What regulator to use?

I'm new to diving and I'm looking for a regulator that would be good for both fresh water and NE Atlantic diving. I've looked at the Atomic M1, but wonder what other regulators would be good to use. As well as what the thought is on a primary and secondary regulator, if it makes a difference to use different manufacturers?

http://www.scubadiving.com/diving/regulators/

Probably a good place to start reading.

Oh and here is a buyers guid to your first set of gear.

http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/buoyancy_compensators/your_first_set_of_gear:_a_buyer's_guide/



Welcome to Scubaboard.

hammer5:

I'm new to diving and I'm looking for a regulator that would be good for both fresh water and NE Atlantic diving. I've looked at the Atomic M1, but wonder what other regulators would be good to use. As well as what the thought is on a primary and secondary regulator, if it makes a difference to use different manufacturers?

Click to expand...

While it is possable in some cases to mix manufacturers I would not do this. One problem is practical: Who will service the system. It will need service at least once a year and you will need a tech that is certified in both brands of gear. The other reason is technical: the intermediat pressures have to match up.

Which is a good brand? Scubapro, aqualung, atomic, and so on.... they all work well. You will find that everyone will recommend whatever brand of reg they own. This says that people are hapy with anyhting they buy

I personally own Oceanic, Dive Rite and ScubaPro regs. I also have Aqualungs available to me. I prefer the ScubaPro regs. I have mk25/s600 on my doubles and Mk17/s555 for a single tank rig. The S555 is the same as the S600 without the user inhalation effort adjustment.

I think the salvo reg is a top performer at a budget price.

Brent

All,

Thanks for the all the sound advice, I'll keep doing my homework on which reg to get.

I have to echo Dave on the Scubapro regs...I love my MK25/S600. But you asked about how to choose a reg, not "hey everybody what kind of reg do you have or what's your favorite?"

I would say that brand definitely matters...to an extent. Get a brand you can get serviced easily at your local dive shop and suits your style of diving. Most of your top end regs will be ok in the fresh and NE Atlantic that you mention. Some are specifically designed for colder water. Most brands have low, mid and high end models. Many mainstream brand's low and mid performers are better than other brands top performers--so do your homework.

I would recommend keeping with the same brand for 1st and 2nd stages. Usually you buy them as a matched set...

Buy the best reg set you can afford. If you can't afford a mid or top-end reg, rent until you can afford it. Don't spend $200 on a cheap set and later wish you had spent $600 on a top end set. Would you rather spend $600 on a great reg or $800 on a great reg and an "ok" reg? It's also very hard to sell a cheaper reg second hand if you do want to upgrade later.

People will disagree with me and say..."there are a lot of great regs out there for $250" and there probably are... I'm just sharing my personal experience and the trial and error mistake I made. At 30 feet you won't tell much difference. At 100+ feet, I can tell a huge difference in my $600 Scubapro and my $200 set.

I used Scubapro MK25/S600. MK17/S555, Apeks Atx200, Oceanic Omega2 good reliable performance regs

I own Apeks, Scubapro, and Aqualung. Good experiences with all. Won't heistate to recommend their regs. Many times, it also comes down to your budget as well.

In regards to mixing second stages for your setup, it would be ok but you will need to have the IP adjusted accordingly as suggest in earlier posts. Different manufacturers have different settings.

Another reason why this message board comes with such great recommendations. All your advice is very helpful in my decision making process. Thanks to all.

I figure i will spend x > $800.00 for both my primary with 1st stage and octo. I'm leaning towards the ATOMIC M-1, but have been reading very good things about the other brands and will continue to do my home work. I don't think I'll be doing any diving in water that would require an enviromentally sealed 1st stage, but who knows. I do plan to migrate towards tech diving once i get enough experience.