Any recommendations for a lower price good beginner reg?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Best bang for the buck is to get an old G250/MK20 or MK10 from ebay for around a 100 bucks or under and get it serviced. They are as good as any reg you can buy new today.

This is about as good as it gets.
There are people who have been diving for 40 years that are still actively looking for this exact gear. It was the best then and it’s still the best now.
The only thing I can add is if the OP want’s new then get a new MK2 evo/R195 and make the R195 the necklaced back up, and get a new G260 for the primary. A balanced second will give you great breathing all the way down even with an unbalanced 1st.
That will be more than $500 but it’s Scubapro and a lifetime product. Sometimes you just can’t include “cheap”, “new”, and “good” in the same sentence.

 

[The Chairman]

And then after 5 dives they're not new anymore.

Most regs have a 2 year cycle... if you start new, you'll have a good 2 years before the rubber becomes problematic. Someone decided they didn't want to use that used regulator. What was their reason? Who knows? How long since the last service? Who knows? With a new reg, you know.

 

[RobPNW]

What kind of diving are you planning to do? Local diving? Travel diving? Warm water or cold water? I'm assuming not a lot of travel since budget is a big concern. Where are you located?

 

[berndo]

Most regs have a 2 year cycle... if you start new, you'll have a good 2 years before the rubber becomes problematic. Someone decided they didn't want to use that used regulator. What was their reason? Who knows? How long since the last service? Who knows? With a new reg, you know.

Doesn't matter if the last service was 5 or 15 years ago. You buy it and get it serviced.
The OP is a kid that's trying to get into diving on a budget. Buying new over used is burning money with no upside. For the money saved on a used reg he can get more gear.

 

[CT-Rich]

I would go to your LDS and tell them your situation. You are new, you are on a tight budget and see what they say. If you have a particular brand you are interested in, ask if they’d be willing to price match. They probably will and hope that you stay loyal.

Your business is theirs to lose. If you buy a reg online and it needs an adjustment, they are not going to smile when you ask them to service it. They may also have some used equipment to sell you directly. A portion of the ebay regs sold are used shop equipment. They don’t want sell them locally because they don’t want to undermine new equipment sales.

My shop knew I was going to buy used gear for my daughter and they sold me a serviced reg and octopus ready to go. I save the cost of having a used reg bench tested for safety.

 

[RobPNW]

Most regs have a 2 year cycle... if you start new, you'll have a good 2 years before the rubber becomes problematic. Someone decided they didn't want to use that used regulator. What was their reason? Who knows? How long since the last service? Who knows? With a new reg, you know.

I agree with this. For a little more than the price of used equipment plus the cost of service for piece of mind, you can find new Deep6, DGX or even Dive Rite gear.

 

[RobPNW]

If you can hold off for 2 months, there's usually Black Friday deals on reg sets.

 

[undefined]

Just noticed the "teenager on minimum wage." You could put up a wanted classified here. There are a quite a few folks who could put together a decent used regset for a lot less than $400.

This is a pretty terrific idea.

 

[happy-diver]

 

[happy-diver]

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