Regulator choice ?

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Hi-Soft - 31 Mar 2008 00:34 GMT

I know i'm probably going to open a tin of worms here but :

Im looking to purchase my first regulator set (1st stage, 2nd stage & occy),
and I've narrowed it down to just few after lots of reading & researching
etc...

Tusa : RS-110 / SS-110

Oceanic : Alpha 8 ( reg & occy)

AquaLung : Calipso reg / ABS occy

Opinions for final decision please ...?

BTW, I'll probably do most of my diving in Victoria to max 30 meters..

cheers,
Brian Canham

( ( ( MetroMix STUDIO ) ) )
180 Bank st, South Melbourne.
Vic, AUSTRALIA 3205
T. (+61) 3 9645 5371
www.metromixstudio.com
www.myspace.com/briancanham
www.myspace.com/metromixstudio

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dechucka - 31 Mar 2008 01:59 GMT

>I know i'm probably going to open a tin of worms here but :
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> BTW, I'll probably do most of my diving in Victoria to max 30 meters..

Hope you've got a nice thick wetsuit .:-)

I can't really comment on the sets. However when I bought quite a while ago
major consideration after getting down to a short list was ease of getting
them serviced ( does your local LDS do them or is there somewhere close ),
ease of getting spares ( if you have to ship away to the US for a part it
becomes expensive and you have to hire or get loan gear ) and price ( are
you willing to pay for the extra features that separate the cheapest from
the most expensive and do you need them)

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Hi-Soft - 31 Mar 2008 02:28 GMT

>>I know i'm probably going to open a tin of worms here but :
>>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> price ( are you willing to pay for the extra features that separate the
> cheapest from the most expensive and do you need them)

yeah good points... well I have both Tusa and Oceanic dealers quite near by,
though I think Oceanic is more localized ("Oceanic Australia")... so
possibly leaning that way now... on the other hand, my BCD is a Tusa
Platina...and some people say it's easier if everything is serviced at one
place... but as I said...both dealers are near by..anyway..

I must say, I do prefer the all yellow occy of the Tusa...just for safety
reasons..

And...yeah...also looking into a new wetsuit too..( currently just have a
3mm Tusa steamer )... that's another sagga to sift through..

Got that down to :
Pinnacle (aka Parragon) Elastiprene 7mm
Bare 7mm Arctic
AquaLung Aquaflex 7mm
and a few others too..

bc

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dechucka - 31 Mar 2008 02:54 GMT

>>>I know i'm probably going to open a tin of worms here but :
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
> I must say, I do prefer the all yellow occy of the Tusa...just for safety
> reasons..

well that is a feature that you should consider than. It will help you find
it when a panicked diver sees the blowing bubbles and grabs it our of your
mouth ;-(

> And...yeah...also looking into a new wetsuit too..( currently just have a
> 3mm Tusa steamer )... that's another sagga to sift through..

You haven't dived Melbourne in that have you. We used to wear those sailing
in Melbourne and still got cold and we tried to not get to wet

> Got that down to :
> Pinnacle (aka Parragon) Elastiprene 7mm
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> bc

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Hi-Soft - 31 Mar 2008 12:09 GMT

>> And...yeah...also looking into a new wetsuit too..( currently just have a
>> 3mm Tusa steamer )... that's another sagga to sift through..
>
> You haven't dived Melbourne in that have you. We used to wear those
> sailing in Melbourne and still got cold and we tried to not get to wet

unfortunately YES, though only snorkeling her in Melb....not bad in mid
summer, but tried it the other day...and it was chilly after about 5
mins...booh. But not...not planning to scuba in it..not here at least....it
was great in Thailand...bloody luxury diving over there in 29 degree
water...damn...now I'm back to a thick suit and a tone of weight ;(...ah
well that's diving in Vic....

bc

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ScubaDan - 01 Apr 2008 08:30 GMT

Hi Brian,

You should perhaps consider the cost of servicing too. I recently had
my set (Spiro Arctic) serviced at a cost of just under $300 with
parts and labour. I know that some manufacturers are offering free
parts for life which would mean that you only pay the labour costs
($95) for a service.

Cheers,
Danny

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Hi-Soft - 01 Apr 2008 12:49 GMT

> Hi Brian,
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Cheers,
> Danny

Wow..I can't believe how expensive that is....but yeah...very valid point I
guess...

I was thinking of purchasing from LeisurePro in the US...usually about a
third of the local cost ( including postage )...but then got to weigh up the
warranty etc...

I'm also having to deal with the "spin" from local dealers telling me how
one brand is so much better than another ( obviously the one they carry is
the best ).... and how much for servicing etc....so it's hard to sift
through it all.

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Fraser Johnston - 02 Apr 2008 10:35 GMT

> Hi Brian,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> parts for life which would mean that you only pay the labour costs
> ($95) for a service.

Oceanic has that sort of deal which leant me to getting their stuff.

Fraser

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Don Gingrich - 03 Apr 2008 12:09 GMT

> I know i'm probably going to open a tin of worms here but :
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> AquaLung : Calipso reg / ABS occy

I've got a Calypso that was O2 cleaned that
I used for a deco reg. I wouldn't want to
dive it too deep, though.

But I've used the Titans, and I thought they
were good regs.

I'm using ScubaPro Mk25s with an s600 and a
s550 as the second stages. And I have to say
that they're the best I've ever used. They
"just work" and breathe easy no matter the depth
or workload.

Give some thought to what you may get into in the
future. Buy kit that you can at least use in some
way.

I do a fair bit of deep stuff, but I also do
shallow pier dives and shore dives. So I have wound
up with a variety of kit.

But the best advice I had when I was starting was to
consider the heaviest, deepest diving I was likely to do
and buy kit that was suitable for that.

I still use the Trans-Pac that was my first BC, and
the Titan regs are now my deco regs since I had them
O2 cleaned. The Calypso will wind up as a reg for the
separate dry suit inflator cylinder. (Hmm... sort
of contradicting myself - everything has some sort
of use down the track.)

But get regulators that are comfortable for you and breathe
really easy at the depths you are using them at. If you
can test them before buying, that's even better.

-Don

> Opinions for final decision please ...?
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> www.myspace.com/briancanham
> www.myspace.com/metromixstudio

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