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Hi all Just following Juha's post on Poseidons - I thought there might be some interest on the use of these regs in underwater orienteering competitions. Underwater orienteering is a sport in which divers (using scuba) navigate between bouys tethered in lakes (usually in low viz; 1-2 m is standard). Without going into detail (e-mail me if you want a core dump), the competitors are swimming as fast as possible, and need a regulator which is going to deliver as high a flow with the least possible effort. Imagine trying to run a fast 3000m while breathing through a regulator and you'll understand the necessity. For many years the standard regulator amongst top competitors was a nameless Russian- made copy of a 1960's Draeger upstream-valve design. These Russian regulators are excellent in many respects - the second stage is fantastically light in the mouth, and the breathing effort is negligible at shallow depths (the 5m or so at which competitions are swum). It has drawbacks which seriously reduce its usefulness as a general purpose scuba regulator, particularly the lack of ports on the first stage (1 LP only, no HP port at all), but then that's not what they're intended for. Also, at a price of 55 Dmarks on the grey market, one shouldn't expect too much. As far as I know, these regulators are not officially available, but an awful lot of them have fallen off the back of a Soviet army truck over the years, so there never seems to be a shortage. More recently, these regulators have given way in popularity to Poseidons - the cheapest model (Cyklon 300 ?) being most popular. This is a very significant shift in that the top athletes in the sport are all from the Eastern Bloc and are, by western standards, very poor; as might be guessed, scuba orienteering is not a lucrative professional sport. Spending a relatively vast amount of hard currency on a Poseidon when there is a good, cheap local product available suggests that the superiority of the Poseidons is considerable. I would estimate that the usage of Poseidons has increased from about 10% in 1992 to about 50-60% in 1994; this being the percentage of competitors using these regs at the World Championships held in those years. Personally, I am less fond of Poseidons than the preceding comments might indicate. They have several irritating flaws (IMHO). These include the fact that it is easy to get grit trapped under the exhaust diapraghm, and very difficult to clear it; that if the first stage has a slow leak, the excess pressure tends to vent itself through the second stage in an explosive burst of bubbles that to the user feels exactly like a kick in the head; and (an old favourite) the flow of bubbles across my face is a noisy irritation. A second unusual use of Poseidons, which is a testament to their toughness, is the use of the second stages on surface supply rigs in the South African and Namibian offshore diamond recovery industry. Divers working in this industry spend a lot of time in the surf zone, using crowbars and brute force to lift rocks and vacuum up the diamondiferous gravel under them. The wear and tear on the gear used is very high, and Poseidons are definitely the standard choice. Enough bandwidth wasted - if anyone wants more detail let me know. Jon
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