When & where did you buy your first regulator

I'm focusing on regs as they are the most service intensive gear that most divers own. Curious to see if there is change of purchase source over time. And to see just how much of and advantage the "training" LDS has.

"You can only add a poll to a thread within 5 minutes of posting the thread." I must have missed that in the instructions. At my age, there are not a lot of things I can do in 5 minutes. Moderator please kill this thread.

I got the first reg from my sister, Apeks TX100 (nice choice). And then, got two SP MK25AF/S600 and MK2 plus from the authorized dealer. Later got all tools, manuals, and parts (it was posted here before, about $700 value). It doesn't matter where I get the regulator from after figuring out how to service my reg

awap:

I'm focusing on regs as they are the most service intensive gear that most divers own.....

Click to expand...

For me, the most service intensive piece of gear has been my Lights.

After that, my drysuit.

After that, probably my masks.

I purchased my reg in 1999 (Atomic B1... from eBay) and to date is is the longest lasting piece of gear I have. Its outlasted:

2 Computers
4 Hoods
Contless gloves and booties
3 compasses
2 wetsuits
5 dry suits
4 SPG's
4 can lights and probably 4 or 5 other lights
5 or 6 sets of fins
3 dive bags
at least 5 or 6 masks
2 BC's and 2 BP/W rigs
Zillions of pencils, slates & wetnotes
Countless knives, retractors, and other accessories
etc...

In fact, the ONLY piece of gear I've had LONGER than my reg is my snorkel. I still have my original OW class Snorkel (that I doubtless paid $59.95 for.... OY!) Apart from that, my reg has been my most reliable, least service intensive piece of gear I've owned. Take it in once or twice a year and it just simply works. Week in, week out.

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Ken

I bought my first reg at a LDS. Different one than I was certified at. I felt the shop were I certified had hugely inflated prices.

I brought some ex training Tusa regs from the shop I trained at. They served me well untill I brought a Micra adjustable. Now I got a M50 and mk20 scubapro with a SS1 and use the micra on my pony bottle and my GF uses the tusas.
I have brought all my regs second hand except the SS1.

Swimaster Polaris II from Diver's Cove in NJ during the summer of 1970. I took it to 110 ft., and it worked well.

I got my first reg in year 1994 Apollo reg/oct/spg and Apollo dive advisor computer as well.

I bought mine last year a MK 25/X650..........

I bought a Scubapro Mk III High Performance in 1985 from the local dive shop. I still own it and use it on a deco bottle.

My next purchase was a very lightly used Mk 10 Balanced Adjustable bought from the same LDS. I still own and use that one as well.

That was pre-internet but virtually the same situation existed then with mail order outlets like Berry Scuba, Central Skin divers and one other dealer I cannot remember, providing cut rate price competition to local dive shops.

The pros and cons were the same then as they are now, there are just so many more internet dealers to choose from now and that in and of itself is a more of a con than a pro. At least with the big three mail order retailers in the past you got pretty reliable and known customer service and support - that is not always the case with internet retailers now.

On the other hand, local dive shops were I think much more local in nature and were more often owned and operated by divers who were in business largely to provide a means for themselves and their friends to dive locally. There were fewer cash flow streams and there was much less emphasis on pushing divining off onto today's much larger but more marginally skilled consumers and onto destination divers who only dive on one or two local trips per year - the type of customer that now represents the majority of business for many LDS's.

In my opionion, in the past there was usually a much more personal relationship between LDS owners and managers and the divers they served (and often buddied with) than there is today. The fault lies with both parties as current LDS owners often treat customers and students as revenue sources while many of the new crop of divers are only marginally interested in diving, often do not dive locally after they are certified, and often exhibit poor LDS loyalty anyway as many new divers see no harm in trying gear on or even out at the LDS and then buy it online to save a few bucks. To those divers, diving is just something they do now and then rather than a lifestyle and they do not seek the same depth or quality of relationships with people who share that lifestyle, such as LDS owners. The LDS owners in turn have no incentive to invest that level of committment in most of their customers either.

I bought my first set a couple of months ago, from Dive Sports. Aqualung Legend LX