First reg, need to buy two, rec diver

[Freewillow]

At some point I will be upgrading to Atomic

OK got it. What is in the atomic line that is vastly superior to the Aqualung Titan? I am living in Belgium where atomic regs are virtually not present.

 

[guruboy]

Naïve, maybe. 50 years of diving for my wife and myself, added together. 1500 dives and never had a problem with any regulator that I could not solve on the spot.

That's 30 dives per year. If you service your regs annually, your regs are barely broken in when you take them back in for service. For that level of diving, I would not expect any issues either.

 

[ams511]

This is just my experience.

I am not dismissing your experience but it is irrelevant to the OP. He is not on a liveaboard, he will be either doing lakes or the temperate ocean. Consequently, there may not be a dive shop close by. When your buddies are all suited up in 7 mil wetsuits in 90F heat ready to dive you do not want to be fiddling with regulators. They do not appreciate it. When the divemaster says time to drop you do not want to be fiddling with regulators. If you take too long you miss the dive as the boat has a schedule to keep. Also the average dive boat is not as large as a live aboard so the ride is not as smooth. Also North Carolina waters are generally not as smooth as in tropical locations. A rocking boat is not the best place to try to fix your regulator. The OP is most likely driving to locations so airline baggage policies are also not relevant. I never needed to use my backup set either. However, I loaned it out several times to others that had problems with theirs. Often times these were rental regs or regs fresh off an overhaul.

As to Atomic regulators, I am not sure what the magic is but their owners seem to love them. Atomic regulators the first stages are pistons that can be sealed if the diver wants too. Most already come sealed. The second stages are balanced adjustable regulators. The Titan is an update of the old Conshelf series. The first stage is a balanced diaphragm that is unsealed (sealed in the supreme version) and the second stage is a classic downstream design (the LX version used a non-adjustable but balanced second stage). On paper at least the Atomic should breathe better than the Titan. I have no first hand experience with either so I cannot say for certain, but I do know my G500s do breath better than my Conself 22s.

 

[Freewillow]

thanks ams511 and guruboy. I understand your point of view and I agree.

May I stress however that the OP that is speaking about a backup in the future, does not have 24 dives under his belt yet . I therefore believe that he should have other priorities

 

[Bob DBF]

I agree with @Freewillow, deal with diving now and backups later. Down the road the OP will be in a better spot to make informed decisions on what is necessary.

I dove without a backup reg for many years, some say I still don't when they see the vintage reg(s) I use for backup now. In all that time I never had the failures mentioned.


Bob

 

[Murphy in NC]

WOW
If you don't want a backup, great.

I do want a backup

Why something different/Atomic?
So I have experience with other brands and I can see what everyone is talking about.

AMS511 is right.
I don't want to screw around with a reg if I have a problem, I would rather grab a backup and correct a problem later
Divetime is valuable to me.
Why waste it correcting an issue.

I would rather pay the insurance (backup reg) and know that all is good.

Thanks for everyones help, GC was great.

 

[buddhasummer]

I'd like to take back up ears, my right ear often gives me trouble especially after multiple dive days. Never had a problem with a reg, did have a leaking SPG spool once but I carry spares of those. IME if taken care of and not serviced the day before you leave, regs are pretty reliable devices.

 

[Freewillow]

Interesting: no experience but already full of convictions

 

[Centrals]

I bought my first ever reg back in 1996. If I had bought another one as a back up, well that would be really waste of money because I would had only used it for one dive only and that happened two yrs ago!!!!

Learn how to service the regs is a better option. At least to me personally.

 

[undrwater]

Interesting: no experience but already full of convictions

The only impact for such decisions is pocketbook, not safety. No need to be sanctimonious.

While I've never had more than a failed o-ring, many buddies have had failed regs. Having a backup has been appreciated...though not needed.