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hey guys,
I have 11dives and i am really loving my diving! i am now getting some gear together and at the moment i am looking at buying a set of regs but i am REALLY confused! i have about $400 dollars to spend, i dont mind buying good second hand regs, it would help if you gave me some suggestions or even a ebay link or something like that! and in the near future i want to do some cave diving and watever else so i would like to have something that would be alright for that aswell!
IMHO purchasing used regulators needs to be done locally. I would not consider buying one through ebay. Was the regulator serviced, was it used as a rental, is it rebuild-able are all questions that need to be answered. My LDS can rebuild all my regs which is important to me. I dive used regs, however they are inspected and rebuilt on a regular basis. During my Rescue course, we looked at several regulator sets that had been purchased over the net and what caused them to be condemned as junk.
I regard this piece of equipment as vital to my diving. guess that's why they call it life support. The above reference is great for new, if you need to go used, buy smart. Find a shop that will inspect them prior to the purchase.
MD has some good advice. Also, until you become more knowledgeable about regulators, you may want to avoid the used ones unless you know their history and know that you can get them serviced. If I bought a used reg, I would have it serviced before using it which may add 50 to 100 to the purchase price. I would compare this ending price to the cost of a new reg under warranty - it may or may not be worth it.
Since you live in Australia and are interested in cave diving, check out, Cave Divers Association of Australia | Incorporated in South Australia. Also, since you are interested in cave diving, consider your equipment needs carefully. Some gear that is traditionally used for "recreational" diving may not be used for the overhead environment.
Lastly (and it probably goes without saying), get the proper training for any overhead diving.
I wouldn't worry at this point about buying a regulator you can use for cave diving. By the time you get to where you are diving in caves, you will have invested in a great deal of additional gear, and will probably either have replaced your regs or simply added to them.
For a brand new diver, buying a middle-of-the-road regulator which you can have serviced locally is a good strategy. We bought Aqualung Titans as new divers, and it was an excellent decision.
As stated, you have to figure the price of regulator service into the cost of buying used. Even when you buy from someone you know, you don't know the service history of the regulator. I bought a set of regs from someone who should have been a reliable source for a well-maintained reg, given the kind of diving he did, but when I had the reg serviced, the tech showed me that the last time it had been done, it had been assembled incorrectly. If the deal you get is good enough (and if the reg is current enough to be serviced!) it may be worth it, but you may be able to buy a mid-level new reg for not a whole lot more than the cost of used plus service.
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I wouldn't worry at this point about buying a regulator you can use for cave diving. By the time you get to where you are diving in caves, you will have invested in a great deal of additional gear, and will probably either have replaced your regs or simply added to them.
For a brand new diver, buying a middle-of-the-road regulator which you can have serviced locally is a good strategy. We bought Aqualung Titans as new divers, and it was an excellent decision.
This is good advice. Someone with 11 dives is probably not best suited for cave diving 'in the near future.' By all means, it would be a great idea to get some OW training from a technical diving organization where the standards for basic in-water skills are much higher. The equipment and skill requirements for cave diving are high enough that regulators are not your primary concern.
Buying used is a great idea, as long as you have a trusted friend, instructor, or mentor to guide you. I buy used regs all the time, but I know how to evaluate them and fix them myself. One of the most common problems in regulator ownership is service. This goes for new and used, BTW, it's just that you don't have to deal with service on a new reg for a season or two, and you do know that at the time of purchase, it has not been damaged by poor service in the past. With a qualified person helping you out, you too can evaluate and fix any problem with a used reg.
Contact Jim Lapenta. Get him to set you up with a HOG singles kit with a yoke adapter. But try to avoid the yoke adapter that comes with it from the factory
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Originally Posted by TSandM
