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The Zeagle F8 is Zeagle’s newest midrange regulator. The name is derived from the well-established Zeagle Flathead series regulators, but the total redesign puts this model at the forefront of the Zeagle line. Here, we review the Zeagle F8 and compare it to other similar regulators available today.
When in the market for a new regulator, you ultimately run into an age-old dilemma: do you throw a tad more cash in for a few more bells, or do you play it safe and get what you need for less but with a little less pizazz? At first glance, there isn’t much to set it apart from other regulators. Every regulator on the market today is just a thousand small strides better than regulators from twenty and thirty years ago, but these small strides are being made by the big names that made the highly evolved, modern SCUBA regulator what it is today: a small engineering marvel.
All we can hope to do here is tease out the details of each reg and its manufacturer to show you which one is best for you. In this article, we highlight the Zeagle F8 and answer those questions to get you closer to your next investment.
About the Zeagle F8
Zeagle’s reputation is solidly based on building products that operate flawlessly and never quit. The F8 inherited the Zeagle first stage and complemented it with a new, high-performing and slightly refined 2’nd stage. In partnership with Atomic Aquatics, Zeagle refined and engineered over twenty-five different improvements on everything from the guts and materials to external operation and looks. According to Zeagle, the F8 breathes better, works harder and lasts longer than any other regulator they’ve made. Zeagle crafts their regulators in the U.S. with quality and pride.
Product Specs
The F8’s 1’st stage has a low profile, which means it only extends just above the tank valve. The low-pressure hoses are positioned out to the sides, and the 1’st stage comes in both Yoke and DIN configuration. A completely sealed design allows a depth of 200 feet. Made of high-quality material and field tested for durability and reliability, the design allows you to focus on your dive. This lightweight, 8 ounce 2’nd stage includes an easy-grip mouthpiece for many hours of diving with minimum fatigue. The Zeagle F8 is an excellent choice for all dives, and the F8 stood out as a top-rated reg for very cold water diving.
Pricing
The Zeagle F8 is a smack-dab in the middle of midrange regulators, covered by our two-dollar rating, where $$ = $400-$900. We rated the individual regulators with one-dollar rating ($=$200-$400) and three-dollar rating($900-$1400) as well. We shopped on scuba.com (https://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-36/033662/Zeagle-F8-Regulator.html) and LeisurePro.com (https://www.leisurepro.com/p-zglf8/zeagle-f8-yoke-regulator) as well as numerous other markets and local dealers as well. Take a look for yourself, and if you don’t mind shopping in person, local dealers are a great way to try on different gear. Once you educate yourself online, in-person sales people and technical jargon seem a lot less intimidating.
How It Compares
We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare. Every one of these regulators is of superior quality, with each one of them having only a few major differences, making them slightly more specialized than competitive. Rather than spend time throwing word salads at you like Dynamic Flow Control with Advanced Thermoplastic Elastomeric Polymers and Dry Environmental Seal with Hydro Transmitters, we will TL;DR and rate them on a few things. All of them come in Yoke & DIN. Most regs in this price range come environmentally sealed and are suitable for most types of dives; all have a balanced diaphragm or piston 1’st Stage with 2 High-Pressure ports and 4 or 5 Low-Pressure ports. Proprietary coatings aside, the materials of all the regulators in this review are all the best, most durable in the industry.
Scubapro Evo Scuba Diving Regulator
The Scubapro Mk25Evo/A700 is the Cadillac of regulators. It has all the bells and whistles that seasoned divers want to spoil themselves with. You can spend more on a regulator, but you don’t have to. It is durable and has all the best features available on modern regulators, all wrapped up in a neat, one-pound package.
Sherwood SR2 SRB2000 Scuba Diving Dive Regulator
The Sherwood SR2 gets it done. With every regulator in the mid-range, you get a reg for all occasions. This one is a no-frills offering that will get you through any dive at a price comparable to the Zeagle F8
Mares Abyss 22 Navy II Regulator
The Mares Abyss 22 Navy II has design redundancies to protect the reg and the diver from the rigors of deep, cold technical dives. This kind of quality skews these ratings in its favor for durability and features.
Zeagle F8
Price $$
The Zeagle F8 is a priced at the lower end of the mid-range for the best scuba regulators, but it is Zeagle’s top tier. On the manufacturer’s website and everywhere else we found it listed just above $600 for the first and second stage combined.
Features 5 Stars
The Zeagle F8 has a balanced 1’st stage diaphragm with 2 High-Pressure ports and 5 Low-Pressure ports, a pneumatically balanced 2nd Stage and is EAN/ NITROX ready to 40% O2. It weighs in at 54.4 oz. but with only 8 oz. in the 2’nd stage. A limited lifetime warranty covers the 1’st stage, and a 12-month warranty covers the 2’nd stage.
Design 4 Stars
Ice diving rated, The Zeagle F8 has a new heat sink with improved materials and greater surface area to dissipate cold. The 2’nd stage has a new exhaust valve improves dryness and lowers exhalation effort. They also added an inhalation effort control knob for better grip and style. Corrosion resistance is built right in, along with a redesigned inhalation diaphragm with sensitive response and more shear strength plus the redesigned poppet with more sensitive tolerances.
Durability 5 Stars
They manufacture this second stage from a variety of the newest, most flexible and durable polymer materials available making the Zeagle F8 2’nd stage smaller, lighter and molded from high impact resistant materials than previous products in the line.
Pros
- A very inexpensive mid-range offering
- Zeagle’s Top-Tier Scuba Regulator
- Superior Cold Diving Performance
- Corrosion Resistant Coating
- Limited lifetime warranty
Cons
- The Zeagle F8 is the heaviest of this group, at 54.4oz, but still a pretty lightweight reg
- The second stage does not swivel
Scubapro Evo Scuba Diving Regulator
The Scubapro EVO is a high-end offering from one of the most world-renowned best scuba regulator brands. If you’re looking for a high-end, high-quality and reliable performer, this regulator has it all, touting a 30% increased cold water efficiency over the previous MK25 regulator.
Price $$$
With refinements of this quality, the price tag follows suit. Though not the priciest scuba regulator we’ve seen, this one came with a hefty price tag but a whole slew of very good reviews and plenty of deluxe features that make this regulator sing.
Features 5 Stars
The Scubapro Evo here is synonymous with the Scubapro MK25 EVO/A700, a high-performance regulator rig that has the making of someone’s wish list rather than a balanced mid-range regulator. The MK25EVO 1’st stage is a pneumatically balanced flow-thru-piston and comes with 2 HP Ports and 5 LP ports on a swivel turret. The whole reg is super lightweight, an overall weight of 28.3 oz while the 2’nd stage weighs only 7.1 oz. And like the Zeagle F8, the entire setup comes with a limited lifetime warranty.
Design 5 Stars
Internal components are coated with a proprietary blue coating for superior cold water diving. Scubapro’s Extended Thermal Insulating System (XTIS) increases the thermal transfer to prevent freezing. Parts cooled down by the gas pressure drop are kept warm by the ambient water. Performance is unaffected by the changing tank pressure, and both stages are designed for all types of dives and conditions.
Durability 5 Stars
With a carbon fiber front valve cover, the 2’nd stage is protected from impact damage. Plus, with the XTIS coating, internal parts are not subject to corrosion.
Pros
- Highest rated in this price range
- Superior Cold Diving Performance, and rated for all dive conditions
- Super Lightweight design and durability
- Venturi
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
Cons
- High-end price
Sherwood SR2 SRB2000 Scuba Diving Dive Regulator
The SR2 Regulator is a versatile, advanced, contemporary-style, high-performance regulator system, right at home in the mid-range neighborhood.
Price $$
The Sherwood SR2 is a perfect mid-range regulator, and it comes with a similar price tag as the Zeagle F8
Features 3 Stars
Sherwood combines the pneumatically balanced, dry-sealed SR2 1’st Stage Piston with the pneumatically balanced 2’nd stage SRB2000. This makes this regulator ideally suited for cold water dives and dirty water. With 2 HP Ports and 5 LP Ports and with a 360-degree swivel, you’ll have no problem hooking up all your gear and still having a range of motion. This reg is 40% Nitrox ready right out of the bag and weighs a total of 41 oz. The regulator comes with a two-year warranty.
Design 4 Stars
The Sherwood SR2 2’nd stage is super lightweight and has superior breathability, with the no-hassle single breathing resistance adjustment.
Durability 4 Stars
Sherwood designed and implemented a way to remove substantial maintenance and durability issue by sealing the delicate internal components of the 1’st stage from mineral deposits and contaminants.
Pros
- The single SMART-demand lever to set the opening and high flow performance
- Sealed to protect against salt, grime, and contaminants
- 360-degree swivel
Cons
- Light-Duty regulator not for technical diving
Mares Abyss 22 Navy II Regulator
This reg is the Mares work horse. Mares designed the Abyss 22 for performance and reliability under the harshest conditions. This design is environmentally sealed and eliminates out exposure to contaminants such as salt, sand, chlorine or pool acids. On the list, the Mares Abyss 22 is the only reg U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) approved, tested at a depth of 58 meters for general service and in ice diving waters below 38°F.
Price $$
This is a very nice upper-mid range regulator for more technical dives.
Features 5 Stars
The Mares Abyss 22 Navy II combines the Abyss 22 balanced diaphragm, environmentally sealed 1’st Stage with the pneumatically balanced Navy II 2’nd stage. Mares uses Dynamic Flow Control (DFC) to sense and adjust to the breathing pressure changes in the 2’nd stage, making 2’nd stage manual adjustments unnecessary. Also, the unusual port configuration for this work reg includes four low-pressure ports at 1/2″ and 3/8″ Threaded UNF ports and two high-pressure ports at 7/16″. The entire reg comes in at a modest 47.2 oz and Mares offers a 2 Year Warranty.
Design 5 Stars
The 2’nd stage is all-metal design is marine-grade brass coated with a fluoropolymer resin, just another innovation to push the limits of the cold-water dive helps stop ice crystals from forming and causing dangerous free-flow. Also, the mesh cover on the outside of the 2’nd stage reduces external water pressure flow onto the regulator’s diaphragm, minimizing free-flow, even in a strong current. As a result, it eliminates the need for a knob to de-tune your air delivery system, making for a safer, hands-free work regulator.
Durability 5 Stars
Mares highlights their Tri-Material Valve Technology as a benchmark to not only optimize performance but to maximize safety and reliability. This technology is a combination of hard and soft polyurethane coatings layered for a perfect, more-durable seal.
Pros
- CWD Kit keeps moisture away from the freeze-prone gas expansion zones
- Heavy-Duty build for demanding, all-purpose dives
- Approved for Military Use
Cons
- No Swivel
Conclusion
We give the Zeagle F8 4-out-of-5 possible stars. The matte-black look on the updated Zeagle F8 gives it a slick new skin, and with that coating, you get a reg that is as rugged as can be. This is the same look that makes the Mares Abyss so attractive, and a top-tier quality at a modest price. Its lovely design means this is the best all-around regulator for anyone with a small budget. The F8 Second Stage has a new case design that is smaller, lighter and molded from high impact resistant materials than its predecessor. New case snap-in insert near mouthpiece allows you to personalize your F8 for the color style. This is the absolute best pick for quality/price ratio, and every customer review we found is extremely positive. You can’t go wrong with any of the regulators listed, just make sure you get the one with a breathing and fit style that suits you the most. The only thing that will sour your dive faster than the bad regulator is one that is uncomfortable, ill-fitting or frustrating to control. What we found most appealing about the Zeagle F8 was the customizable control and state-of-the-art features you won’t find on other models in the same price range. And if you do decide you are ready for the next level, the Zeagle F8’s limited lifetime warranty ensures that you’ll be diving with confidence for a very long time.
