I Want A Bomb Proof Cold Water Reg!

[cleung]

I ended up getting Poseidon reg after all. It's a solid heavy weight reg for sure and it has worked really nice in the Canadian Great Lakes and Georgian Bay waters that I dive (worked well in Cozumel as well as Vancouver Island BC too). Only issue I might have with them is that their o-rings are not standard size and the 2nd stage cover on the octo was easy to knock off. Replacements for both were not cheap.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

23 years ago I had a full freeze-up of a Sherwood Oasis at 165 in Lake Crescent, WA that scared the crap out of me. My buddy on that dive had a Poseidon Odin and had no issues at the same depth. The whole incident is probably worth another thread in the "close calls" forum.

Bottom line is that as a result of that incident I immediately ditched the Oasis and purchased an Apeks ATX-200 because the shop (Underwater Sports) that I was teaching from insisted that instructors used gear that was sold by the shop. Otherwise, I would have probably bought the Odin. It was a huge and painfull investment on my current salary..... but what a performer and and am still diving that exact same reg today......including repeat dives to Lake Crescent to the same depth with no issues. What I really like about the Apeks was the ability to "detune" it on the fly so it won't freeflow when I hit the surface......but will also "Feed me Seymour" at depth.

PS.... As a primarily solo diver, for my backmounted 19cf pony I use a Mares Abyss Navy II.

 

[rhwestfall]

My Great Lakes and Ice Diving regs;

SP MK17/G250v
SP 156 seconds
Poseidon XStream
HOG D2/Classic
Deep6 Signature
Argonaut Kraken
USD PRAM
Sherwood SR2 firsts


SP MK2/156 on a pony.

I have a DR RG3-ICE for deco...

I do have a Mares Abyss I am evaluating...

 

[buddhasummer]

The new SP MK19, Atomic M1 are top choices for the conditions you reference. I know people who use them in technical diving in your area including ice diving as well as in the great lakes. No issues with them at all. I have been checking with my friends. The SP MK19 is much newer model however. The M1 has been around for many years. My friends in the great lakes also use the SP MK25 EVO/S600 without issues.

The MK19 (pre evo) has been around for many years just not world wide.

 

[derrickroger]

After this dive season in Canada, I'm going to retire my old Scubapro MK20/G500 reg (or might still use it for warm waters) since it froze on me at 8 degrees C water. So my next reg I want to get for Canadian waters should be bomb proof - okay I know no such thing but I want the best cold water reg I could get.

So I narrowed my choices to the following three cold water regs since they were all US Navy tested I believe.

Apeks MTX-RC
Mares Abyss Navy ii
Poseidon xStream

If anyone here has experience with any of the above in cold water or better yet, had a chance to compare them in cold water, I would appreciate any feedback.

Im in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
and dive year round in the St Lawrence River.
The water temp here varies from 75F down to 32F some times even lower.
It takes me an hour to drive to the St Lawrence so i do not want a 5min dive. You know what i mean. I would like an hour underwater.
So which regs do i find EA250A or reliable under these conditions?
I would use 104s twined with my most reliable regs but i'd carry a Al 80 with the test reg. This could be Apex, Sherwood, Dive Rite, Scubapro, USD Arctic whatever. That stage set-up with my test reg would be my dive. I often left the shores of Brockville, followed the line to the R Gaskin, had a few minutes inside the wreck, took a few photos and returned home. That would take about an hour total time underwater. In that time, a few areas of my body were "screaming". I was needing to get in my warm van and thaw out.
What did find out?
Mares MR22/Abyse, amazing, on one occasion i surfaced after a dive, i sat on the ice gave my wing + regs to my buddy (as his regs failed) then he dived with my gear, successfully.
Poseidon Extreme, amazing but this type of reg was not accepted by the DIR community at that time and the reg is open to the environment i.e., silt, salt and other contaminants.
Sherwood Brut/Blizard combo very good.
Poseidon P300/Cyclone with environmental cap, very good. I still use them today along with my son. But even though i am Poseidon Reg repair certified, i can't get parts.
A buddy has, Aqualung Legend, is amazing but it is too rich ($$$$) for me
I hope the info helps ...........