IST Regulators

[NAM001]

My shoice as to whether to buy from a dive shop of the net is the price. if it is close i buy from the shop. if not i buy elswhere. my regs (no mentioning brand) was 800 in the shoop and 450 from a well known net seller. there is a point where the cost of dealing local is too much. There are other ways to suport you lds. assesories, exposure items , anything that may have to be exchanged. I bought my tanks locally because it is the lds that did the vis on them. I have delt with my lds that way for years. evreyone gets thier hands on my checkbook over time. There is a price to pay for either way you go. PLAN YOUR BUY, AND AND BUY YOUR PLAN.

As far as teh OP goes. I have a IST reg and have had no problem with it. Three is nothing wrong with oem/unbranded gear.

 

[friscuba]

Seeing the origin of this thread was back in '03... I rerecall a review of two IST regulators in rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine that I'm pretty sure used the phrase "unsafe at any depth" when I first moved out here to Hawaii and was working the retail end of scuba, that would've been between '99 and '01 or so. They did a review of different IST regulators the next year that won best value and testers choice awards if I recall correctly as well. (edit: I found a review from 2002 which labeld a couple of models from other companies as unsafe at any depth, that said the IST r-10 and IST r-20 dominated the breathing tests they did, they were very hight on them. I've yet to find the earlier negative reviews but I'm pretty sure they happened) I think there were some changes between model years. The OP was probably talking to shop people that remembered those earlier reviews.

 

[catskill diver]

Have 2 sets of IST regs and their BC's in the family's dive gear locker. OEM stuff - breaths just fine at depths and our tech that services them dives them as well. Bench tests are as good as others costing considerably more $$$. The name brand thing is a mind set. One of my new, much more expensive regs had a faulty hose that started cracking on day one of my last trip - it is less than two years old!! The IST's are the oldest of the group and going strong. I think some LDS have a better mark up on the bigger brands. Got my last IST BC for $ 195 new, works great, all the usual bells and whistles.Good luck - Cat

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

As others have corrected stated, IST makes gears for many other name brand companies. This however, does not mean they are made to the same standards, only made on the same production line. Often, their gear looks like a copy, which in itself maybe acceptable if they use the same materials and standards. If they try to save some money by skimping on materials, not so good. Like any other gear, you really need to consider every item, not the brand or price as neither means all that much.

I actually like their wetsuits, mostly because they happen to fit me exactly. Well made, durable, warm. I also had a couple of their 2nd stages (safe 2nd) that I hated and I actually tossed in the trash, not wanting someone else to inherit them.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Wow that is a pretty harsh statement, what did you dislike about the reg? Did you not like the quality of build, how it breathed (could it not have been adjusted properly), the way it looked? Just curious because my local dive shop sells IST and they have had rave reviews by those that have purchased them and the build quality seams very good.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Wow that is a pretty harsh statement, what did you dislike about the reg? Did you not like the quality of build, how it breathed (could it not have been adjusted properly), the way it looked? Just curious because my local dive shop sells IST and they have had rave reviews by those that have purchased them and the build quality seams very good.

There were safe-seconds, so it may or may not apply to their standard regs....

They started leaking (2 out of 3) withing 10 dives and I had to tune the cracking pressure on site to save the dive. Not a hard thing to do, but I had tools available.
The outer case was cheap plastic, not the more durable / thicker versions that I see on other regs.
Getting service was a PITA, had to mail them out when I did need parts.

I am not attempting to write off ALL IST regs. They may have models that are perfectly acceptable. I am pointing out that the brand names do typically enforce a level of quality of the manufacturer (ISTs manufacturing arm) that may or may not be used when then make items under their own name. Some of their stuff is just fine as I stated, others are not.

 

[Michael McQueen]

Why all the negative feedback on the IST regulators? I have an R410 and it's great; also ScubaLab gave it a great review.

 

[pelican86]

I too have an R10, that I have used both in New England and the Caribbean. I have had no problems at all until last week when shore diving in Bonaire.
The second stage got caught under rock on an ugly shore exit and snapped off at the fitting, My fault , not a workmanship issue.
Otherwise works well warm or cold water,any depth.

 

[coralreefer_1]

Why all the negative feedback on the IST regulators? I have an R410 and it's great; also ScubaLab gave it a great review.

I'm 99% sure I will be buying this reg tomorrow (and came here to research it). If I may ask Michael, how has it been for you since this post years ago?

 

[Texasguy]

Holy thread resurrection from 2003. That is like 12 years ago.