ScubaPro regulators for junior-OW

[Lobzilla]

I am trying to put together a regulator set for my 11 year old nephew, keeping in mind that junior-OW is restricted to 40'. He will dive wet, single tank, hogarthian, with 5' long hose. No ice-diving or extremely cold water.

Personally, I use Mk17 (doubles) or Mk25 (single) and G250 downstream. I could not be happier with these combination but a G250 looks about half as big as the face of my nephew. Something smaller would be nice.

It could put a set together with Mk10 or Mk200 first stages and 108 or 109 seconds that are currently not tied on deco or pony bottles. However, I do not know how kids (and parents) feel about 'retro' stuff. Do not want to give the impression of outdated and unreliable with these unarguably excellent components. How about a more modern looking second stage that would work well with the Mk10?

Any suggestions?

(No other brands than SP for logistic reasons)

 

[rhwestfall]

I dive 109's, and won't hesitate one second putting my daughter on a set when she starts....

 

[herman]

How about a new HOG second stage?

 

[Fishpie]

You can stick practically anything on a MK10.
If you want something smaller than a 250 for the primary then there's the 395 or 600....the new 200 or 300 as well.
Personally I'd use the 109 as a primary and the MK200 as his back-up.

 

[rhwestfall]

BTW - what does 40' have to do with the decision on these regs...

 

[Peter_C]

How about a new HOG second stage?

He did say Scubapro only, but usually I would say HOG too. The HOG 2nd stage is about the same size as a G250 though. My 104lb g/f uses them with no issues.

The S600's are light, expensive and hard to get parts kits for, like all SP regs. Which is why I have turned against SP. The 700 series is probably the smallest SP reg built and really pricey.

"Other" brands like Mares build tiny 2nd stage regs.

 

[Lobzilla]

BTW - what does 40' have to do with the decision on these regs...

nothing really Even if he went deeper, his lungs are hardly be big enough to tap out any 1st stage.

Just wanted to make clear that we do not have to worry about insane quantities of gas to be delivered. Any combo that adults use for shallow deco would be sufficient.

 

[Lobzilla]

Is there anything that has G250V 'guts' with smaller diaphragm and housing? That would make parts logistics really simple.

 

[Lobzilla]

You can stick practically anything on a MK10.
If you want something smaller than a 250 for the primary then there's the 395 or 600....the new 200 or 300 as well.
Personally I'd use the 109 as a primary and the MK200 as his back-up.

Did you mean 108 as backup? The Mk200 is an Mk2 with bigger piston AFAIK.

 

[Fishpie]

I expect the OP meant the 2nd stage that came packaged with the MK200.....basically an unbalanced G250 (has a barrel poppet design unlike the 190).