Looking for a Small Light Regulator

[bowlofpetunias]

My wife is currently looking for a new reg ... she had an oceanic zeta for quite a few years which she liked, unfortunately it developed a free flow problem that was not able to be fixed and has been replaced with an oceanic delta 4.

Unfortunately she gets jaw fatigue with this after a couple of dives, so we are looking for a new low profile lighweight reg.

We dive quite regularly, about 40-50 dives a year, most of it just vanilla dives (no tech or cave or cold water) 15-30 metres.

Location : Sydney, Australia

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[CLEAR BLUE]

I am also looking for a regulator and have been doing alot of research. I'm pretty sure I am going to rder the new Mares She Dives regulator. It's formulated for women. Light weight. All metal. I've not actually spoken to anyone that has used it but it's getting good reviews in the dive magazines.

 

[fstrecon8653]

Check out The Aqualung Mikron. It’s the Smallest and lightest reg on the market (yoke 31 oz, din 26 oz), Balanced 1st and 2nd, and comes in woman friendly colors. I thought about getting one for my wife. Anyway its worth a look.

 

[fdog]

Ah, the advantages of advertising hype.

I'd point out that jaw fatugue is usually caused by mouthpiece design and how the hose twists the reg, not usually by size of the second stage per se.

For example, a small mouthpiece doesn't provide much stability; therefore you bite harder to keep it in place, and get jaw fatigue. Relief can be as simple as switching mouthpieces.

A Comfo-bite mouthpiece is surprisingly stable, despite its small size, although it does feel wierd to some. The SeaCURE mouthpiece is spendy, but provides incredible comfort - it transfers the load to your teeth so you don't have to clench your jaw. My wife has one and loves it.

Also, a flexible swivel, such as the Comfort Swivel on the Atomic regulators, allows you to position the second stage exactly so there is no torque on your mouth, unlike every other one that pulls sideways on your mouth.

Size is actually less of a concern than you might think. For example, my Atomic B2 second stage is a bit larger than many tiny regs I've used. However it is exactly neutral in the water, and so "floats" in front of my mouth without torque. Some small regs are actually heavier than the water they displace, and sink; thus you have to bite harder to keep them in place.

My wife has a B2 with the SeaCURE mouthpiece, and dives it for hours without jaw fatigue. The best advice to give you is actually dive the reg first before buying, and try a couple of different designs.

If your heart is set on a tiny regulator, having laid my hands on it, I am very impressed with the new AquaLung Mikron.


All the best, James

 

[DEEPLOU]

Check out The Aqualung Mikron. It’s the Smallest and lightest reg on the market (yoke 31 oz, din 26 oz), Balanced 1st and 2nd, and comes in woman friendly colors. I thought about getting one for my wife. Anyway its worth a look.

I'll second that motion. They just came in last week. Unbelieveably light and compact, and as he said the woman's version w' pink and cream face is very worman friendly. Oh! and it breaths nicely as well.

 

[fdog]

Also, in the interest of accuracy, the Mikron is not the world's lightest yoke regulator; the Atomic T2 is a couple of ounces lighter, and the second stage is an ounce lighter.

However the Atomic is roughly double the cost....

The claim of "world's lightest" for the Mikron comes from it's DIN weight, which is about 20 grams lighter than the T2 (also in DIN).

<shakes head> but the cost....OMG...


All the best, James

 

[Clanggedin]

The Mikron also comes with the new Miflex hose attached.

 

[SeaHound]

I am also looking for a regulator and have been doing alot of research. I'm pretty sure I am going to rder the new Mares She Dives regulator. It's formulated for women. Light weight. All metal. I've not actually spoken to anyone that has used it but it's getting good reviews in the dive magazines.

A regulator formulated for women??? U GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! How do you make a gender specific reg?

 

[halocline]

James is right on this one. Hose length and routing, as well as mouthpiece comfort, will make a much more noticeable difference than a smaller, lightweight reg. The key is remembering that the 2nd stage is filled with air; the bigger it is, the more air, more air=more buoyancy. most of the time you're diving the reg is underneath your mouth, so that extra buoyancy of a larger 2nd will totally offset the tiny increase in weight.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Thanks for the information .... we both use comfo bite mouthpieces.

It is interesting what you say about size as my reg is an old US divers SEA (been using it for 17 years) and is fairly large and my wife has used it with no problems in the past.

Sound as tho the the Aqualung Mikron may be a good place to start ...

Once again thanks to everyone for your help