Newbie to regulators

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Just for further comparison, if you can get around shipping you can buy an Apeks DS4 ATX40 primary +ATX40 octo for around $280. I have no knowledge of US import duties/taxes. I can provide more info if required.
 
Thanks alot for all the help!
 
I would say before you spend you money, use rental for a while, probably when you get to 50 dives, you will have much better idea what reg you want. Buying reg cost more than just the price of the reg. For used, you need to shell out another $100 for service for 1st + 2nd. Then you still need spg and depth gauge. the worst is you buy something you didn't really want, then you have resell and buy again, which cost you more.
 
Where i live we dont have a choice to rent a bunch of regs to use. They have rental regs all the same time and thats it.
 
For the price of 50 rentals you can buy a decent reg at least here:)

Check what shops can service and from there. From what I dove Aqualung, ScubaPro, Zeagle Apeks Aeris are all great regs.

Diaphragms seems to do better in the very cold water.
 
Can you tell me where this deal is located? I'm interested in checking it out.

Thanks!

Scubastore.com. I often buy from them as prices in NZ and Japan are, more often than not, ridiculous. Unfortunately Scubastore have some restrictions as what they can sell outside of the EU. Apeks for example they will ship to Japan but not NZ anymore. Brands like ScubaPro and Suunto they will not ship anywhere out of the EU anylonger. I have an uncle who lives in England I get goods shipped there, very cheap, and then get him to repackage them without invoices, list them as a "gift" so as to avoid import duties and ship to me either in NZ or Japan depending where I am at. He uses small parcel post so shipping is always fairly inexpensive. Shipping has never been more that about $25USD total, i.e Spain to the UK and then UK to either Japan or NZ. Thus far I've had no problems. Good luck.
 
I have been there and done that. I'm also a University student. I still buy a lot of gear and that's because my parents help me with a lot of my spendings.
Even so, I have to think about it a long time before I spend money on gear.
There are some important points you'll have to take care of:

USED VS NEW:
If it's an initial buy I would try to weight used vs new. In some case used can be more expensive if you are not careful.
New has the included cost of the inspection upfront.
While if you buy used you'll need to spend from 60$ to 100$ (labor + parts) to get it working properly.
In the majority of cases USED is cheaper than NEW hands down.
That is why it is very important to find a trustworthy LocalDiveShop that tells you UPFRONT what are the costs associated with the maintenance.

TYPE OF DIVING:
What type of diving are you looking into? You might not know it at the moment, it's ok.
But do you want to dive while on vacations or locally? I know some divers who think diving is SOLELY for tropical places.

VERSATILITY:
Buy something that will last for any type of diving you might do down the road.

Example: Consoles, I've hated console from the very first time, on my first pool dive. It's bulky and not really useful. That's why I changed early to an SPG(Submersible pressure gauge) & Wrist Mounted Computer. You can use it in Recreational, Tech, Sidemount. It's versatile and easier to use IMO.

HIDDEN COSTS:
There's always something you need that you forget to calculate in your costs. Try and see if you have all of them.
You might need a Compass. If you buy an SPG there's also a hose (which some LDS over-price a lot).


In your shoes I'd look at most low cost website and look at the deals. Some even have used gear on sale.
Theres LeisurePro, PrihanaDive MFG, Dive Gear Express, ScubaToys etc...
If you don't want to buy online, they give you a rough estimate at least of the cost.
I know leisurepro has the official lowest price from ScubaPro, since they can now sell them legally online.

LDS (LOCAL DIVE SHOP):
I know, some are a pain in the **** but others are truly great. Try and see if you can find a local dealer that services reg for a good price and looks to be professional.
IMO, there are 2 types of dive shops:
#1: Expensive and RipOffs that cater to leisure divers that go on vacation to dive. They sell vacations, over-priced gear and even more over-priced maintenance.
#2: LOCAL local diveshops; meaning that they cater to local divers, offer local dive trips. In colder environement this usually means that they cater to more tech oriented divers. They sell stuff a bit over the min price (let's say 10%-20%) but not too expensive. They usually offer tips and tricks that comes from diving experience and not selling experience.

WARRANTY:
The good part of liftetime warranty is FREE PARTS
If you calculate it, the ROI (return on investment) on the used is that it'll take 5-10 years of paying used parts for the upfront cost of a new one to be worth it.
Being a new diver, you'll probably want to stay on the used option since you can change your mind anytime and resell your used goods for almost the same price you paid.
New gear loses 50% of it's value just by the fact that it's used.

RENTAL VS BUYING:
If you don't dive more than 10times a year, it's sometimes less expensive to rent than to buy.
if you pay 25$/rental at 10 dives it's 250$.
Just the annual inspection of my regs are 60$(parts) + 30$(Parts).
There's an annual cost involved in this that you should understand and calculate.

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Here are some recommendations of what I would buy/rent/get used if I could redo it all:
Note: They are in order of what I would get first:

1) Wetsuit: NEW (nothing is less confortable than a badly-fitting wetsuit)
2) Computer: CHEAP-NEW or USED-GOODQUALITY (if electronics dont work, it's usually better to throw it and buy another)
3) BCD: USED (Paying 500$+ for a piece of glued-up fabric...serious?)
4) MISC: NEW (compass, back-up light, note-pad; don't ignore them, cost can add up really fast)
5) Regulators: USED or HOG (the brand hog is pretty inexpensive for the quality)

*note: I don't like that people instantly answer by " HOG is the best choice" but let's be honest. They cost almost as much. Used gear need an initial maintenance that can cost 100$ or more.
Yes some lower-end regs for SP/AL may cost as much, but the HOG is made to compete against DS4, MK17 & MK25 which ARE 200-300% more expensive. Personally, I dive with SP, but it makes a whole lot of sense to me to go the HOG route if your new and you dont have much $.
 
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I bought set of regulators It is a apeks Tx100, on the octo Apeks Tx50 and a suunto cobra for 550. it was more then i truely wanted to spend but i have no regrets.
 

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