Equipment Preferences

[IceIce]

If you don't mind an amateur,

I use Apex reg, I found it very easy to breath compared to other reg (tried other's/rental/mine Oceanic, Mares, DiveRite reg) although it may not be a fair comparison since the rest are not in the same price range.
Apex has environmental seal which is good for muck diving and cold diving so I heard.

I use DiveRite Back Floatation and Hubby DiveRite BP, it never gave us any problem at all, comfortable and reliable.

 

[J75]

Find out what brands are serviced locally to your friends. Brand X may be their preferred brand of choice; however, if Brand X needs repair and there is no one to service it locally, and it must be sent away for a week, it may be less appealing. I see people from 3 states away sending in gear to the shop I work at, just because it's not serviced where they live.

 

[havoc_murtha]

I haven't seen a single person mention Tusa. Since almost all my gear is Tusa you guys are starting to worry me. Whats the deal?

 

[cirwin]

Someone asked about atomic on page two.

After talking with the guy at my LDS, I was trying to decide between the Atomic Z2 and the Aqualung Titan. I ended up going with the Atomic (it cost a little more) and I have been very happy with it. The reg breathes great and it seems rock solid. That said, there are other dive shops in my area (Southern California) who say that they don't sell Atomic because they are "new" and you "can't" get them serviced outside of Southern California. I think Atomic is something like 8 years old, so I don't know that I would call them "new." At any rate, my LDS is less than a mile from me and will service Atomic, so it isn't an issue for me. I also use the Atomic Frameless mask and I love it. I have heard, however, that it doesn't fit everyone's face (particularly if you have a smaller head).

My setup:

SeaQuest Latitude Jacket Style BC (I love it, although it seems like there are a lot of posters on this board that encourage a BP/W setup)
Atomic Z2 reg
Atomic Split Fins
Suunto Gekko Computer

No complaints about any of the gear.

 

[CompuDude]

Does anyone dive Atomic? They always seem to get rave reviews and do not require annual reg service to keep warranty.

They are pricey though.

Actually, yes, they do. SEMI-annual, that is. Every other year, vs. every year for most other companies. But no company has a warranty that covers a reg forever regardless of whether it was ever serviced or not.

That said, every other year is a pretty cool deal, and they make great regs. They were founded in 1995 by two former ScubaPro engineers, btw.

It's odd that so many here are bashing ScubaPro for their treatment of LDSs when AquaLung seems to be the bad boy on the block everywhere else on this board, for the same reasons.

My choices for regs would be, in order of preference, ScubaPro, Atomic, Apeks (owned by AquaLung), AquaLung. I would bring Zeagle into the list if I never planned to travel out of the country.

 

[scubabrn]

On one liveaboard we did, it seemed that everyone had Mares or Sherwood. On our last one it apeared eveyone had Seaquest. I have been told and read here on the board that just about all equipment is good.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Find out what brands are serviced locally to your friends. Brand X may be their preferred brand of choice; however, if Brand X needs repair and there is no one to service it locally, and it must be sent away for a week, it may be less appealing. I see people from 3 states away sending in gear to the shop I work at, just because it's not serviced where they live.

Have you ever wondered why it's this way? Why do you think that a shop that does reg servicing would be able to service one brand and not another?

My answer to the same probelem is to only buy regs manufactured by a company who will sell parts to any one who is willing to pay for them. That way I can have the reg I choose and servicing won't be a problem.

 

[venturediver]

I have a lot of Scubapro equipment. Their regs are very high performance and breathe great. However, if you are diving very cold water then I would stay away from Scubapro regs. They will freeze up on you. I also like Atomic, Bare, ONeil, Sea Dive, Akona, and Poseidon. All great stuff. Oceanic makes nice stuff too.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

My recommendation would be to widen your sights to include all major manufacturers. There is alot of very good gear out there. Analyze your needs (we call those requirements in IT), rank your needs (not all requirements carry the same level of importance), investigate your options, weight the pros/cons (cost, quality, ease of acquiring service, warranty, style) and then buy the piece of gear that (1) meets your needs and (2) whose pros most outweigh their cons.

 

[TheRedHead]

I don't think anyone has mentioned fit. In a BC fit is the most important consideration and is the reason I prefer a harness. I can adjust it to fit me perfectly.