Recommendations for Easy Breathing Regs?

[Perryed]

I still have not found a regulator that breathes easier than a Scubapro G250 that has been properly tuned and maintained. Paired with a MK 10 it can`t really be beat. And for the price for a good used set at less than around $120 you can`t go wrong.

 

[Divectionist]

Typical instructor/salesman practices.

But for actual purchase recommendations:

Fresh or clean water, or otherwise with ability to rinse immediately: MK25/S620Ti
Salt or dirty water, or not always ability to rinse immediately: MK17/S620Ti

I prefer the MK17 because it is sealed and very compact, especially if DIN and mounted upside down, so even bearable with a tank that's mounted high.

 

[cogito222]

I respectfully call B.S.

Within recreational depths, no properly serviced/tuned regulator will be difficult to breathe. The difference in work-of-breathing between top-of-the-line regs and good-value workhorses like @flyboy08 mentions should be nearly imperceptible. Call me a cynic, but my suspicion is that your instructor had you breathe from a poorly tuned reg, perhaps so he could sell you a "better" (i.e., properly tuned) one.

That could be possible, Lorenzoid. The other 3 guys didn't seem to be struggling and they were using the same plastic-looking regs. When we were practicing, my buddy's reg seemed a little easier than mine but still not as good as the Scuba Pros (looked newer) we used the day before.

 

[UFOrb]

I had an Apeks combo of FSR first stage and XTX200 (identical to XTX50 and XTX100 apparently) that was insanely easy to breathe from, eventually felt that it was too easy so I switched to Halcyon which turns out was just as easy to breathe from...

Without meaning to sound flippant, why didn't you just adjust the breathing resistance on the Apeks instead of buying new regs?

 

[UFOrb]

Before I bought my own set of regs I rented (recreational warm water diving on holidays). The rentals included AL Calypso on several occasions, which is a standard type of rental reg, as well as some others. I'd never had any issues until I rented a Calypso set out in Bali, which turned out to be an uncomfortably hard breathe. I asked to switch regs.
That particular Calypso set either hadnt been serviced for ages or had been serviced badly. It's not that the Calypso is a bad reg.

I bought my own set after that!!
- which FWIW is an Apeks XTX200/XTX40 set (FSR 1st stage). They’re fantastic regs, but alas much cheaper here in UK than US (I’m assuming you’re in the US).

As others have said, most properly serviced regs will be fine as long as you have the right reg for the type of diving you’ll be doing (eg. warm or cold water etc).

 

[Neilwood]

I respectfully call B.S.

Within recreational depths, no properly serviced/tuned regulator will be difficult to breathe. The difference in work-of-breathing between top-of-the-line regs and good-value workhorses like @flyboy08 mentions should be nearly imperceptible. Call me a cynic, but my suspicion is that your instructor had you breathe from a poorly tuned reg, perhaps so he could sell you a "better" (i.e., properly tuned) one.

Unfortunately (for the dive shop), I tend to agree with @Lorenzoid in that it is in the shops interests to upsell you regulators. I made that mistake myself. I, when I was a newly qualified diver, allowed myself to be talked into a Scubapro Mk17 with S600 and G190 octo (which work great BTW) whereas in reality I could have gotten away with something a lot cheaper such as Apeks for £200 cheaper (which when tuned properly would work just as well).

Tuning has a lot to do with breathing effort.

 

[kelemvor]

I respectfully call B.S.

Within recreational depths, no properly serviced/tuned regulator will be difficult to breathe. The difference in work-of-breathing between top-of-the-line regs and good-value workhorses like @flyboy08 mentions should be nearly imperceptible. Call me a cynic, but my suspicion is that your instructor had you breathe from a poorly tuned reg, perhaps so he could sell you a "better" (i.e., properly tuned) one.

Pulling a scam like that on students has to make you wonder about the quality of the instruction otherwise...

 

[Degenerate]

Without meaning to sound flippant, why didn't you just adjust the breathing resistance on the Apeks instead of buying new regs?

I liked the Halcyon first stages much better, didn't clutter up anything around the valves and the hose routing is also better IMO.

 

[scubadada]

You might get in touch with Beaver divers in Denver. They sell their MK25evo/S600 regs from their rental/demo fleet for great prices. I have bought two sets from them and other than a few scratches on one S600, they were like brand new for a fraction of the price. Great people to deal with and I got top of the line regulators for not much more than I would pay for a much lower end set.

Most higher end (and many lower end) regulators will have an adjustment that will make them easier to breathe. That adjustment definately makes a difference on our Scubapros. Check for a knob on the left side of the 2nd stage. When mine is WFO, it almost breathes for you.

Good luck,
Jay

I bought a used Scubapro MK25EVO/S600 from Beaver Divers in 2017 for less than half of the list price. It had been serviced less than a month before it was sold. It has been my primary regulator since

 

[GJC]

Scuba Regulators

Some reading for the original poster. You can scroll through the list for top regs for each year. There are ease of breathing graphs for different rates and depths for each reg so you can compare them easily. They don't review every reg every year so you have to look at earlier years to find a particular reg.