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

[Storker]

I dive in conditions not unlike the UK, only colder sometimes. Never seen any Scubapro Mk2 for sale in any of the LDSs I've been in. Up here you'll basically find Apeks, and Scubapro Mk17/Mk25, and the occasional Atomic, Poseidon or Tecline of similar quality. I guess there's a reason for that...

But then I've never seen or experienced a 1st stage freeflow either, not even in 3C water and -10C air. 2nd stage freeflows, though, are rather common when the air temp drops below freezing, but only topside after surfacing. A little annoying, but far from dramatic.

 

[tbone1004]

I dive in conditions not unlike the UK, only colder sometimes. Never seen any Scubapro Mk2 for sale in any of the LDSs I've been in. Up here you'll basically find Apeks, and Scubapro Mk17/Mk25, and the occasional Atomic, Poseidon or Tecline of similar quality. I guess there's a reason for that...

But then I've never seen or experienced a 1st stage freeflow either, not even in 3C water and -10C air. 2nd stage freeflows, though, are rather common when the air temp drops below freezing.

You'll see the unsealed regulators, whether piston or diaphragm lock up on the surface if you have people that aren't familiar with how they are supposed to be used. I.e. they'll use the power inflators on the surface to fully inflate the wing and water will be in the chamber and ice up. Keeps the diaphragm/piston open, and freeflow.... not cool

 

[Storker]

You'll see the unsealed regulators [...]

Not up here.

 

[tbone1004]

Not up here.

yes you do. I'm sure you see Poseidons from time to time. They just engineered the MK3's where they don't need to be sealed

 

[Storker]

yes you do.

Around here, I'll be hard pressed to find anything but Apeks XTXs or SP Mk17s among those who enjoy winter diving, and the folks I dive with routinely use their inflator to fill their BCD/wing before splashing. Never seen anyone have an issue with a freeflowing 1st.

There are, though, a couple of things to remember when it's really cold:

• Make sure the reg is dry before you take it out
• If you pre-breathe the reg during your pre-dive check, don't breathe out into the reg. Moisture will condense inside the 2nd, and it will probably freeze and free-flow.
• Be prepared for your 2nd to freeflow when you surface or climb out of the water. It's wet, and the air is cold. It's not as if it will happen, but there's a significant risk for it.

My zipper freezing and making it awkward to open the suit after the dive is, frankly, a bigger concern for me than a free-flowing reg. And breaking down the gear to get it back into the car sucks, since if I'm not quick, it all freezes together and I have to take it home in one piece to thaw it up.

 

[Sherwoodranger]

Hi gentleman while all of this maybe correct, the most i plan on doing is diving in the northsee in April or May time. And while it maybe very cold i won't be diving anywhere near any ice

 

[FinnMom]

Cold water regs don't cost much more and are more reliable for cold weather diving. So why not buy them from the start; resale value too. I know I really hate buying something new the having to take the loss on it's no long being new when I find I should have bought something more closely suited/better the 1st time around.

You also don't have to buy regs new BTW. I bought my very 1st (single tank) set new, since then none. Even for the dive club we've started buying used.

There's just so many robust-wallet single young types that start scuba, spend thousands (and thousands and thousands), then loose interest w/in 3-4 yrs. A serviced, reg properly cared for has a usable life way, way beyond that. Buy relative new stuff, still in use, serviced reasonably recently or with the agreement that the sale is final after servicing and testing. Find the scuba flea market sites and watch the, learn the proper prices and grab something when you see it priced nice and located resonably close to you.

 

[rivers]

For the same price as the scubapro, you can get apeks atx 40 x 2 (second stages) and a ds-4 (first stage). The London dive show is coming up, and Just Apeks normally do an online deal around the same time as the dive show for those who can't make it to London. I'd go with the apeks. March and April is generally when the water is coldest.

 

[Centrals]

Apeks ATX40 DS4 Regulator & ATX40

I bought my DS4 back in 1998 and is still my work horse for both rec and tec dives. 7-8C is the coldest that I had experienced in Scapa Flow.

 

[MasterChief D]

Checked my logbook and in the last three years the average temps of the sea in April are > 10C whereas the October temps are >16C; not sure these warrant cold-water regs. The question is, how confident can you be that you will not decide to dive in the winter months in the future?

Caveat: the UK sea dives from which the temperature reading were extracted have been in the south coast (Dorset to Sussex) - waters might be colder further north. Also, between Oct-Mar, in inland sites, water temps go down to 4C; water temp in Stoney was 7C last Sat.