About to buy an SPG, some questions

I'm looking to buy an SPG as backup to my AirZ Nitrox. I have a few questions that you can help me with. Since i'm planning to go back to Europe in the next couple of years, i decided to get the SPG in BAR rather than PSI. I'm looking at either of these two: 1) a Halcyon on ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...7905&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT or 2) the Dive Rite from http://www.diveriteexpress.com/regs/spgsonly.shtml

Has anyone dealt with the ebay vendor from that auction? Unless there's any real reason to go with the Halcyon i feel i should just go with Dive Rite Express just to get the warranty and play it safe. My understanding from reading previous threads is that brass and glass SPGs made in Italy are virtually identical. Should i just get the DR and be done with it?

Another q is: how long of a hose should i use? My rig is the DSS BP/W used single-tank and my regulator is the Apeks XTX 200 (don't know if it makes any difference, mentioning it just in case). DR Express recommends a length of 26"; is that generally the appropriate length used? I don't know if size makes a difference but i'm relatively short (~5'7").

Thanks for any advice.

Unless you're tied to the brand recognition of the "H", I would say go for the Naked 2" Brass SPG from diveriteexpress. Good price, awesome manuf, and a good spg.

You probably need a shorter hose than 26". Best idea: put on your rig, and measure which length works best with your body size. Good chance it's 22", but it may be 24", (it's hard to measure over the internet) depending if your torso is long for your height.

Mike

Our own Joel Silverstein has a good deal on SPGs right now (http://www.techdivinglimited.com/), although, when I called they were out of stock on the imperial ones for a couple of weeks.

I'm 6' tall and use a 24", and it just long enough. YMMV

I have delt with tmmcon from Ebay. Just bought a reg set-up and spg from him. He's honest and a quick shipper at a fair price. He usually has quite a few items for sale. It's the first time I have seen him offer an "h" spg though. He usually has some for about $63.00. You might send him a question and ask if he has any available.

onfloat:

I have delt with tmmcon from Ebay. Just bought a reg set-up and spg from him. He's honest and a quick shipper at a fair price. He usually has quite a few items for sale. It's the first time I have seen him offer an "h" spg though. He usually has some for about $63.00. You might send him a question and ask if he has any available.

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Not to hijack the thread, but I just bought an Apeks ATX50 2nd stage from tmmcon today. I was a bit nervous about buying a reg off of ebay so I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear the positive feedback.

On another note, I bought the 2.5" SPG from Joel at TDL a few weeks ago, and while I haven't got it wet yet, it looks to be a quality piece of gear. Just as nice as anything with an "H" on it without the "H"efty price tag.

LG Diver:

Not to hijack the thread, but I just bought an Apeks ATX50 2nd stage from tmmcon today. I was a bit nervous about buying a reg off of ebay so I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear the positive feedback.

On another note, I bought the 2.5" SPG from Joel at TDL a few weeks ago, and while I haven't got it wet yet, it looks to be a quality piece of gear. Just as nice as anything with an "H" on it without the "H"efty price tag.

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The TDL ones are nice -- I have the large one on my deco bottle. Almost wish I had got 2 when they were on sale!

I've gotten a couple of SPG's plus a couple of other items from Tim. He is fair, ships right away and is a straight shooter.

Hey Greek with a Phd (or soon),

I bought the 2 1/2" SPG from TDL last month. At $80 shipped with the 24" hose, their price and quality was unbeatable. Its very luminous and made in Italy. Give a call to Randy at TDL, he'll help you out with hose length etc. There has been a lot of posts on SPG hose length on this forum lately, so you are lucky.

I checked extensively before purchasing, including ebay, Diverite. I think all SPG's made in Italy are made by the same manufacturer - I may be wrong though.

The hose length is up to the individual preference but also depends if you use doubles. I think 24" clipped to the left hip D ring will work.

I'm 5' 6" and have the DSS rig too. Your thread on the BP/W was extremely intelligent. I was looking forward to replies to your thread on Regs, unfortunately, few replies came in. I was also looking at the same reg choices - I have the SP MK17/X650 on order.

Cheers man!

Thanks for all the info guys, lots of good suggestions for hose length and feedback on the various options; i'll call TDL as well but it looks that they don't stock them in BAR.

Hey ducst4, are you stalking me? Yeah, the thread on the BP/W was very informative and i ended up with the DSS, right now i'm thinking of switching it from the pro-fit harness to a regular hog setup. The reg thread wasn't as successful, but i got an excellent deal from Phil at Divesports on my Apeks XTX 200 so i couldn't be happier. Oh, and that PhD should be arriving within the next year, fingers crossed!

As always, i'm learning so much here and even though i don't post much (most of the time i find i have nothing to say) i read all the time and feel that it has helped me immensely under the water where it counts.