Welcome to ScubaBoard, an online scuba diving forum community where you can join over 205,000 divers from around the world discussing all things related to Scuba Diving. To gain full access to ScubaBoard (and make this large box go away) you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:
Participate in over 500 dive topic forums and browse from over 5,500,000 posts.
Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
Post your own photos or view from well over 100,000 user submitted images.
Gain access to our free classifieds marketplace to buy, sell and trade gear, travel and services.
Use the calendar to organize your events and enroll in other members' events.
All this and much more is available to you absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact the ScubaBoard Support Team.
For example, in the "life worth" category, a case could be made that a serviceable $300 reg and a CO tester would be better. Or a $300 reg and a Rescue class, etc.
Ahh, but you forget that the cheaper regulators do not have certain special capabilities that the more expensive titanium regulators have.
Cheap regulators have the deficiency of not being able to easily combust when subjected to high pressures and concentrations of O2. That capability must be worth something.
I certainly didn't pay 1k for my regs. But I didnt pay 50$ either.
Understood. I just pulled some numbers out of a hat that seemed reasonably realistic to me from when I was shopping for new reg + AAS. I could have said $800 or $700 or even $600
A $50 reg could be wonderful - it just depends on the reg and its condition, right?
I mean, if my Zeagle reg + AAS had been $50 (it was $275) I would still have bought it. And so far, it has been every bit as wonderful and safe as my buddy's brand-new Atomic regs (which are also fabulous, but cost quite a bit more).
Of course shiny new dive toys are fun, and there is nothing wrong with buying them and loving them
I'm sure, just as with most anything, there is a diminshing point of return on a purchase price as that price gets higher.
I certainly didn't pay 1k for my regs. But I didnt pay 50$ either.
When looking at used regulators, I generally figure $30 for a stage in reasonably good condition with a few exceptions for special models like a Scubapro Pilot. I have bought a number of 2nd stages for about $5 each and, with a little cleaning and some replacement soft parts, they are back in service. Even the $1 stages are a great source for hard to find spare parts. Of course, if you are not able to restore them yourself, the economics may be quite different. With few exceptions, they perform as well or better than the modern versions which are really little changed. My newly certified 12 Y/O granddaughter is diving a set of regs that are 25 to 30 years old (Mk5/156/109) that I set aside 7 years ago because they were in such good condition.
Many people confuse the MK 10 with the MK 5. The sure fire way to distinguish them apart is the location of the ambient ports. The MK 5’s ambient ports are located on the piston cap located in the center section of the regulator and the MK 10’s are located on the upper main body as it is in the MK9. This regulator was paired with the world famous G250 second stage and became one of the most popular first stages in history. All MK 10 regulators have two high pressure ports and five low pressure ports on its swivel.
The rig you are looking at is likely the one above. Scuba Pro is known for high initial investment followed by high service costs. For the older stuff the service costs seem to equalize IMO. I am having my MK5 first 108/109 seconds serviced as we speak. Just make sure you can source parts and service yourself or find an LDS that will be able to source parts and service. My rig is older thus harder to find parts. when I got back into diving it took me a while to find someone to service it. On the life support side, I trust my old rig more than the new oceanic so I can't wait to be diving Cayman this spring with a shiny old school chrome reg in my mouth.
If you want to consider this old school route puruse the vintage forum. although that forum is intended for the pre 80's double hose stuff, there is a lot of talk about the "modern" gear of the 80's......
BTW the BCD is likely to fail and should be priced accordingly.
As AWAP suggested $30 per stage for a servicable set seems fair(any more is too high). it is likly that it will be another $30 per stage plus parts to service it so you will be into a reg set at around $200. Although it will likely be better that a new bargain reg set. perhaps you may want to consider something newer. As you see in this thread, a lot of member like the old school stuff. and a lot don't. You have to figure out where you stand.....
Maybe he/she are just watching and reading to see where this thread goes.
As for some of the words/phrases that have been past around, well, that is a different story altogether. I am not saying you have to buy brand new to get the best or that if you don't buy brand you are going to die. What I am saying or maybe I should say what I am meaning is that a person should be careful of what they do buy. I am not saying that an older reg is a POS just that if a reg or any piece of equipment is bought 2nd hand check it out and make sure that it is still in good working order or can be brought back to good working order.
As for life support. Yes reg's are life support because they deliver air to you to breathe under water. Without that air you would not be able to stay alive. It doesn't matter whether it is your air or your buddies you still need that air when you are deep enough to not be able to make it back to the surface on a single breath. Does that mean freak, panic or swim away screaming like a freaking idiot??? No!!! It does not. Like the status line of one of the members here says, "stop, think, act" or something to that effect. I am not saying that your reg having a catastrophic failure is going to kill you nor did anyone else IIRC. All anyone is saying is be mindful of what you buy. How many of us have bought something brand new (anything other than dive equipment) and had it fail right out of the box? It happens and you deal with it and move on. Oh, one other thing for the record. No one at my LDS has ever said that I have to buy brand new to keep from dying while diving. They want me to buy brand new from them because they want my business. Hell, who doesn't want any of our business these days right?
So, that being said, back to the original question at hand. Is it okay to buy used gear. Sure it is, if it is a piece of equipment that hasn't been abused so badly that is still in good working condition. Or for a spare parts unit.
P.S.: Blue Sparkle...you're right about the casket thing. That is pure horse manure!!!
38Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Blue Sparkle
