Do I need cold water regulators for recreational diving in the uk

[Sherwoodranger]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the useful info, this does help. I have decided to wait until i have completed a dry suit course before buying regs, but because of all the knowledge on here i will be getting cold water regs from the start.
has anyone got a report on
Scubapro MK2 Evo/R195/R095 OCTO

 

[tbone1004]

not cold water regs. MK2 is an unsealed piston. You typically see that setup in rental fleets.

see my post above, that XTX200 set on ebay is a steal and infinitely better than the SP reg you asked about

 

[Sherwoodranger]

hi tbone i have just looked and i see what you mean about the price, but with both me and my daughter to buy for its a bit pricey at the moment.i will just have wait and save up the cash, and wait till after the drysuit course.
That's why i looked at the scuba pro because it advertised the MK2 evo Meets new EN250-2014 standards for cold-water breathing performance or is this false advertising.

 

[tbone1004]

how much was the scubapro set vs the apeks set I linked to?

Also, look at Deep6 if you are mechanically inclined to service your own regulators *every 2 years recommended, and really not difficult*

 

[Patoux01]

The "pistons cant be good in cold water" sounds silly to me... I mean, Mk25 still has quite good reputation AFAIK.

 

[Sherwoodranger]

hi tbone the scuba pro set is£215 compared to the apeks at £360 secondhand. like i said though i got to wait a couple of months yet to do the course so maybe the apeks sold by then.

 

[tbone1004]

The "pistons cant be good in cold water" sounds silly to me... I mean, Mk25 still has quite good reputation AFAIK.

would you take one under the ice? I have seen MK2's freeze on the surface many times, most of which was above freezing weather *barely, but still above freezing*

more important is the fact that the second stages don't have a lot of metal on them for heat sinks and the second stages are more likely to freeze than the firsts.

@Sherwoodranger I would wait until you are ready to buy, then look for Apeks second hand. They're worth the money over the Scubapro rental regs

 

[Sherwoodranger]

yes i think your right, it will give me chance to get the cash together for two sets.

 

[Patoux01]

Well:
- There's been a report of multiple membrane regs freezing recently
- Most important part of "not freezing your reg" is not the reg itself
- Metal is not all of it, it's a lot about the surface.
- I will never trust my life to a single regulator
- A regulator freeflow is not as dangerous as people try to say it is. It takes a while to drain a tank, and anyone that is venturing in overhead should know how to close a freeflowing reg.

Basically yes, I'd use Mk25 for ice diving. Mk2 not so much, more because I'm afraid of WOB than because it's a dreaded unsealed piston.

 

[tbone1004]

Well:
- There's been a report of multiple membrane regs freezing recently
- Most important part of "not freezing your reg" is not the reg itself
- Metal is not all of it, it's a lot about the surface.
- I will never trust my life to a single regulator
- A regulator freeflow is not as dangerous as people try to say it is. It takes a while to drain a tank, and anyone that is venturing in overhead should know how to close a freeflowing reg.

Basically yes, I'd use Mk25 for ice diving. Mk2 not so much, more because I'm afraid of WOB than because it's a dreaded unsealed piston.

membrane first stages freezing won't usually cause freeflows in the second stages. I have seen them be blocks of ice and still function.
not 100% true. While there is a lot of technique to using regulators in cold environments, there are some designs that are much less prone to issues than others. I.e. I will take a double hose, Poseidon, or old school metal housing regulator under the ice long before I'll take anything else
Metal is a lot of it for heat sinking. What surface are you talking about?
true, but if the second stage starts freeflowing, then you better have fully redundant regulators. A little excessive for most recreational diving, especially with a buddy.
Regulator freeflows don't take all that long to drain a tank. It takes just over a minute to drain an AL80 from full if the second stage freezes all the way open