Equipment questions

[A.Quigley]

Howdy ya'll

I've just gotten certified within the last two weeks and had a few questions on equipment I'd like to ask experienced divers about.
Mainly I'm trying to find out about regulators and gauges. I plan on buying used equipment to start off with and my local dive shop will service everything I buy before heading to the water. Reckon what I' like to know is what brands have you had good experience with and which have you had bad experiences with?
Lucky for me my local dive shop had just gotten all new rental equipment so everything I used was brand new. Titan 1st and 2nd stages, Aqualung Octupus, Seaquest BCD and Sunnto dive computers. Very nice gear but way out of my price range right now. Forgot to mention I have to buy double as my wife is certified also.
So, which brands aren't worth having, how old is to old to rebuild and everything else you can tell this newbe? I don't know anything about brands except I like the aqualung equipment I've tried. Thanks for any help.

A. Quigley

 

[Amphibious]

Suunto and Aqualung make soild peices of kit, hard to go wrong with anything with these brands.

I have conshelf (US Divers) regs from the late 70's that I still use, preform flawlessly. 100hr rebuild and keep on diving.

the Titan is an "upgraded" (if that is posible) version of the Conshelf. these are SOLID regs and will (with the optional enviro kit) alow you to dive in ANY and ALL conditions recreational diving will throw at you. they are factory cleaned to 40% Nitrox, and easy breathers. the Aqualung/US Divers brand is world wide, so servicing or finding parts should be easy at even the farthest flung dive locations.


while I prefer a Backplate/Wing setup (DeepSeaSupply is what I use) over jacket style BC's, the Seaquest BC's are excellent quality.

 

[A.Quigley]

Thanks for your help. Was hoping to find out which brands experienced divers perfered and your info will help me make my choices. Still use a regulator from the 70's! Wow! I figured they would be hard to find parts. Thanks again.

A. Quigley