Cold water bailout reg

[1fspeed]

My rebreather bailout bottle is set up with a SB Mk 17 EVO and a SB G250. The G250 is overdue for service, and it was suggested there are better choices for cold water 2nd stages. I dive Lake Superior all year (33°F at the surface this morning) and am wondering if there's a better choice than the G250, knowing that when I do need it, something went wrong and I'm breathing hard.

Local shop carries ScubaPro, and the A700 was recommended. Also, I read somewhere that the G260 is just as good.

I've also read that the 2nd stages rarely if every freeze. -1st stages are the issue.

Thoughts?

 

[axxel57]

SP Balanced Adjustable ( BA 150- 156)........ A full metal G250......

G260 is a fine reg, but I wouldn't know why it should better for cold water diving than the G250.......

 

[davehicks]

Nothing wrong with what you have now. Stick with it if you are not having any actual problems.

 

[TheSnowBeast]

A lot of us in Alaska dive the SP s600 or s620ti with good results year round.

 

[1fspeed]

I did some quick testing yesterday. I tried to push my SB G250/Mk17 EVO to its limits by huffing and puffing it as fast as I could for a few minutes at the end of a dive. I was about 15 feet down in 36°F water, and it handled it like a champ!

I know the variable are many, but I was surprised that it didn’t freeze. I guess I’ll stick with the G250 for now.

photo: Someone else wasn't so lucky

 

[Whitrzac]

It was probably recommended because parts outside of service kits are nla

 

[rsingler]

If you're talking that cold a water temp (36°F), I'd think Mares.
Here's an NEDU pic from years ago.

You can see that all the icing is on the bypass tube. The reg case, with the more delicate mechanism susceptible to having ice trap the valve in the open position and freeflow, is completely devoid of ice.

And no, from what I understand, it's second stage icing that leads to the freeflows more than first stage lockup, but both can be issues. But I'm not a cold water diver. Take my advice with a grain of salt.

I'd pick a Mares 62x Atlas Adj (one of the metal seconds). I'd add the TBP environmental seal to the 62x. I've seen prices around $740, not including aux second stage.

The A700 knob adjustment is over-engineered with too tight tolerances and a questionable choice of materials. I'm not a fan. Here's a frozen one at the two year mark.