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X400-Recipients: techdiver@opal.com From: ddrake01 Hi. I'm a Great Lakes Wreck diver who has been gradually sliding into the technical area of diving over the years. I'm nitrox certified and have about thirty dives using it primarily as a safety stop gas. Most of my dives are 90-150 ft. The only thing holding me back sadly from say dedicating tanks to nitrox is financing. In other words, I'm always looking for a deal. Does anyone have some low pressure tanks like OMSes they are looking to unload? Do those of you who dive in the warm waters benefit from the weight of stainless steel backplates? I'm trying to decide which one, ABS/AL/or SS, is best for me in all areas of the world. I'm heading to Crystal River for some Manatee diving. Does anyone have any recommendations/comments about anything relative that might help me out? Are there any shops/times, secret places to go to see them without being overwhelmed with people? There are some fantastically preserved 1800's shipwrecks up here in lake Superior and Huron. It is cold though, around freezing, which brings up a special concern of mine...here's the story: I need new/more regulators for my new manifold, etc. I have a Maximus, which has done great, but which I can over-breath, especially when I have to fight the current in the Detroit/St. Clair rivers--when freighters go by, the current can pick up to over 10 knots! Now THE tech dive shop spouts religious experiences regarding Odins. On the bad side, I've had two different buds, one a caver and the other a commercial diver, have very negative religious experiences. At about 120-130 ft. and 38 degrees F, their Odins started sending ice chunks into the back of their throats! One had an environmental kit, one did not. After talking with other Lakes tech divers, they admit to the same happening to them. The problem is the diver's breath freezing in the second stage. Something about the design of the Odin deficient in regards to cold/deep water. Needless to say, for the type of diving I do, I consider that type of problem a contraindication for use as my life support. The solution to the problem is grade J breath or painty hose over the mouth piece to catch the ice before it makes you gag! So, what do the rest of you have to say about this and what else is there for an aspiring diver to purchase that is great for cold water? I've seen too many holes in the fragile rubber environmental caps on the Odin 1st stage. I'm totally disillusioned with the "every diving god in Florida uses these 'cause they're the best" sales pitch. For my diving they kill. I understand they had recall after much trouble too... I've been told that Oceanic has made a new reg with the same type of cone seat I've been told that Oceanic has made a new reg with the same type of cone seat in the first stage as Poseidon's. Any comments on this? Is it as good, etc. At At this point, I'm about to buy a Blizzard because of the Sherwood track record on my track and 'cause several Canadian cavers suggested it as an easy breather and the good vis they got with its exhaust T...I been told to pick up the Brut as a cheap reg to get O2 cleaned for O2 deco tanks. Let me know what you think about these suggestions too. Well, I guess I've babled enough, but I just had to raise some of these issues to a larger, and hopefully better educated/seasoned audience than the know-it- all comercially-self-severing shop technician, who has screwed up servicing my equipment twice too often for my pursuit of happiness. DAVID DRAKE 36880 ECORSE RD. ROMULUS, MICHIGAN 48174 (313) 595-5467 OR 8-375-5467
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