a second Reg setup. 1, it would give me spares and 2, a lot of my fellow military members are either civilian or military dive qualified so it would give me the ability to loan them gear to dive.

My LDS here in Germany quoted me the price of $520 for the exact same setup but with 7'/ 22" hoses. Does this seem like a good deal at this price point? I have found some things in Europe are quite a bit cheaper than in the States when you don't have to pay the 19% VAT tax

I am looking also at the dive rite express medium SPG in bar with a 24" hose. Does anyone have a suggestion for a better setup? Thanks in advance for your time and responses.

 

[runsongas]

see if you can get the g250v/g260 second stage

you can probably find some taiwanese regs for cheaper or some gently used, but that isn't a terrible price for scubapro

 

[tbone1004]

If buying scubapro, which I wouldn't because I don't like any of their first stages, I would choose MK25 first for the hose routing advantage over the MK17, and matching G260 or G250v second stages. S600 is perfectly fine and the R195 is based on the G250 series, but that's just what I would choose. That's a very good price for Scubapro fwiw

 

[halocline]

The R195 is not "based on the G250 series" they are completely different types of 2nd stages. The R195 is fine as an alternate 2nd stage. If you are using single tanks and diving in OW, I would get a 5ft hose, not a 7ft. There's no reason at all to use the 7ft hose in OW; the additional length is specifically for air sharing single file in restrictions. 5ft routs the same as the 7ft hose except it goes across your chest instead of looping down underneath a canister light.

Hose routing the MK17 is no problem, especially with single tanks. The end port of the MK25 is nice for double tanks back mount, but no real advantage with a single tank.

So I would recommend that you just get a 5ft and 22" hose for your regulator, and the SPG you mentioned with a 24" hose. $500 for a MK17/S600 seems like a good price, but unless you are moving to doubles you don't need an extra regulator. I will admit that I own probably 15 regulators (I lost count) but I rarely have spent more than $30-40 per stage. The point is, you can find a MK25 or MK17 set for quite a bit less than $500 if you're patient and don't mind buying used.

If you are moving to doubles at this time, then completing your reg set for doubles makes sense, but that would just be an additional 1st stage, or maybe a 1st/2nd combo like the MK17/S600. Then you'd have a pair of MK17/S600 for doubles, and you could save your R195 (that you already own) as an alternate 2nd stage on a set for single tank. It's convenient to have a set for doubles, two 1st stages each with a 2nd stage, and a set for single tank, one 1st with two 2nd stages, the LP inflator, and the SPG.