I don't think my life DEPENDS on the the reg and I've practiced emergency ascents and have had a real life emergency ascent as well, but a regulator is in fact, life SUPPORT equipment when we are under water, without it we either surface, or die.
If you've ever done any tech diving, you know that a reg failure can most definitely be a death sentence; especially if your dive buddy is three levels deep in that fancy new DSLR or video camera as he attempts to document your dive.
Taking them directly to Atomic does come with some additional benefits compared to the local LDS. Some assumptions here, but I assume that Atomic techs would see a lot of Atomic regs,
That being said, I do plan to pursue learning a bit more about how regs work.
Someday I'll have to learn how to separate quotes so I can respond to individual comments.
1. If your life does not depend on your reg working, then it's not appropriate to call it "life support." There's really no sense at all in trying to argue otherwise. The dive gear industry loves to call regulators "life support" because it gives them an excuse to restrict parts sales, require annual service, and sell new divers FAR more expensive regulators than they need. It's a great sales gimmick, nothing more. If regulators were actual life support, the qualifications and regulations for their use, sales, and service would be a totally different situation. Maybe something more like a heart-lung machine or general anesthesia. Those devices are "life support" and it takes doctors with years of medical training to use them.
In diving, what you need to stay alive underwater is air, and you get that from the tank, or your buddy's tank. The regulators only make it convenient and practical to breathe off the tank. It's an important distinction.
2. All dive training, recreational and especially technical, involves procedures for dealing with equipment failure. It's much more stringent in technical diving, BTW. Any tech diver that has a clue understands and follows these procedures, whether it's team diving or solo. Any regulator is simply a mechanical device, and can fail at any time, although they are designed to fail open, meaning free flow as opposed to air stoppage. Dive safety is a matter of behavior, NOT equipment. Of course, there is some overlap, in terms of using appropriate equipment, maintaining it (as you're doing) and using redundant gear when it's appropriate. But putting yourself in a position where reg failure causes your death is a serious dive behavior and training mistake.
3. It's especially deceptive to me that (some) shops teach OW classes (and tech classes, it make zero difference) that stress the buddy system, air sharing, etc....and THEN go on to use the "your life depends on your regulator" bull$h1t to sell gear to the same students that they just taught how to easily survive OOA scenarios. Why doesn't this strike most students as hypocrisy?
4. You are likely correct in assuming that sending your reg to Atomic is a safer bet for quality service than using a local dive shop. At the LDS, the quality of service is a total crapshoot; the only 'training' required to be certified for most regulator servicing is a one or two day course that nobody fails, and the only entrance requirement is that you work for a dealer. Combine this with the "life support" bit and you really get a whiff.
5. I hope you do eventually decide to learn how to work on your own regs. You'll probably find that it's very easy and cost effective to do so, and you can get some great advice on this forum. As long as you can find parts you'll be very happy working on your own regs.
