Trying the Scubapro road

[OFFICER737]

Hello everyone, I am new to diving and new to the board.Decided to take the plunge to get into diving and went ahead and got my gear ahead of time (not a big fan of renting things) . I did quite a bit of research on gear and such and had ot narrowed down to 3 companies: Scubapro, Atomic and some Aqualung Equipment. I had set on getting Atomic and then change my mind to Scubapro instead. The Atomic rig I was setting up was a Z3 reg, SS1 Octo, Aqualung Axiom I3 Bcd and Cobalt 2 computer. I went to LDS and looked around a bit at the Scubapro and decided to give them a try instead. So I ended up getting a Mk17/G260 reg set, Knighthawk BCD with an Air II octo and a Luna Computer with transmitter. The pricing came out pretty decently in comparison to my original choices. Decided to go ahead and pick up my wife's gear at the same time: Mk17/S600, Ladyhawk BCD w/Air II and Luna computer as well.

I know many may gripe at me for going Scubapro instead of Atomic because of the PFL and such. I'm not all that concerned about that part of as I will get my gear serviced every year anyways. SP might suggest every 2 years but for my own peace of mind I am doing it every year. I learned long ago in my profession: get the best equipment you can and take care of it because your life depends on it!

To Scubapro club, happy to be a member.
To the ones that might gripe at me for not getting their favorite brand: nanny nanny boo boo.

 

[thorshammer]

As long as you're happy with the purchase. That's all that matters.

Glad to see you supported your LDS for all your equipment.

 

[Rich Keller]

The free parts thing is just a gimmick, the parts only cost about $2-3 total. Given the premium you pay for Scubapro equipment the free parts will never make up for that difference. If you are happy paying a premium price for average equipment then by all means enjoy.

 

[victor]

Strongly recommend you certify, then try before you buy.
Nothing inherently wrong with the equipment you are looking at but it is a bit like deciding to buy a Jaguar F Type before you start learning to drive a motor bike, never mind a car, and you may need a SUV, an electric city car, or a mini van.
You don't know so many things how can you make an informed decision.

 

[Kevrumbo]

The free parts thing is just a gimmick, the parts only cost about $2-3 total. Given the premium you pay for Scubapro equipment the free parts will never make up for that difference. If you are happy paying a premium price for average equipment then by all means enjoy.

Gear and especially regulators are not just economical commodities, they are first and foremost "vitalities" --critical life support equipment that I don't go cheap on.

All my regs are bought from LDS Pacific Wilderness San Pedro/Los Angeles Calif because they are authorized dealers (ScubaPro/Apeks/Aqualung) and have the knowledge & expertise to directly service that equipment. If they have the ability to competently do yearly service on all of Los Angeles County's Fire, Sheriff & LA Port Police Police, and the USC/Wrigley Science Center Research Divers on Catalina Island -- all of their Scubapro Regs in volume, then I'm willing to pay an extra premium for that service or repair on my own gear.

Time is money, the real & most basic dynamic commodity --if you've got the knowledge, skill, ability and most of all --TIME!!!-- and your own network of supply chain manufacturers to help you confidently purchase and work on your own personal gear, then great!

 

[KATESCUBAPRO]

Dear Officer737,

Critics aside, welcome aboard the good ship SCUBAPRO! Nice choices on gear, I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy many comfortable, high performance dives.

Happy Diving!

kateSCUBAPRO

 

[Rich Keller]

Gear and especially regulators are not just economical commodities, they are first and foremost "vitalities" --critical life support equipment that I don't go cheap.

Time is money, the real & most basic dynamic commodity --if you've got the knowledge, skill, ability and most of all --TIME!!!-- and your own network of supply chain manufacturers to help you confidently purchase and work on your own personal gear, then great!

I did not say to go cheap, just do not over pay for something, in this case a scubapro reg. Why pay a premium price for an average reg? I do my own repairs as well, scubapro MK3, MK5, R108HP and R109 despite scubapros best efforts to keep me from doing so.

 

[TTPaws]

Good choices on the regs, I currently have 3 sets of the MK17/G260 and I find them to be the best breathers I have owned in 15 years of diving. Mr. Keller can have his own opinion, but I found Scubapro to be definitely above average. I have dove them in all kinds of different environments, from high currents, cold water and waters that were high in particulate matter and have yet to have a problem.

 

[Rich Keller]

Good choices on the regs, I currently have 3 sets of the MK17/G260 and I find them to be the best breathers I have owned in 15 years of diving. Mr. Keller can have his own opinion, but I found Scubapro to be definitely above average. I have dove them in all kinds of different environments, from high currents, cold water and waters that were high in particulate matter and have yet to have a problem.

I dive older model scubapro regs, the all metal second stage type, the ones I can do my own service on, I started with an R109 that was built into my General Aquadyne DMC-7 helmet. They preform every bit as well as your regs if not better and the do not cost hundreds of dollars.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I know many may gripe at me for going Scubapro instead of Atomic because of the PFL and such. I'm not all that concerned about that part of as I will get my gear serviced every year anyways. SP might suggest every 2 years but for my own peace of mind I am doing it every year. I learned long ago in my profession: get the best equipment you can and take care of it because your life depends on it!

As you'll learn in time, more frequent service is not really the route to more reliable regs.

Most SP regs are good, some are excellent (though as most know I prefer Atomic for piston regs), and all are enough reg for anything you're likely to do. I find SP service less of a great thing, but hopefully you'll be happy with their 'talk to your LDS, not us' business model.

It's unfortunate you bought a Luna instead of a computer based on modern tech, but it's more than enough computer for what you'll be doing with the rest of that gear collection.

Happy diving.