Question Need suggestions on travel regulators

[DeathPheonix]

My wife and I am looking to purchase a set of regulators and mainly dive during traveling, our local dive sites are all quarries. I need some suggestions on what regulators to buy. For about the same price ($480) I can get Oceanic Alpha 10 + CDX with mares spares from my local dive center, used aqualung legend online, for around 320 I can get used aqualung mikron (maybe better suited for my wife) or used apeks flight. The used options all have been used for 100 dives or so. Our dive instructor strongly recommends us to buy new.

 

[rongoodman]

Do you have regulators now? If so, why not just use them? If not, Deep 6 or Hog work well.

 

[DeathPheonix]

Do you have regulators now? If so, why not just use them? If not, Deep 6 or Hog work well.

This would be our first set of regulators.

 

[L13]

Do you have regulators now? If so, why not just use them? If not, Deep 6 or Hog work well.

OP is in China, Deep6 is probably not the best choice there, though it would be an outstanding choice in the US.

 

[DeathPheonix]

OP is in China, Deep6 is probably not the best choice there, though it would be an outstanding choice in the US.

Yeah, only managed to find a few selling Deep6, not sure if it’s easy to get maintenance done. Could find a couple of aqualung legend around 450USD. My instructor strongly suggests buying Oceanic Alpha 10 + CDX new

 

[L13]

Yeah, only managed to find a few selling Deep6, not sure if it’s easy to get maintenance done. Could find a couple of aqualung legend around 450USD. My instructor strongly suggests buying Oceanic Alpha 10 + CDX new

Why are you buying regulators with USD in China?

First figure out your plan for servicing. Whatever shop you are using, buy a regulator they service.

A used regulator properly service is almost as good as new, it wouldn't pass service if it wasn't. If you are getting a used regulator from any source other than a shop you trust, get it serviced before you use it so include that in your evaluation of its cost.

Other than that, it is personal preference and budget that determine whether you should get new or used. All the regulator models you mentioned in your original post are good regulators, as long as you include servicing in the cost of the used ones.

 

[DeathPheonix]

Why are you buying regulators with USD in China?

First figure out your plan for servicing. Whatever shop you are using, buy a regulator they service.

A used regulator properly service is almost as good as new, it wouldn't pass service if it wasn't. If you are getting a used regulator from any source other than a shop you trust, get it serviced before you use it so include that in your evaluation of its cost.

Other than that, it is personal preference and budget that determine whether you should get new or used. All the regulator models you mentioned in your original post are good regulators, as long as you include servicing in the cost of the used ones.

Not buying with USD, figured out that since most of the members on this forum are based in North America, using USD as a currency make more sense to give a feel on how pricing goes locally.

Thanks for the suggestions though, probably would go for the Oceanic one then.

 

[ams511]

A new Mikron is selling in the US for $300. So use that as your baseline. I haven't used any modern Oceanic gear (my most modern is a Delta 2) but usually their gear is solid. However, I have heard of parts availability problems. Although, I heard the same about Aqualung. I would talk to your dive shop about that.

I don't recommend mixing and matching regulator brands because it could cause a problem with future servicing as the shop needs to be both an Oceanic and Mares dealer. I would stick with one brand.

There are several dive shops in Europe that sell internationally. You should check them out.

 

[lowwall]

Everything you mentioned will work very well.

Are the used regs already serviced? If not, once you add in the price of a service, the new set looks even more attractive. If they are serviced, then I'd also consider the Mikron and Flight. But first find out from the shop if they are having any trouble getting service parts. It's been an issue with both Aqualung and their subsidiary Apeks for a while.

Assuming you'll be diving warm water, there's no need for the additional weight and expense of the Legend.

I would also recommend getting the same type octo as your primary second stage.

Finally, since you mentioned Mares. If the shop is a dealer, how much is a new 62X Dual or Dual Adj? That's their premium compact reg. Also the 15X Prestige or Dual is their low priced travel regset. I bought it for my son and it works great.

 

[DeathPheonix]

Everything you mentioned will work very well.

Are the used regs already serviced? If not, once you add in the price of a service, the new set looks even more attractive. If they are serviced, then I'd also consider the Mikron and Flight. But first find out from the shop if they are having any trouble getting service parts. It's been an issue with both Aqualung and their subsidiary Apeks for a while.

Assuming you'll be diving warm water, there's no need for the additional weight and expense of the Legend.

I would also recommend getting the same type octo as your primary second stage.

Finally, since you mentioned Mares. If the shop is a dealer, how much is a new 62X Dual or Dual Adj? That's their premium compact reg. Also the 15X Prestige or Dual is their low priced travel regset. I bought it for my son and it works great.

They say they are already serviced, but I'll have to ask for proof of service. Sometimes when buying second hand the seller can't even provide proof of purchase. I will have to check with the shop if they carry them, I know that they are an authorized service center for Mares but strangely enough, not a lot of Mares product are shown in the storefront.