Advise on selecting a regulator

[parrothead600]

I am new to the diving world & I am slowly aquiring equipment. I would like some opinions on regulators. Most of my diving will be done in Lake Michigan & Lake Superior, with temperatures around the 40 degree F mark. At the present time, I have no plans for ice diving but I don't want to rule it out either. I am considering purchasing a Sherwood Blizzard regulator. Would this be a good choice? What are the pro's & con's? Will there be any problems with this regulator in warmer water? Any info will be appreciated.

 

[alpenadiver]

Don't know much about the Sherwood's, I use all Apeks, ATX200 on my singles, and ATX50's on my doubles, and deco bottle. I spend most all my time in the Great Lakes all have worked flawlessly in mid 30's to 70 degree water.

Also another thing to consider is servicing, what brands do shops local to you sell, I have to take my regs over to Traverse City (Scuba North) we usually make a day of it, so it's not all that bad.

Mike

 

[rescuediver009]

The sherwood is a good reg, and it will also breathe very easily. Many shops use sherwoods in rental because of their ease of service, and also, their ruggedness. I think that youwill like the Blizzad as a starter reg right through advanced dives. The exhaust tee deflects all air very well, and the dry first stage is a plus when diving cold or salt water.

 

[StSomewhere]

Hey, fellow Parrothead! The coldwater reg will work fine in warm water, just not the other way around.

The main advice is if you are mostly diving locally, then get something you can get serviced locally. Some brands will include parts for life when you pay for the annual service, so be sure to ask about that before you buy.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Whatever you buy, make sure you can get it serviced locally at your preferred LDS.

I recently switched to the Scubapro Mk 17 and like it a lot - enough to E-bay my Mk 20's which have long been my preferred cold water first stages.

If you are cash strapped and looking for a used high perfromance reg, PM me as I have two used but good condition and freshly updated and serviced nitrox ready Mk 20's in either DIN or yoke configuration. I could also sell one of them with a nearly new (3 dives) and freshly serviced X650 if desired.

If you are interested in a new reg, the Mk 17 is hard to beat. It offers more than enough gas flow for even deep, techincal diving and is fully environmentally sealed making it a great choice for cold water. The LDS owner advises SP tested it at 165 ft with some truly insane sustained flow rates for extremely long periods with no freeze ups.

It is also quite compact, light for a brass first stage, and offers great hose routing options if you move up to doubles.

 

[Wildcard]

I'll stick with my SP Mk2s. New at Leisure pro with a 190 second for $160.

 

[Bob3]

Dude, diving Lake Superior IS ice diving, even in August!!!

Sherwoods are good regs, plus you'll get some entertainment from the dry bleed system faking out folks that don't know that the trickle of air coming out is supposed to be there.
As already mentioned by the good folks posting before me, be sure you can get the critter serviced locally, for a reasonable price. It's getting to the point where some folks do better sending their goodies out for servicing, or else just skip the servicing & buy a new reg every few years.
(just kidding)

 

[parrothead600]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the Blizzard will be a good choice. I found that Liesurepro has the 2004 model Blizzard 1st & second stage setup for $210 (which is far better than the local dive shop can do). What would you recommend for an alternate second stage? I realize that I don't plan on using it, but i don't want to have a problem if it is needed.

 

[jmps]

I just went through this and decided that having a good LDS to service the reg is critical (this includes ScubaToys if you send the reg to them) I ended up going Aqualung from a local LDS but all those discussed are good. The new SP Mk17 sounds great. I would add the AL Titan LX Supreme or Legend (what I got) to the list. A couple that I know both had older Dacor regs that got burnt so I decided to stick with either Aqualung or ScubaPro because of the parts support issue. My bottom line was don't buy anything you will soon replace.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A Mk 2 is also a great cold water reg. It has half the flow rate of the Mk 16 or 17 and can be a little flow rate limited if you get into deeper technical diving. But then if you do that they work great on deco bottles, so they don't go to waste or fall into disuse.