Budget Regulator Comparison Guide

hi guys and welcome to simply scuba in this comparison guide we're going to be taking a look at five budget regulators so let's take a closer look so all of these regulators sit under the 300-pound bracket that puts it in our budget range for this comparison guide and these of course all come in a clamp or dim okay so if we take a closer look at our first regulator this is the scuba pro r19 five with a mark two plus first stage so the first stage itself is nice and compact but this is a wheel and spoke pattern design so so all of the hoses come out to the perpendicular to your first stage it only has one high-pressure port so if you're looking to add a transmitter that does limit you whilst it doesn't have an environmental seal what it does have on the inside is a X tisk coating so if you can see on the inside the spring itself is coated with a matte blue finish and this prevents ice from forming on the internal parts this is great for cold water diving all of these regulators here are suitable for cold water diving but this one has that it improved its performance since its predecessor comes a standard with a traditional rubber hose very reliable very tough and and useful but but they're a little bit heavier compared to the newer braided hoses that are coming out on the market the second stage itself nice understated design you've got a single purge button on the front so a solid purge button on that and what this does have is a seat saving device so if you push that in and twist it you can see it kind of sets their logo off at an angle and it pushes that purge button in just a little bit that means that when your regulators are in storage you can you can sort of extend its life time because it's relieving the tension off of that spring so that seat isn't going to be bedded in the only adjustment you have on this regulator is a pre dive dive venturi lever so it's either on or off and and all know it's a lightweight polymer so great for travel but you can also use this in the UK then if we move over to our next offering which is from Marez so the Marez Rover comes with the 15 X first stage so the first stage is now a 90 degree first stage so instead of that wheel and spoke pattern now the first stage itself is perpendicular and then the hose comes out of that angle port so it's very easy to mount lots of different hoses and you have two high-pressure ports so you can start using submersible pressure gauges and a wireless air transmitter so this one doesn't have environmental sealing but it is cold water rated all that means is that you just have to wash out this sort of area make sure that sort of clean and dry get any kind of contaminants out of that make sure that salt isn't building up on the inside so after every dive just wash it with warm soapy water and let it dry properly again this has got a rubber hose just like the scuba probe and then we move on to the second stage so the second stage again very understated design you have a all of this is your purge button basically so no matter where you push on this it's gonna activate that and that purge button you've got that kind of vented design this is going to prevent the regulator from free flowing if you swim into an oncoming current this has no adjustability on it you don't have any breathing adjustment or a venturi but really you don't actually need it because they have a VAD design which is a vortex assisted design so instead of the gas coming straight into the second stage and then swirling around eventually making it into your mouth this angle is it and points it straight towards your mouth which should make it a much smoother breathe all in all very simple understated lightweight as well so again great for travel then we're gonna move across to Aqualung so the Aqua encore is a very nice regulator you've got a few more adjustments and bits and bobs on the second stage but we're gonna take a look at the first stage first so as you can see this is in mentally sealed you've got that little bit of plastic that just means that it's environmentally soon like the the Marez you have for low pressure ports and to high pressure ports and these again are angled so that just makes hose routing nice and easy rubber hose again and then on to the second stage which is the core so the first main difference from any of these other regulators is you have this lip shield so this is more for cold water diving you can take this off it's just a very simple sort of section of silicone that wraps around your mouthpiece and this just covers your lips up so this is great for cold water diving because your lips aren't exposed to the cold waters they you don't get that kind of numbing effect and that cold beauty it gives you also has a reusable zip tie on that so if you need to change this mouthpiece you can do that you don't need sort of extra zip ties to were to put that on you just reuse the one that comes with it so first thing as the air comes in you can see we have lots of heat sinks on this on the inlet so that's going to help with the cold water performance on the purge button most of that is a purge button but this is all flexible so it's kind of halfway between the scuba and the rover no matter where you push on it it's going to it's going to purge but it's not it's not solid one adjustment on this you have that venturi the pre dive lever that interrupts free flows so when you first jump in its gonna interrupt a free flow before it occurred another thing to note is that this comes with their comfo bite mouthpiece which is a little bit smaller which means how you and it also has this bridge over the top which means that you don't have to bite down quite so hard so that can reduce your fatigue so if you're going on longer dives makes it much more comfortable then we're gonna move across to siak so siak an italian brand starting off with their first stage we have an environmental ceiling the same as the I'll call for low pressure ports to high pressure ports and that's a big chunk of metal so that's great for cold water diving lots of metal means that it's going to absorb lots of heat from the water and really warm that gas up as it flows through the first stage so this is the first that we've had on our list that comes with a braided hose as standard braided hoses are much lighter than traditional rubber hoses the otter more flexible and most of them have a higher burst pressure so they tend to be a bit safer then on to the second stage so this second stage has all the bells and whistles that you can get on a sort of high-end second stage you have the venturi lever as you do on the the previous regulators but you also have breathing adjustment so as you screw this in it makes it a little bit stiffer to breathe from that from that second stage and then if you unscrew it makes a little bit lighter debris so you can adjust exactly how tough it is debris from the regulator some divers prefer it a little bit stiffer some for a little bit lighter it's up to personal preference but you can adjust this as you're in the water now the purge button is a solid purge button and you should have push anywhere on that is pension purge it what's nice about this is that you can sort of push on one edge and that will just open the valve a little bit so you don't get that full force of that purge just sort of blasting a second stage out of your mouth you can push it a little bit just to push the water out and turn clear that second stage other than that very simple design simple sort of polymers you've got a bit of a metallic front so that gives it a bit of a sort of shiny cosmetic edge compared to the others all in all a fantastic little regulator and then we move on to Hollis so the Hollis lx100 is there where their base level regulator it's got some good styling on it but we'll look at the second stage in a little bit first off we have their first stage again like most of these it's that 90-degree design you have four low-pressure ports and two high pressure ports and environmental sealing as well that then leads on to a braided hose same as the siak again lightweight and so better for travel and they do sort of improve the UV resistance as well on to the second stage so the 2nd stage itself has some nice sort of cosmetics too it's got a matte black finish and that kind of honeycomb front which is which does look good underneath that so the honeycomb mesh you have the Reds so the protector that protects the the diaphragm underneath that so just like the Mara's as you're swimming into oncoming currents it's not going to affect and it's not going to free throw the regulator all of this is your purge button again to push anywhere on that it's all flexible and that will push that lever on the inside to purge it you have one adjustment on this you have that venturi lever so it's either on or off and another great thing about this is that it can be ambidextrous so if you do want the hose to come out of the other side you can take it to a Hollis dealer or a Hollis service center and they'll be able to swap that over for you take a little bit of time but if you want that hose to be routed over your left hand shoulder that can be done Auto comes with their orthodontic mouthpiece a little bit these mouthpieces that you can see in red when you chomp down on they're a little bit tougher than the silicone around it so it's a bit more comfortable and it just means that that mouthpiece is gonna last a lot longer and so you're not going to bite through it quite so readily ok so now we're gonna hook up each of the regulators to some gas so you can see what it's like when they were actually pressurized so this is the school throat r19 fine the purge button definitely works you can push that lightly just to get a little bit but that's in the water if you were in particular gloves you're going to really need to be precise if you only want a little bit but very easy to find definitely a positive action you've got the dive and pre dive you do notice a slight bit of difference when you're breathing swapping it from pre dive to dive the main benefit of that is as the regulator goes into a free flow when it's in pre dive that will interrupt it so it won't waste any gas whereas when it's in dive mode if a free flow does develop it will just continue it's a very nice smooth breathe some nice and quiet as well nice and smooth you don't require too much energy to get much gas out of it this is definitely a contender in my top 2 so then we have the Mara's Rover so all of this is your purge button so no matter where you push it that's always going to emerge fully pressing that button it's not quite as energetic as the scuba pro but that's definitely gonna clear your regulator if that fills up with with water because you've got that sort of vortex assisted design it actually sucks that so that diaphragm in so as you're breathing in you're getting a smooth breathe instead of that kind of fluttering that you can get with some second stages this is gonna be nice and smooth drawing in and as you exhale it's just gonna come out the bottom through that exhaust diagram nice and quiet smooth breathe yeah I'll definitely sort of highly recommend this regulator okay so now we have the core so the core as with the Marez all of this is flexible your purge buttons or wherever you push on that it's always going to purge at full power that's fairly powerful that's of course without the venturi you're pushing on that purge button will free flow it but if you switch that to to maximum it just interrupts it so very handy that's particularly useful on your octo because that won't be in your mouth as you first jump in and so that definitely proves that the venturi works as far as breathing from it nice and smooth it's got a little bit of flutter but but all-in-all it's a decent breed I'd be very happy to use this in in cold waters that lip shield first it feels a little bit weird because very few other regulators have it but trust me when you're diving in cold cold waters it's definitely helped okay so now we have the siak DX 200 so this has quite a smart front cover on it all of this is your purge button so no matter where you push on that that's going to purge all the way push is sort of very strong that's with the venturi on with the venturi off it still doesn't free flow but that's always a good thing screwing it all the way in you'll notice a little bit of difference between the amount of airflow but it's more when you're taking small breaths from that regulator that you'll notice that kind of change in the stiffness so breathing from it if I open out all the way just to get its maximum performance that kind of sort of horn noise when you exhale that's fine that's just the exhaust diaphragm when that's underwater the water is gonna be holding that down so you're not in a vibrates breathing from it nice and smooth very good breathe from that so I'm very impressed yeah all in all a good second stage on that okay and finally onto our hollis the 100 LX so good styling on that the purge button again it's all of that you push on on that it's going to purge it quite a powerful purge button on this so no matter how much gas you want it's going to give you plenty of gas that's without the venturi if I switch the venturi on that stops it from free-flowing breathing from it properly in dive mode yeah it it gives you a lot of gas obviously it will only give you as much gas as you want but it does feel that you're getting a lot of gas when you're breathing in from it it's a smooth breeze though there's a little bit of kind of fluttering there it's a little loud but but all in all a a good little second stage so that was a quick look at five budget regulators these are all available at our website simply scuba comm if you have any more questions about these regulators let us know in the comments below thanks for watching and safe diving

Channel: Simply Scuba

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Keywords: simplyscuba, simply scuba, The Simply Group (TSG), Budget Regulator Comparison Guide, budget, regulator, comparison, guide, dive regulator, regulator guide, regulator comparison, comparison guide, scuba diving, scuba diving (interest), scuba diving (sport), dive gear, cheap, cheap regulator, budget regulators, low price, compare, Buying Your First Regulator, regulators for beginners, beginner, scuba gear, best, best diving regulators

Id: P5dQXbrcGz4

Length: 15min 34sec (934 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 06 2017