Any opinions on the Scubapro MK2Plus/R295 reg? I saw it in SD mag+

[Hoyden]

Depth: in the ANSTI test this first stage does perform very bad beyond 150ft. I have tried it at 200, and I can confirm it does not give enough air at these depths. Of course it will breathe fine at 130, as some people here claim, as long as you are calm and do not have another diver sharing air from this reg.
Cold: this reg does not pass the cold water test you have in the US. After a number of deadly accidents in the "Kreidesee" in Germany this regulator is forbidden there. But of course a lot of divers (including myself) have never experienced a frozen first stage. This does not prove anything, just that most divers do not over-breathe their regulators all that often.

If you want to dive an unbalanced first stage that deep, you need to tune it for that. For recreational depths, the MK2 design is pretty darn hard to beat. It is simple, reliable, easy to service, and you can be sure that parts will be available for many years to come. Machines and bench testing show differences that most divers can't discern - and probably don't mean much for recreational divers. Sure is good marketing

 

[fairybasslet]

What about the R190 second?

 

[redacted]

That was my first rig and I still use it on my pony bottle. Simple, reliable and adequate performance in most situations. I replaced mine with a higher performace rig when I found myself overbreathing it when working against a fairly strong current. Avoid hard work UW and there should be no problem. BTW, the high performance rig is just a bit better in hard work situations. Key is to avoid or manage such situations.

This is the workhorse rental reg at SP shops. Why not rent first to make sure it will be satisfactory. There are also plentiful opportunities to but these regs used from various sources including a SP LDSs that is turning over their training/rental stock. Probably no SP warrenty but you might be able to work something out with the shop. Service kits for the Mk2/R190 should retail for about $15 total (wholesale under $10) for the 2 kits so the warrenty may take a long time to pay off. If your son stays with diving, he will probably move up when he can afford it anyway.

 

[halocline]

Cold: this reg does not pass the cold water test you have in the US. After a number of deadly accidents in the "Kreidesee" in Germany this regulator is forbidden there. But of course a lot of divers (including myself) have never experienced a frozen first stage. This does not prove anything, just that most divers do not over-breathe their regulators all that often.

I still don't know exactly what tests you're talking about, and I have read several times that the MK2 is actually a top cold water performer, much less likely to freeze than higher flow regs. I'm not a cold water diver, so I'll probably never get the chance to find out first hand. Are you saying that there were deaths in Germany that were attributed to this reg's shortcomings? I find that difficult to believe, because if it were the case, I would strongly suspect large lawsuits against SP with tons of publicity.