2023 Regulator Staff Picks and One Top Choice

At 4:09 I should have said the AQL Legend.

Call: 800-999-3483
Apeks
Aqua Lung
Scuba Pro Mk19/G260
HOG

or call

[sammoyers]

Thanks for the video, Bob. I want to throw in two regulators in the $800.00 plus range. Both are designed for EVERY diving application from shallow, to extreme depth (one, to 200 M), to mud, to ice. Both work either to the right or to the left. Work at high pressure (300 Bar), and breath as easily at depth as they do on the surface. I of course refer to the Poseidon Cyklon 3000 regulator. And the Poseidon X Stream. I have been using Poseidon regulators since 1978 and cannot see myself using anything else. They work EVERYWHERE in all conditions.
I have tried many other regulators, but nothing breaths like a Poseidon regulator. Always breaths easy, without extra knobs and gimmicks.
I know several divers who own several different regulators for different jobs. I own one set, that works for everything.

Thanks again for the video Bob, and of course the ability to toast my favorite regulator company. 😊

[UNgineering]

Can confirm, I tried about 5-6 different regs before settling on XTX50. Never had an issue, breathes amazing even at 100ft+.

[dariuszmichalski]

For single cylinder i use scubapro mk25evo +A700 for twinset apeks mtx-r and I am in love with both sets

[nickadkins]

You know Apeks is doing something right when 3 of their regs make a best reg list!

[caflet]

I dive a long hose set up, and I have the older Glacia regs. When I had my local dive shop swap the hose out for a 7ft, I lost one heat exchanger, because it was part of the hose assembly, not the reg. It still doesn't freeze or anything, but is this still a design issue, or is that ribbed heat exchanger part of the regulator now? To be clear, I mean the one one the second stage not the first. If you remove that hose, does the ribbed portion go with it?

[ALTech-U]

Hi Bob. Thanks to your video, I learned a lot and is grateful to you for that.
Four days ago, I made an order for equipment on your website, which I chose for a long time, paid for the order, and after I received a message by e -mail with a request to confirm my order. Having done this, I began to wait for my parcel. To my surprise after four days in spam, I found a message that states that my order will be canceled if I do not call the office. I’m diving in Mexico on vacation but calling the office, the girl told me that she would cancel my order, and offered to make it again and pay through PayPal.


My question is why they didn’t call me from the office to confirm the information and why I should again spend my evening on vacation to make an order.
Why employees cannot do this because I already paid for the order.

Thank you. Best regards. Aleksandr

[kathrynhonggg]

when you said that the tubing smelled like vanilla, i laughed so hard! 😂 are all of these regs compatible with cold water diving as well? thanks for the video, Bob!

[whaleshark]

Nice to see my XTX50 winning best buy!

[fridericogatti]

Comparing the Aqualung Legend 3 Elite with the MK25/A700 is a genuine challenge. Perhaps a dedicated review by Bob can provide the answer

[MysticalDragon]

nice video. it would have been nice to have links to each of them.

[cliffh]

Aqualung did well in this competition, be it apeks or aqualung same company. I dive the mikron I really like it.

[peanutbutter]

Thanks for the awesome video Bob! I found an offer for the xtx50 at a cheaper price than the xtx200, however the first stage for the xtx50 is din instead of yoke. I do most of my dive in asia where they use Yoke. Should I just get the xtx50 and get a separate converter (din to yoke) or should I just get the xtx200 (but not with the turreted first stage). What do you think? Thanks in advance!

[jeffconley]

I will say a Scubapro regulator can last a lifetime. I own Scubapro Mark 2 and Mark 5 regulators. Both, models originally came out in the 1960's. And I can still get service parts for them. You can't say that about many regulators.
I am concerned about the financial issues Aqualung is currently having. Bob can you address that?

[fridericogatti]

I can share my personal experience with both the Legend and MK25 first stages, along with several second stages. The MK25 provides an amazing breathing experience that's incomparable to the Legend. I've paired the MK25 with the G260, S620ti, and A700. The A700 with the MK25 stands in a league of its own, offering smooth breathing and lower air consumption (based on Eon Core tank pod data). The S620ti is very similar, albeit with a more metallic sound that can be bothersome. The G260 performs well but is heavier. On the other hand, the Legend set with the Elite disappointed me. During stressful situations, the regulator struggled to deliver air, and overall, the air consumption was consistently 10 to 15% higher, compared to any scubapronsecond stage with the MK25. I only dive in warm water at temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. My current primary is A700 with Mk25 and the S620ti as octos.

[puckalakealake]

Seems like your best bet is to go to the store and really spend time on your setup for your brand of diving. Out of the box hoses may not work for your BCD. What about mouth piece. If the one on the out of the box set is uncomfortable that is going to be a $85 issue right? If you want to dive deep wrecks then you may need to immediately get an adapter to so you can hook up DIN reg to a yoke tank. All of these variations can cost a lot of wasted time if you don't get expert advice. And that's probably going to be an experienced person...

[sprokkel]

I wanted an xtx50 and ended up buying an atomic st1

[patryka]

I love new Mares Atlas 62X. I think it beats all in terms of breathing quality.

[ProNailsSchool]

The expensives are not the best, in my experience, the best and really long lasting are Sherwood, those last forever.

[bloodymarvelous]

Time to get with the times though. All except one still have a yoke connector, and all of these can be purchased in both yoke and DIN configs. DIN is far superior to yoke. It's safer, lighter, easier, and can handle higher pressures. Why anyone would still go with a yoke is beyond me.

[asmith]

wow the only reg which is not serviceable is the BEST pick... any Deep Six? or Dive Rite? guessed not.. only OCEANIC brands