It’s getting on for half the price, so should we expect Zeagle’s new flagship regulator to find itself in the shadow of that of stablemate Atomic? STEVE WARREN works hard to provide the answer - and also checks out a tricky snorkel and, yes, a gauge console

DIVER TESTS

REGULATOR ZEAGLE F8

ZEAGLE, A US BRAND THAT’S BEEN around since 1979, has always flown a little under the radar in the UK. It originated as a manufacturer of sky-diving equipment in Zephyhills, Florida - a state in which cave-diving is, of course, a popular scuba pursuit.

Zeagle was at the forefront and arguably ahead of its time in developing the contemporary weight-integrated wing.

Today it is still run as a family business, though it is owned by the Huish Outdoor group of companies.

Huish has been busy acquiring diving manufacturers, including Oceanic, Bare and Atomic Aquatics. Zeagle offers a relatively small product line, and I get the impression that’s the way Zeagle likes it.

The manufacturer isn’t shy about saying that it worked with Atomic on developing its flagship F8 regulator.

Coming partly from the photographic industry, I know it’s common practice for some camera brands to team up with lens companies known for incredible optics, such as Leica or Zeiss. Competitors co-operating might seem odd but it can pay off for both parties and the consumer when done right.

The camera company basks in the prestige of its alliance and, naturally, charges a premium for owning those marque lenses, while the enduser gets a “best of breed” piece of glass, albeit at a commensurate price.

But it’s unusual in diving, although a fair amount of badge-engineering does occur, especially with computers.

Atomic has a stellar reputation so Zeagle gains by associating with it, but does this put the F8 in Atomic’s shadow? We’ll get to that.

The F8 is EN250A-rated, so it meets the EU standard for a single diver breathing moderately hard at 50m or two breathing simultaneously using an octopus just as hard at 30m. It is also rated for use at water temperatures as low as 4°C.

This is the highest EN rating for a regulator. It’s pass or fail and does not seek to test the limits at which the regulator might flunk by increasing the respiration rate or taking it deeper, or further cooling it until it ices.

Zeagle’s own figures indicate that ease of breathing for a single diver easily exceeds EN250A at 60m. This underscores that the standard informs the consumer only that a regulator meets its requirements, not by how much it surpasses them.

First Stage

The first stage is a balanced-diaphragm design. Balanced first stages are largely unaffected by the pressure-drop in your tank as you breathe it down, so inhalation effort isn’t impaired even when near-empty.

Diaphragm regulators have a push-rod on which the diaphragm bears down when you inhale. This opens the valve to send air to the second stage.

The push-rod is inside the air-filled first-stage casing and, in non-environmentally sealed models, the diaphragm flexes under water pressure to depress it.

On the wet side of the diaphragm, a spring sets the intermediate pressure. In an open or nonenvironmentally sealed diaphragm first stage, icing or silting can occur here.