Which REG do you recommend

[Thalassamania]

Oceanic EOS

 

[boulderjohn]

Since you are new to ScubaBoard, you are not familiar with the bewildering number of forums contained here. If you scroll down the forums page, you will find a section on the equipment of scuba diving, and a forum within that section on regulators. There you will find a pile of past and present threads that ask and answer your question.

If you can get your choices narrowed down to a specific few, you can use the search feature in the upper right corner of that forum to find all the recent threads that have discussed those specific regs.

 

[snowflake4727]

Determine what the dive conditions you will be in are. This will also narrow your search.

 

[prandyulo]

In my former life, I had Poseidon, U.S. Divers, and Tekna. Recently we I restarted diving with my grown up kids I researched around for the reg that would have readily available parts and maintenance ease. No plans to go cold water so I purchased Apeks XTX20 for the 3 of us and have no regrets whatsoever. I still use my vintage U.S. Divers Calypso 4 and Tekna 2100 from time to time to amuse the others who don't know what these are.

 

[BonaireDan]

As already said .... Consider local availability and service and your planned type of diving. You can easily find an entry level reg in your price range. Remember that a reg is not a reg alone. You will generally need a "system" considering the appropriate first stage, primary second stage, alternate air source and console with SPG and depth gauge and compass (or computer, SPG and compass).

As always I caution against on-line purchases (warranties, service and returns not usually good) and used gear purchases, particularly for the new diver.

Gear should be considered an investment for the long term - 10+ years easily. For me only a wetsuit seems to be a recurring most frequent cost as they do wear out with use.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Oceanic EOS

Thal, I rarely belly up to the disagree with Thal bar but I have some recent intimate experience with Oceanic with regards to the EOS that should be taken into consideration by any future prospective Oceanic customer.

The Intro;
I started out my instructor/guide career at an Oahu dive shop that sold Oceanic. All the rental regs and BC's were Oceanic and I was happy dealing with guests in Oceanic gear. After Oceanic went to the wrap around inflator button I saw lots of divers of all experience levels pushing the inflator wrap around when they thought they were deflating the BC. I will never recommend any one use a BC with the wrap around Oceanic inflator. Conversely, the CDX-5 / Delta 4 reg that came out at the same time as the wrap around inflator button was the best new reg I ever used and I recommended it for years.

The Story;
After having the hose on my Delta 4 blow recently (after a few thousand dives) I decided to get a new reg, so I once again went for the top of the line Oceanic; FDX-10 / EOS. After placing my order directly with the Oceanic rep on Oahu that I have been dealing with for years, I also attempted to get a replacement hose for my old Delta 4. When it was the top of the line the Delta 4 came with the reg swivel. Now the reg swivel is only on the EOS. This rep claimed to not know if the EOS hose with the swivel (that is a special order from the mainland) will fit the Delta 4.

The Rest Of The Story;
That seemed odd to me so I headed to the SB Equipment Forum to find a bit of a rant going with regards to the swivel reg hoses. Seems that Oceanic licensed the swivel on a one reg in the line only deal. To put the swivel on the EOS they had to make the EOS with different body threads than the Delta 4, so the current swivel hose will not work with the Delta 4 (or any other Oceanic reg). That means all of us that got a Delta 4 w/swivel can not get a replacement swivel hose from Oceanic. Luckily, the body threads of the Delta 4 are the same as the other Delta's, so you can put a non swivel adapter into the Delta 4 and use a stock reg hose. If you want a swivel hose replacement for the Delta 4 it's eBay or SB classifieds.

Moral Of The Story;
The replacement swivel hose is more than twice the cost of a stock reg hose and there is no guarantee it will be available when you need it; best stock up now if you can afford it!

I was once an Oceanic promoter. Now I recommend divers look for a manufacturer that takes care of longtime customers instead!