Northwest Dive Club

Hi! My husband and I are new to scuba diving and we are looking to buy a good cold water regulator. We will be diving predominately in the pacific northwest. Any suggestions? We are currently looking at SCUBAPRO MK25 EVO/G260 and Aqualung Core Supreme. Any info would be awesome! Thanks!

there are many choices for regs ... balanced Vs Unbalanced ... And price ....or used ?
I dive Us Diver Regs ... SE 2 , and Conshelf ... bullet proof , easy to find used , cheap to rebuild...
It all depends on who you talk to , and what type of people you dive with ?
technical divers like tech regs .... others Like Rges that are widely used amongst friends....

Both of the regs you mentioned are great choices. I actually dive MK25's for my doubles and the AL Legend as my single tank set-up. IMHO the Legend breathes slightly better but the difference is minor. If you have any tech diving aspirations the MK25's are your best bet because of the swivel turret. Since the Legend is a block manifold the hose routing on doubles would be a bit clugey.

There are a ton of great choices out there and really cant go wrong with any of them. As far as manufacturers go I like ScubaPro, AquaLung, Atomics and Apeks but I'm sure others are fine also. If you buy a good set of regs they should last for years - the Conshelfs that Doc mentioned above have been out of production for around 20 years and his are still going strong.

A bit of advise - dont get hung up on the bells and whistles that the manufacturers put on their regs. Things such as ACD, "over balanced", "Titanium" (definitely shy away from Ti, it's flammable when combined with high concentrations of O2) etc. A good base model is all that you'll need.

+1 to the Scubapro MK25 combo (or Halcyon equivalent - similar same) I have them on all my OC kit and Apeks on CCR.

I've been using Scubapro (or equivalent) since early 90's and I've personally never had a dive cancel due to a first or second stage issue. They are pretty bomb-proof.

I have seen first stage pressure creep in more than a few Apeks but that could have just been because the regs were not serviced with any regularity, and the Mfg may have solved the problem since then, but I'm not a repair tech or retailer so I don't know about recent improvements/advances.

These days regs are all pretty darn good, it becomes more of a regulator popularity contest I wouldn't get hung up on the cold water thing either unless you have specific ice diving plans, and even then most modern regs do just fine.

I've had issues with apeks:
1) Two 1st stage blow outs, fortunately above water but missed CCR dives both times
2) Repairs and spares can be pricey

The ScubaPro MK25's I've used have always been solid and service more reasonable and easy to source.

My oasis-ce (Sherwood) was flawless in 30 degree water. This is my primary reg and I use it in 50 - 80 degree water most of the time.
IMO, Service the reg annually no matter what you get or how much you use it.......
Don

BillZ wrote:Both of the regs you mentioned are great choices. I actually dive MK25's for my doubles and the AL Legend as my single tank set-up. IMHO the Legend breathes slightly better but the difference is minor. If you have any tech diving aspirations the MK25's are your best bet because of the swivel turret. Since the Legend is a block manifold the hose routing on doubles would be a bit clugey.

There are a ton of great choices out there and really cant go wrong with any of them. As far as manufacturers go I like ScubaPro, AquaLung, Atomics and Apeks but I'm sure others are fine also. If you buy a good set of regs they should last for years - the Conshelfs that Doc mentioned above have been out of production for around 20 years and his are still going strong.

A bit of advise - dont get hung up on the bells and whistles that the manufacturers put on their regs. Things such as ACD, "over balanced", "Titanium" (definitely shy away from Ti, it's flammable when combined with high concentrations of O2) etc. A good base model is all that you'll need.

Yes ... I have a Reg Problem..

HOG D1 Classics have worked well for me and my wife for several years. We have dove in water from 30-83*.

I am also on the HOG D1 Classics, Easy to rebuild (after training), and solid regs. I think I have like 5 of them and use them for all kinds of things, deco, doubles, monkey diving, blah blah

MK25 for the win!!!!

Mk25 or Mk17; both are excellent in cold water. Ideally paired with a G250(v) / G260, though I also like my A700.

The HOG Classic 1st and 2nd stages work well enough, but my HOG 2nds tend to corrode more readily than my ScubaPro regs. When that happens it's cheaper to buy a new one rather than replace the barrel and seat of the old one.

Well I hate to buck the trend, but.... I love my Apeks. Had them for 13 years, serviced them fairly faithfully, um... Kinda, and I have had zero issue with them. They have over 500 dives on them, and will possibly see that many more. They breathe great, work well in cold water.

I know the Apeks are great just don't own any so can't reference

There really are a ton of great regulators out there.

Perhaps a better question would be, "What regs would you stay away from, and why?"

OK I gotta muddy things up a bit more, I love my Atomic's, if I had to do it over, ScubaPro or a Hog set.

Tom Nic wrote:
Perhaps a better question would be, "What regs would you stay away from, and why?"

1) OMS (although not currently made), Mares, and Poseiden due to lack of parts and service opps
2) Sherwoods due to the annoying "dry piston" which bubbles as part of the design
3) Unless used on an argon or stage bottle, any piston reg without a swivel (hoses end up sticking out every which way)

CaptnJack wrote:

Tom Nic wrote:
Perhaps a better question would be, "What regs would you stay away from, and why?"

1) OMS (although not currently made), Mares, and Poseiden due to lack of parts and service opps
2) Sherwoods due to the annoying "dry piston" which bubbles as part of the design
3) Unless used on an argon or stage bottle, any piston reg without a swivel (hoses end up sticking out every which way)

Perfect!

This is actually very helpful, actually for me more helpful than "I love my xxxxx regs!"

That said, I'll throw my Oceanic regs into the mix which have been wonderful for the last 10 years!

I love Tom Nic's regs