One major item on most new scuba divers’ shopping lists is their primary, secondary, and octo set up or what is also known as regulators. A good set of regulators can last a diver a pretty long time with the appropriate care. There are several things to consider when making this purchase or purchases. I will let you know a few things to consider and some of the features I found important when making my purchase. One thing to note for this blog, I will probably make A LOT of car metaphors. Sometimes this helps put the cost and quality of an item into perspective.
Let’s start at the beginning… we were scuba students at some point just like we were all driving students in Driver’s Education Class. Just like during our days in Driver’s Ed driving a budget friendly, reliable, and extremely safe car; the first set of regulators you use is the basic Toyota Camry or Ford Taurus. Is it fancy, no. Is it nimble, fast and complete with a sport tuned suspension, hell no. Does it work well and have all the basic functions you need to learn, absolutely. The regulator systems typically used as rentals and in scuba classes are going to be work horse models with little sophistication. They are going to serve their purpose of working consistently, having basic maintenance needs, and can be found at a reasonable price. They are a great place to start, but unless you only dive one to two times per year there are better things out there for you.
I started my primary, secondary, and octo search where I start most of my searches: making a list of my wants. Some things I considered when I started looking were:
- How often do I dive?
- Where do I dive?
- What’s the water temperature and quality of my diving sites?
- Will I ever dive with nitrox or any other specialty?
- How many ports do I need from my primary?
- What user specific features do I want?
- What is my budget?
I dive regularly in Southern California where our water is a little more full of life than most places and can be full of a variety of things from seasonal run-off. When I considered these things, I knew I needed to start with an environmentally sealed system. This helps to keep any containments out of the unit and helps limit the potential for corrosion. For my primary I also wanted a lower profile design because I had gotten tired of hitting my head on the primary of some rental gear. For the number of ports, I made sure there were enough so if I ever wanted to try out diving with a dry suit I could. Lastly, when I bought my regular I knew I was going to become nitrox certified in the coming year so I made sure I looked at nitrox compatible units. Primary and secondary units should clearly state if they are nitrox compatible and the percentage they are compatible with.
For my secondary, I had a fair number of options but ultimately it came down to price, quality, and features. My personal budget was about at a Toyota Avalon, nice but not the full blown Lexus. I didn’t want to blow up my credit card bill, but I wanted a regulator that would last me a few years and one I would enjoy diving with. Also again, since I dive primarily in Southern California I needed a regulator built for cold water.
In the end I purchased a full Oceanic set up. I have an Oceanic FDX10 primary, Oceanic Delta 4.2 regulator/secondary, and Oceanic Alpha 7 octopus. I didn’t mean to stick with one brand, but I found a good deal… to put it in perspective I ended up with a fully loaded Avalon. I have been extremely content with my purchases and the system has worked great. I purchased a DIN primary because most of our tanks are DIN and it can be converted to yoke with an adapter in a few seconds. The features I have enjoyed the most have been the dive/pre-dive switch and the swivel mouth piece. The dive/pre-dive switch helps to limit free flows before descending from a boat or during our swims out when we shore dive. There are also several features to this system which help to reduce ocean water from getting in and after a long rainy season I really appreciate this feature. I don’t want any bugs and gross stuff getting into my air supply and damaging my equipment.
I do have to give it to Oceanic, they have made some pieces with several features many divers didn’t even know they wanted until they see it. The secondary has the Adjustable Venturi System (AVS) and allows the breathing resistance to be changed at any point during a dive. I haven’t toyed with this feature too much, but I have found when the resistance is set super low my SAC rate increases slightly. The sealing of the primary seems to be fairly thorough as well as has their patented Dry Regulatory Technology (DRT). Both my secondary and octo came with MaxFlex hoses which are very flexible.
The octo is an octo. It has worked great with some skills refreshers. It is equivalent to your compact rental. There during your business trip, but you’re glad it is not your actual car.
One thing to note, both the Delta 4.2 and the Alpha 7 have been replaced in Oceanic’s product line. They now have the Delta 5 and the Alpha 8 Octo.
Please let me know if you have any other questions about this regulator set up and I’m happy to let you know more. Thank you so much!!!
-Meliae Quad