Suggestions for cold water regulators?

[Erik H]

Thanks all for the very quick replies. Some interesting suggestions here. When it comes to Poseidon, the name has come up once or twice in my "research" but I felt they were more for advanced tech diving and not recreational. I know that Atomic, SP, Apeks and Zeagle are major brands in scuba diving, HOG and Sherwood I have heard of but Deep6 is a completely new brand for me which I haven't heard of before.

What about servicability of these regulators? Are any of them easier/more difficult to service and find parts for? I've heard that some like the Apeks MTX-R/RC are easier to service. From what I can tell my LDS provides products from Mares, Aqua Lung, Scubapro, Poseidon, Cressi and Apeks but not sure about their selection of regulators. That would likely mean that such brands would be easier for me to get serviced but what is your expert opinion and experience of getting regulators serviced?

There seems to be some suggestion that I pass on the in-line shut off, but what about swivels?

 

[runsongas]

poseidon is harder to get good service for, so unless if you know someone or want to spend time to tinker with your own set, the additional performance isn't worth the tradeoff when apeks are simpler to work on and are plenty of performance for the types of dives most are doing. but since you are in sweden, poseidon may make sense if you can line up someone to do the maintenance. apeks parts are also relatively easy to source from germany for you. fixed swivels are fine for the most part. for the ball swivels, the cheap ones have a failure point in the screw that requires using loctite.

 

[Shabaday]

If you look at my Avatar pic I am using a 48" long hose with a DGX 90degree swivel on the second stage. That is my G260 with Mk19Evo.
A ScubaPro Mk17 Evo would be a good choice as well. It is lighter than the Mk19 but has no swivel turret
Around here many divers are big fans of the Apeks XTX200....I have not seen anyone with MTX-R/RC

 

[Joris Vd]

For diving below 0 most brands their seconds are not sufficient.

Having just a steel barrel in a plastic casting is not enough to prevent ice buildup if your air isn't supersuperdry and you breathed it out of the water already.

if you're truly diving sub zero there's two options on your list

Apeks MTX-R/c
Poseidon x-stream or Jetstream.

The first stage isn't the problem, there are plenty firsts that will do their jobs properly in these temps:

Aqualung Legends, Poseidon mk3, Apeks XTX50/100/200, etc,SP MK17 Mk19 etc.

A good example are the modern legend second stages.

Once known as the bomb proof European reg:
since reducing the size and changing the geometry of the legend case, the ice buildup in the seconds that makes it so that the freeflow will never be able to stop.

I would go for the apeks if you're truly diving sub zero constantly,
or the mk19/g260 is you're diving around 5-6 degrees constantly.

I dive my poseidon xstream mk3 first stage with an r109 so I might be seen as somewhat of a cultist, but have yet to encounter any freeflow whatsoever, ever, and I have + - 100 dives in sub 7 Celsius water. I believe in the passive heat transfer.

 

[rhwestfall]

All of these are still second place...

This is the winner:

though my real favorite is a PRAM with the all metal body...

 

[lexvil]

still second place...

This is the winner:

View attachment 722239
though my real favorite is a PRAM with the all metal body...

Yea, nooooo!!!

 

[Downmountain]

I used Poseidon Cyklons for colder water and never had an issue. They are really hardy and breathe easy under most conditions. The technology is old but it works.

But…

I recently bought new Apeks Mtx-RCs and I absolutely love them. The first stage has tons of port options and the heat sinks seem very thorough (overkill?). The second stage has excellent adjustability and way less jaw fatigue than my old Cyklons. They are specifically designed for cold water conditions but work excellently for general conditions as well.

So for modern function , easy serviceability, and reliable performance the MTX-RC gets high marks.

 

[Shabaday]

I used Poseidon Cyklons for colder water and never had an issue. They are really hardy and breathe easy under most conditions. The technology is old but it works.

But…

I recently bought new Apeks Mtx-RCs and I absolutely love them. The first stage has tons of port options and the heat sinks seem very thorough (overkill?). The second stage has excellent adjustability and way less jaw fatigue than my old Cyklons. They are specifically designed for cold water conditions but work excellently for general conditions as well.

So for modern function , easy serviceability, and reliable performance the MTX-RC gets high marks.

First time I ever saw one was in Dallas dive shop!

 

[buddhasummer]

I used Poseidon Cyklons for colder water and never had an issue. They are really hardy and breathe easy under most conditions. The technology is old but it works.

But…

I recently bought new Apeks Mtx-RCs and I absolutely love them. The first stage has tons of port options and the heat sinks seem very thorough (overkill?). The second stage has excellent adjustability and way less jaw fatigue than my old Cyklons. They are specifically designed for cold water conditions but work excellently for general conditions as well.

So for modern function , easy serviceability, and reliable performance the MTX-RC gets high marks.

I still take issue with the fact that the only Apeks 1st stage with replaceable crown is the FSR. I thought for sure the new MTX would have it, but no and let's not talk about the twisting barrel and of late their race to to top to be the most expensive for kits and parts. I used to be an Apeks fan boy, but of late not so much.

Having said that the FSR is still one of my favourite 1st stages and the wide narrow exhaust T opinions are nice.

 

[Erik H]

A little update. I just came back from my LDS after having a chat about regulators and which ones they carry and recommend. He himself seemed to be partial towards Aqua Lung saying that he himself uses them but also suggested Scubapro and Apeks due to their performance and ease of getting them repaired/serviced anywhere. He didn't recommend Poseidon or Mares due to Poseidon being more expensive to service and both brands being more difficult to have serviced (especially Poseidon outside of Sweden). Still having trouble choosing due to the VAST array of different brands and models, but I seam to be leaning towards Apeks, Scubapro or Aqua Lung.