Mark Vlahos
Contributor
I am looking at getting regulators for double tanks. I will use the regs in caves and at depths of around 150 feet on air or NITROX gasses. I am not now trained in the use of breathing gasses that contain Helium but I might be someday and I want to consider regs that will not have problems with it. I am considering all of the usual suspects like high end regulators from Apeks, Aqualung, ScubaPro, DiveRite, Zeagle, and others. Frankly, most of these major companies produce regs that are very similar in design and performance. I understand the differences between piston and diaphragm first stages, but for the most part all of the second stages pretty much work the same.
And then there is Poseidon. The Extreme series regulators are cut from a different cloth. The first stage design looks good but seems almost too simple, begging the question that if it is so simple and rugged, why is it the only one like it? If it is so good why aren't the other companies swarming to copy it?
The second stage is an upstream design, these are not popular. Poseidon seems comfortable with the upstream design they use.
I guess what I am really asking is the Poseidon regs look really good to me, but the design philosophies are so different. Is there some inherent flaw in the concept or is it so different, almost revolutionary, that the rest of the industry is stuck in a rut making pretty much the same regulator, while Poseidon is in a class by itself (and is this class superior)?
The regulators are very expensive, some of the other regs I have been looking at are close in price but others are less than half the cost (Apeks for example). Is it worth the considerable price difference? Deep inside a cave is definitely NOT the place I want a failure, but I don't want to throw my money away.
Mark Vlahos
And then there is Poseidon. The Extreme series regulators are cut from a different cloth. The first stage design looks good but seems almost too simple, begging the question that if it is so simple and rugged, why is it the only one like it? If it is so good why aren't the other companies swarming to copy it?
The second stage is an upstream design, these are not popular. Poseidon seems comfortable with the upstream design they use.
I guess what I am really asking is the Poseidon regs look really good to me, but the design philosophies are so different. Is there some inherent flaw in the concept or is it so different, almost revolutionary, that the rest of the industry is stuck in a rut making pretty much the same regulator, while Poseidon is in a class by itself (and is this class superior)?
The regulators are very expensive, some of the other regs I have been looking at are close in price but others are less than half the cost (Apeks for example). Is it worth the considerable price difference? Deep inside a cave is definitely NOT the place I want a failure, but I don't want to throw my money away.
Mark Vlahos