rjnoe@riccb.UUCP (Roger J. Noe) (10/15/85)
About three weeks ago I asked the readers of this newsgroup for their opinions about the quality and relative value of regulators that are now commonly available, especially those made by some of the larger manufacturers. I also asked if anyone knew of objective published evaluations. I got a number of responses on both topics. It seems the only place one is likely to find published evaluations (except those of the kind which always say, "it's the best regulator in its price range" like in Skin Diver Magazine) is "Undercurrent", a sort of 'underwater' (like underground) newsletter. It's not a slick publication but then it's entirely paid for by the sub- scriptions, since they accept no advertising. Their address was very recently posted to this newsgroup. The drawback with Undercurrent is that the writers/editors are anonymous and sometimes a little irresponsible with their criticism. They also apparently have not done many reviews of regulators in recent history. But they are a lone, independent voice. The remarks that follow are unattributed since no one elected (bothered) to include explicit permission to post attributed comments. For the sake of simplicity, I have done the same thing with opinions posted directly to this newsgroup. The "---" lines or my comments separate different responses. Responses have been edited for form and relevance of comments. > About 3 years ago I bought a Tekna (for my primary regulator) and a > USD Conshelf 14 (for a backup). The "state-of-the-art" Tekna has > given me lots of problems, and the "old-fashioned" USD has been > trouble-free. --- > Although there may be a couple of makes of regulators these days that one > should avoid, most of them are reliable, breathe easily, and will last > forever (well, almost) if they are looked after and regularly serviced. All > are adjustable, at least in the shop. The hype about regulators is created > by the shops and manufacturers. The bottom line is that you couldn't tell > most of them apart in use. > > An important factor in choosing a new regulator should be the quality and > availability of service. If you get one of the big-name workhorse > regulators, you can be assured that you will be able to get it serviced in > any shop, anywhere, quickly. It is the same as it is with cars: if you get > the fancy model or the import, you will have trouble with parts and service. > > I am not calling down fancy or imported regulators. I own a Posidon Cyklon > 300. I love it. Trouble is that nobody will service it. I've solved that > problem by learning how to do my own service. Getting parts from Sweden is > still slow. I got quite a few responses which said exactly the same thing. Indeed, after trying several regulators made by well-known manufacturers, I found it very difficult to tell most of them apart. There are statistics published by some manufacturers, but I think these differences are so fine that only breathing machines can tell. I may think differently doing salvage work at 100 feet in water that's at 2 degrees Celsius, but I do not plan to do much sport diving under those conditions. > I used a US Divers "hubcap"-type on my checkout dives; it was very dependable > until I went head-down or face-up: then it got sorta hard to breathe. > > Then I bought an Oceanic Omega. This one cares not for your depth or > position; it delivers a healthy pressure all the time. It is the "barrel" > type: the exhaust port is on the left, the hose on the right. The exhaust > port is sort of angled toward the rear, which helps: the bubbles don't get > in your face unless you work very hard, and seem to avoid the ears when > you don't wear a hood (yes, I tested this). Only disadvantage is a tendency > to free-flow when you wade with the thing hanging upside down about 3 inches > into the water - easily corrected, but kind of irritating at first. I don't know how much can be said about a line of regulators based on a rented one. With the bad treatment they get, I'm just not sure any experience would be representative of the line. > Four years ago, when I went shopping for regulators for the two of us, > I phoned seven, eight, nine (?) shops which sold mail-order dive equipment > nationwide, hoping for a price break. > > I ended up buying a regulator from a local store, since my instructor > advised me that I'd get much better service that way. Excellent advice! > Looking back, I'd say that buying your own regulator mail-order makes more > sense if you're already trained in regulator repair. Otherwise, you're > going to have to shop for service at some point. You'll probably get better > service if you plan to rely on the shop that sold you the reg for service. > You should also be able to get some advice from the salesperson . . . > > I'd also advise you to buy from a shop which acts like it wants your business > -- I've found that most places do, but the first local shop that I called > during my regulator hunt didn't . . . If I'm spending $200+ on a product, > then I don't want to buy from an arrogant salesperson. > . . . > We bought Dacor 950 XL's partly on the advice of the saleskeeper, because she > said it breathed well and had a swivel [yoke]. We also bought it because the > places that we called consistently rated the XL among the best regulators on > the market. It DOES breathe well, the swivel [yoke] is a nice feature, and > we've had them for four years now, with no problems. > > Of the other recommendations I received, the one that stands out in my mind > was the Sherwood Magnum. The shopkeeper whom I called in California said > the Magnum's strong point was that the 1st stage flow-balancing mechanism > doesn't come in direct contact with water. This person, who also serviced > regulators, said that this was a BIG plus if you were diving in environments > that were hard on regulators . . . > > The first stage "positive pressure" design is patented by Sherwood. I don't > believe that anyone else makes a positive pressure regulator. The environmental protection referred to is offered by a great number of manu- facturers as either standard or an upgrade, intended mainly to prevent first stage icing. This is really only needed in cold water (a must in ice diving) or when there's a lot of sand or silt around. > I have a Posiden Cyclon 300. I have been using it for about 8 years, with > no troubles. > > The only problem is that the primary stage is threaded metric, so adaptors > are needed to hook up any US made devices (BC, pressure [gauge], etc) --- > I have used a USD Conshelf for the past three years without any complaints > at all. I've found all USD equipment that I have used to be top quality. > I have seen many problems with the Aqualung line regulators free-flowing. > They seemed cheap to me. I used to rent one and have buddies that still > do. Maybe the new one out recently is OK but you can't bank on their past > performance like a USD product. --- > I have been using the Tekna for over a year and have had no cause > for complaint. Very easy breathing, except for a tendency to flutter > at depths of 10 feet or less. I was told that that was more a problem > with the breathing technique of the diver and, indeed, it's gone away. --- > I STRONGLY recommend Sherwood regulators. I own a Magnum Blizzard as my > primary, and a 3100 for my pony system. Sherwood also gives a LIFETIME > guarantee on all parts, metal and plastic. They are very dependable > regulators that [have] served me well for the past 6 years (for the 3100) > and 4 years (for the Blizzard). One thing to keep in mind is to make > sure to have your regulator checked ANNUALLY, that is ONE YEAR from purchase > date. > > My regulators get more use than from the average diver (I'm a dive master), > I spend almost every week end and one to two nights a week diving in classes > helping the instructors . . . I've never had problems with either regulator. --- > Everyone whose opinion I trust swears by the old MR-12. > I think a small company used to make them, then AMF bought > the patent, but seems like I heard AMF's weren't as good. Then > a while back I heard someone else was going to start making > them again - that may be the Mares MR-12 III you mention. > > I have a Dacor Pacer 600; it has been very reliable, and > performs pretty well. I expect the 900 would be even better. > I also use a Sherwood, I think it's a 250, on my pony. I don't > like it as well, although I've never had any real problems with it. --- It sounds like most people have had very good experiences with the regulators they bought. While there are variations in cost, reliability, performance, and maintenance I got the distinct impression that I would be satisfied with whatever major-brand regulator I chose. As you can see, the Tekna, U.S. Divers, Oceanic, Dacor, Sherwood, Mares, and even Poseidon regulators all got some enthusiastic responses and no complaints that could be said to be indictments of an entire line or manufacturer. What surprises me is the total absence of Scubapro regulator owners. I was almost sold on one of these, too, until I decided it was just too much money for more performance than I would reasonably need. It's like stereo amplifiers, the total harmonic distortion on most of these at a decent price (not K-Mart blue light specials) is well below the level that can be detected by human beings, and you don't buy a stereo for your cat. (Or do you?) I fully expected to hear something from someone about what a breakthrough the MK-V first stage was years ago and how their A.I.R. II makes such an excellent octopus/power inflator. Anyway, I suppose if you've read this far, you'll probably be interested in what I ended up getting. It turned out that a store about a mile from where I work which also does a heavy mail-order business, Berry Scuba, had a sale on the Dacor Pacer 900 and Oceanic DataMax Console combination. The package price was under $300! I liked the regulator since it was made by a well-established company located in the same metropolitan area (Dacor is in Northfield, a suburb of Chicago) and the Pacer line has a good reputation as a balanced system. I briefly thought of substituting an XL instead of the Pacer second stage but decided it wasn't worth the bother. I do like the 900 first stage very much. As far as the DataMax goes, this was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, so I don't have to strap eighteen things to my wrists and arms. There are a couple other companies which make consoles very similar to this one, but I was especially impressed with the completely automatic bottom timer/surface timer/repetitive dive number indicator, mounted in the depth gauge. Considering the price and the quality of the package, I think I got a very good deal. I thought another few days about an octopus and saw a sale on the Dacor Pacer Aero second stage for $55. Until I saw that, I was leaning to U.S. Divers for my octopus. If I owned a BC, I might have gone for the Scubapro AIR II. It's going to be enough of a hassle attaching a rented BC power inflator to my first stage every time I go diving. Thanks to all who responded to my query. -- Roger Noe ihnp4!riccb!rjnoe