Gear - Apeks XTX200

[Deep29]

Hi I'm planning to by a second regulator set. Its for use with air and Nitrox in tropical climate, for recreational diving. I have decided to go for the Apeks XTX200, but can decide if the Tungsten or the Nitrox versions are worth going for - Do the have any advantages or features which the base model doesn't have?

The price difference is no concern, I just want to invest in peice of equipment, which I will and can regard as the ultimate choice for quite some time to come...

Regards
Deep

 

[Bubbletrubble]

If I understand you correctly, you're going to be doing single tank, open water recreational diving. Sometimes you'll be using regular air, and sometimes you'll be using a nitrox mix (probably 32%, right?).

Don't buy the Tungsten. It's not worth it.

The Nitrox XTX regulators include "oxygen-clean" first and second stages. The second stage face plate is colored a nifty green/yellow/black. Other various rubber and plastic parts are also colored green. The DIN handwheel on the FSR first stage is green/yellow. So basically there are several striking cosmetic differences.

If you're a recreational diver, your regs don't need to be "oxygen-clean." All Apeks regs on the market (and pretty much all other major brands as well) are ready to be used with nitrox mixes up to 40%.

Performance-wise, the nitrox Apeks regs are exactly the same as the regular Apeks regs.

For single tank recreational diving, the Apeks XTX200 is a good choice. The FSR first stage is nice. That being said, you probably couldn't tell the difference between the XTX200 package (XTX200 + FSR first stage) and the XTX50 package (XTX50 + DST first stage). The guts of the XTX200 second stage are the same as the guts of the XTX100 and XTX50 second stages. Why pay more for cosmetics? There are subtle differences among the first stages (FSR, FST, DST, DS4), but from my limited experience, the most noticeable difference is where and how many HP/LP ports there are. Hose-routing on the FSR, FST, and DST are all great for single tank diving. The DS4 has fixed ports that aren't quite as conveniently located as the FSR and FST, but the DS4 is a wonderful value if you are a little more budget-conscious.

Just make sure that your local reg repair shop can work on Apeks regs. The regs will only breathe as well as the reg tech tunes them.

Hope this helps...

 

[EevelMonkee]

For recreational, single tank diving in a tropical climate you could save yourself a little more money and go with the Apeks XTX20. This reg is not rated for cold water (<50*F) but other than that it would serve all your needs. If you intend on doing cold water or tech diving in the future, go with the XTX50. Otherwise, the XTX20 will serve all your needs. I have used my XTX20 in a wide range of conditions and am extremely pleased with it. Folks will likely tell you that the XTX200 doesn't offer anything more than the XTX50 for most divers. You might want to look at HOG brand D1 regs HOG Gear D1 Singles Regulator Package - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL. They can be used for tech and cold water (if using D1 cold water set-up) diving and are cheaper than Apeks. They've gotten great reviews on Scubaboard. I have had a set for a short time and have found it equivalent in performance to the Apeks so far.

 

[mikecotrone]

Hi I'm planning to by a second regulator set. Its for use with air and Nitrox in tropical climate, for recreational diving. I have decided to go for the Apeks XTX200, but can decide if the Tungsten or the Nitrox versions are worth going for - Do the have any advantages or features which the base model doesn't have?

The price difference is no concern, I just want to invest in peice of equipment, which I will and can regard as the ultimate choice for quite some time to come...

Regards
Deep

+1 for everything BubbleTrouble wrote. I use my XTX50 second with DST first for Nitrox on all my singles rec dives. The Nitrox versions are basically the same thing as BT pointed out and i have concluded from other posts that "Nitrox" specific seconds are a marketing ploy. All XTX's are good up to EAN40.

That said the XTX50 second is the sane as the XTX200 second minus some cosmetic changes. With Apeks the first stages are where the changes are at on those models.

Warm water diving? The XTX20 with the DS4 (yoke) is a fine choice. I have this setup for my pony AL19. My primary singles reg is a XTX50 with a DST (yoke) since i do some cold water diving. My twin set i use the Tek3 with XTX50 seconds (Din) and my AL40 stage bottle has an XTX50 with a DS4 (Din).

When purchasing my gear i have the same "budget" as you do.

Good luck!

 

[bracko]

I've used the Apeks XTX20 in a pool and have had reports from other divers that they seem to do the job very well.

it's not as nice to breath through as my delta 4's but completely acceptable and very very light. I'd have no trouble using them if i didn't dive in winter.

 

[String]

Dont bother with the tungsten for certain - its a pointless gimmick. Adds nothing to the regs.

Don't bother with the nitrox version either unless you're doing accelerated deco - they all do nitrox 40% out of the box. You certainly can't go wrong with Apeks regs. Very reliable, very easy to service anywhere.

 

[paddler3d]

I have the ATX100 and the XTX200. Very solid regs. Best in my opinion. Apex, and Poseidon, is the only reg that I have not seen have problems in cold, >40degF, water. Not much of an issue in tropical water though.

As mentioned all their regs are good for EAN 40 out of the box.

They breath fantastic, in fact I've detuned mine a wee bit for the cold, and they still provide air like champs. I'm more likely to hyperventilate that have my regs freeze up.

You'll be very happy for years to come with the XTX200.

 

[mikecotrone]

Also I love the fact that the XTX models have the reversible second stage value configuration. This allows you to setup the XTX second for either left handed or right handed which comes in handy for different bottle mounting configurations.

Apeks Marine Equipment Ltd

 

[Centrals]

I have been using DS-4 + TX-50 over 12yrs for both recreational and trimix dive. Never experienced any problem whatseoever in warm water.
The 1st stage is made from solid brass with good chrom finishing ie. robust but heavy.
Tungsten is well OTT.
I have been using the FSR, DST and DS-4 and really couldn't tell the differences in performance with my eyes closed.

 

[Deep29]

Thanks guys - Based on above i'll be going towards the XTX200 standards...