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>I don't care what someone's sheepskin says, this is what happens:

This is what happens to you.  Without fully understanding what's going
on here, it's impossible to determine precisely that the regulator
is the cause of the problem.  I am pretty much fully in agreement
with Jody's analysis.

>1. At depth > 165ft. breathing from USD 2nd Stage you get headaches and 
>narcosis doing the normal wreck diving sort of things (just swimming around!)

I have dived the SEA to 254' with no headache and, I have, upon occasion,
had headaches after dives in depths as "shallow" as 80-100'.  I believe
that the headache *is* CO2 related because they almost always come on
dives that I take video and when I take video I tend to "hold my breath"
more often as I'm getting shots of interesting things.

>2. Switch to a Mares Mk-12 or a Posiden, headache & narcosis go away. 

I have used a Poseidin with virtually identical results to the SEA.

>3. Switch back to USD, headache comes back, diver tries to remember 
>something about narcosis lecture or something.

Now, if this was a blind test (i.e. you didn't know which regulator
you were actually using) I'd be inclined to give your evidence
a little more weight, but you may be unconsciously altering your
breathing patterns based on what you expect to happen.

>I have known about 6 experienced divers who were all good breathers come 
>to the same conclusion. Jody took the longest to convince, he is a 
>stuborn bastard.

Ah, "good breathers" here may be the key.  If you're really good on air,
your not exhaling as much and therefore not ridding yourself of CO2 as
quickly.

Perhaps you should try the test with your SEA but purposely keep you
SAC high.

-Carl-

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