Sherwood Regulators

[Rhone Man]

I have an SR1 and I have about 150 dives on it and I love it. But they are fussy. When you turn your air on, you need to put your thumb on the top of the first stage to provide a bit of extra resistance to the piston. If you do that you are fine. If you don't do that, 99% of the time you will be fine, but every so often something will pop inside the first stage stage and it is back to the repair shop (sorry, I can't give chapter and verse on the mechanical bits). Other than that, it is by far the best reg I have ever owned.

I also have a couple of Sherwood Bruts. Great workhorses (and easy to maintain), but not an especially smooth breathing reg, and not one you would want to take too deep.

 

[shogan]

Any of them more suitable for a small child (4' 50-60lbs) compared to the others (shallow warm water) either in size or fail safeness?

Obviously I'm not considering the SR1

I guess I am leaning toward putting my child on the BRUTE figuring no adjustments less potential for problem.

 

[shogan]

I called a shop to see what he had and they started telling me no Z1 is bullet proof not Sherwood!

Of course they didn't have any sherwoods.

 

[dmoore19]

I have an SR1 and have never had even a hint of a problem with it after 40 dives. I like it a lot. I have had it at 100' a couple of times, couldn't tell any difference in gas delivery from there and the surface. From what I understand, Sherwood has great customer service too. I don't know for sure though, never had to use it.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have it on good authority that the new BRUT's will be balanced and at a lower price. The production has been moved overseas and the cost savings will be passed on to the consumer. In the meantime I have a brut with shadow octo and analog guages for sale in the classified section. 200 plus shipping and it has just been serviced.

 

[Pacific Taco]

I played with the new Brut and can confirm it's awesomeness has been redoubled. It is going to be blaanced and has a new very flexy hose while remaining very easy to maintain. The bad news is we might not see it until spring, I hear.

I'm also another guy who likes the SR1. I've got about 60 dives on mine and haven't had any real problems. The Atomic Z2 is also a bruiser reg that I use on a pony bottle and can't complain about. It's a bit more to work on than a Brut, though.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

My first reg was a Sherwood Oasis, which was a perfectly acceptable reg for shallow, warm-water dives. Never had a problem with it, and it was subjected to some heavy use, too! There's a reason a lot of dive operations use Sherwood regs as rental rigs, and it's because they're true workhorses: they're reliable, easy to maintain, and keep working even after they've been run over by a tank. That said, the Oasis wasn't a reg that 'grew' with me: it's not optimal for deeper or colder water dives, so if you're of the 'I want my equipment to keep abreast of my experience/training' school of thought, look elsewhere. On the other hand, it can always serve as a deco reg!

 

[ibj40]

I was certified in 1985, and bought an Oasis. When my son was certified in 1997, I bought a new Oasis, and had my old one rebuilt with new exhaust, etc., and gave it to him. When my wife was certified in 2002, I bought her an Oasis. My second is an Air2, her's is the standard Sherwood Octo.

We don't dive cold water, it has been primarily tropics, but after almost 25 years (and over 500 dives for me) of diving a Sherwood Oasis, if I were to buy another reg, I've got to say that I would go with a Sherwood of some kind, but moving away from an Oasis would be pretty hard to do.

We now dive twice a year, for about a total of twenty to twenty-five tanks a year; and have them serviced about every 18 months (probably excessive, but they've never failed me). I used to dive four to six times a year, for about 40 to 60 tanks a year, but sustained the same maintenance schedule. Maybe that contributes to their reliability, but that notwithstanding, I have really appreciated how that reg has stayed with me over the years.

 

[DiveGear4Less]

Sherwoods are definitely good workhorse regulators. You can't go wrong with them. They are reliable. I started out with a Sherwood Maximus and loved it. I still have a couple of Sherwoods I use. They are a great reg for the money. I haven't heard anything about the SR1s but we have sold some and haven't heard anything negative back from our customers.

 

[Firewalker]

This industry has always had a problem with R/D and quality control. If you read some of the post you can see Sherwood using the customer to do there R/D for them. This is nothing new and almost all of the manufactures do it (rush the product to market without enough R/D).
One of the keys in purchasing diving equipment is to not buy something the first year it comes out.
Sherwood regulators are great for rental, they work good for shallow none working dives.
If the Atomic regulator is close in price I would buy the Atomic (with a little research you can see why).