New Gear Advice Please!!!.......

[TOBERMOREY]

I will apologise in advance to all the " old sweats " on here who must be fed up of us " Newbies " asking for advice in relation to new kit !!!...... Sorry chums , but I have tried to make it as painless as poss!!............

The Time has come , ( with Santa just around the corner) for me to invest in some major parts of my dive kit - Regs & BCD...

I wont ask for just general advice , as I have listened to advice , read threads from other Newbies on here , etc etc , and come down to a couple of choices ( well one Brand or Reg & One BCD ) that I would like some advice on , if you please.....

Ok , at this stage diving for me is only going to be a warm water , holiday adventure so far!! AOW , completed in Oct, I am looking to do maybe another course or two and enjoy diving for a while before emmersing myself in Britains waters!! ( you hardened cold water divers feel free to take the P*!S )So I was thinking will this have an effect on what Regs to purchase?

Right , stop waffling , the choices................

Decided on Apeks Regs and Oct with Din not A clamp, mostly on the weight of public support for them!! havent read a bad comment to date? Only thing , does it matter whether its TX40'S 50'S or 100'S ?? Is the only difference cost? And one other small thing if I someday want to cold water dive will the Apeks regs serve both waters??

BCD - The Northern Divers " Guardian" has caught my interest thus far , is this an ok model? or is there anything people would recommend against it? In my LDS I can pick it up for£169 , anything better about for that sort of cost??

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!
Many Thanks,

Tobermorey.

[RonProwse]

check out MegaDiveStore.com | Your first choice! for a great deal on Apeks regs £270 you just need to add a console, I brought two sets of these guys, very professional and you can track the orders from Germany.

Ron

[Woz]

Dont bother with anything more than a 50 for the Apeks. Waste of money.

Dunno about the ND Guardian. Personally I woudn't use anything other than a Buddy. Not the most comfortable, not the cheapest, but indestructible.

[Hazel W]

with respect to the regs ...apex is a sound choice ... my advise would be to try them. the tx or atx 40s 50s 100s all have rather different breath charecteristics and it does come down to personl preference (the txs are much heavier than the atx) ....as a rough guide however the higher the model the more volume or gas it can deliver.

hazel

ps ... apex regs are all good for warm or cold water

[Scuba Dub]

ND Guardian is a good BCD, my mrs / dive buddy has one. Good features, well made. About 70 dives so far and still looks brand new.
Another vote for the Apeks. ATX 40 all you need.
Cheers

[Woz]

Not nececelery H. The inside of an apeks 1st stage is identical across the range as is the inside of the 2nd. The only difference is the 40 has no external adjuster (you can Araldite a bit of stainless bar into it if you want) and the 200 has a replaceable HP seat rather than having it integral with the body. Apart from that, there's bugger all in them. Apart from marketing blurb and bling.

The TX is the toughest of the lot, the ATX is the smallest (great for a necklaced backup) and the XTX is the newest and I have no idea how they breathe. I do know, though, that the 100 and 200 1sts are a PITA for twinsets as the port angles are all wrong.

If I make a few, anyone else fancy a stainless doohicky you can Araldite into your ?X40 2nd stage?

[Titanic]

As a novice diver who has recently bought a fair bit of kit can I support the oft made suggestion to go and see your local dive store?

While things may appear cheaper on the web (and it is fun browsing when you maybe should be doing other things ) it is not always as advantageous as it appears.

For example, I bought an Apeks reg on-line but who am I going to take it to for servicing? And in fact, while it looked straightforward I even took it to my LDS for assembly as I see it as a piece of kit I want total confidence in! They would near enough have matched the cost price in any case!

I bought my BCD off my LDS, it was last years model and reduced, I didn't go after a specific model but did have in mind the features I did and didn't want.

I have also now bought a 5mm wetsuit from them, I'm not an easy off the peg fit but they found one that works for me (and prevented me buying one that felt like it fitted but was actually too loose).

It seems clear to me I will benefit by being known when I go to my LDS and by being seen as a returning customer. I'm not saying I'll never buy on-line but I'm now quite reluctant to go this route for any big stuff.

Alan

[SJT]

Originally Posted by Woz

The inside of an apeks 1st stage is identical across the range as is the inside of the 2nd. The only difference is the 40 has no external adjuster (you can Araldite a bit of stainless bar into it if you want) and the 200 has a replaceable HP seat rather than having it integral with the body. Apart from that, there's bugger all in them. Apart from marketing blurb and bling.

Woz, just interested, but if they really are identical, why/how do the different models in the range give different ANTSI results? I'm sure you're right about the marketing blub and bling, but there must be some techincal differences too...surely? Am I being stupidly naive?

[Woz]

Originally Posted by SJT

Woz, just interested, but if they really are identical, why/how do the different models in the range give different ANTSI results? I'm sure you're right about the marketing blub and bling, but there must be some techincal differences too...surely? Am I being stupidly naive?

The service kits for all Apeks 1sts are the same. 2nds are slightly different but the main replaceable bits are identical. Diaphragm diameters change but that's about it.

I use a TX40 as my primary reg and it's an incredibly sweet breathe. You can tune them easily. I have an ATX100 as a necklaced backup. I don't care what the ANSTI machine says, the 40 is by far the better breathe at any depth, probably due to the larger diaphragm making it easier to pull the lever open on the poppet. They are a bit heavier in the mouth, though, so you may want to go for the ?TX instead that are smaller and lighter.

If I was buying from new for a single I'd get a TX50, an ATX50 and a DIN DS4 with a simple booted (oh I'll be flamed for that no doubt) SPG and no console. Any more and you may as well throw money out of the window. Honestly. Save your money and spend it on going diving instead. These regs will see you all the way through to as deep and stupid as you want to go. In fact I would say you could go even cheaper than that- get the SDS Watersports TX40/DS4 combo for £125 quid, add a gauge for £30 and an ATX50 2nd for £80. There. Full set 'o decent regs for a snip over £200.

[SJT]

Okay, that makes sense I guess. Thanks Woz.