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It seems to me that the dilemma with choosing the ideal cold water reg is that the features that make a reg most resistant to freezing and failure in extreme cold (e.g. environmentally sealed 1st stage) are not necessarily the features that you would chose to make a reg high performance, esp. at depth. That means the regs that are reportedly the most freeze and failure resistant in extreme cold environments, such as the Sherwood or USD Arctic, are not necessarily the regs you want to share air with in an emergency at 300'. Here in Juneau Alaska our average winter water temp seems to be around 33-35 at depth (0-2 centigrade) and the air temp rarely drops below 0 Fahrenheit. Most of the regs I see in use around here are USD, Scubapro, Sherwood, Poseidon, and Dacor in that order, (mostly because that's what the two local dive shops carry and push). I suspect that the USD Arctic is the most commonly used reg up here but you also see a lot of Scubapro MK10/G250 and G200Bs around and I haven't heard of one failing yet. Most of the freezing/failure stories I've heard seem to be related to people purging on the surface or breathing on the surface when the 1st stage is exposed to air. I do hear some ire directed towards the G250 but mainly because the little switch on it is impossible to adjust with 3 finger mitts on and the knob on the side is also difficult to adjust with mitts. I've been diving all winter with a Scubapro MK20/D400 primary reg and I've never once had it fail or spit ice at me, even when floating around with the sea ice in 29 degree water although I find that my AIR2 spits ice at me constantly in the same conditions. So far, I am convinced that the D400 makes a great cold water 2nd stage and the purge and dive/pre dive switch is easy to use with mitts. I like it better than the G250 for that reason. When I switch to my partner's USD Arctic it feels like I'm trying to suck marbles through the hose compared to the D400. However, the D400 does seem to be somewhat prone to free flow when not attended so I'm not sure it makes the best choice for a backup reg or one that doesn't stay in your mouth all the time. For what it's worth, after some research and sifting through the techdiver archives I just ordered an Odin for my second regulator because (1) I wanted completely different 2nd state from the D400 and I was suspicious of having to futz with the G250 with mitts on and (2) the diaphragm design of the Odin 1st stage seems, in theory, to be somewhat more ice resistant than the piston design of the Scubapro. I may end up pairing the D400 with the Odin 1st stage as my primary reg for that reason. I looked at the Scubapro M50, G250 and USD Arctic and went with the Odin primarily on the strength of the 1st stage rather than the design of the second stage. I didn't consider Beauchat or Zeagle because there is no dealer here to work on them. Kent Lind Juneau Alaska klind@rd*.no*.go* Trey Irvine <gmiiii@in*.co*> Wrote: | | | Good, info, and your english is fine. Tell me what YOU would use if you had | your choice of anything. I did not know that Scuba Pro made a special second | stage for cold diving. I already have the Odins and the normal scuba pro, but | now I am worried about deep and cold from what Bill Dyer is telling me, and I | forgot to ask David how deep before the problems start with the denser gas. | | Also, keep in mnd that I wuold be using helium, sowhat is the difference | there? - G | -- | Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@terra.net'. | Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver-request@terra.net'. |
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