Making My Fiancée Happy

[gijo1977]

Righto team,

I have a little predicament now.......

My Fiance and I have been diving for nearly a year now on some hand me down gear from her brother, and other bits and pieces. I bought her the Olympus 1030SW and 40m housing and she really loves the UW photography.....LOVES it. So in the effort to make sure she keeps wanting to dive I need some help.

She is diving the AL Cousteau/Micra Adj combo, but unfortunately the reg exhausts through her field of vision and makes her Photographic endeavors much harder than they need to be. She tryed my MK9/R190 combo the other day and didnt like the breathing.

So my question is: What would be a good Scubapro setup that will be a similar breather and better bubble dispersion reg? I need to get her to test drive it, but that said I will be looking to try and trade the AL setup for the SP setup. (Scubapro is what my LDS sell/service)

I was considering the MK11/17 and the s555/g250v or X650(its going on run out sale in Aus soon)

Thoughts??

 

[TSandM]

I love the way my S600s breathe, but I have to admit, the bubbles do go up either side of my face (or into my eyes if my mask is off).

 

[spectrum]

The Sherwood Oasis Blizzard models with the wide exhaust T keep bubbles out of my field of view.

This page is still under construction but describes another excellent solution. I couldn't resist.

It sounds like you have he being integral to this shopping mission and that's the most important thing.

Pete

 

[halocline]

The only SP reg I can think of that has a wider bubble dispersion is the old metal case 109 with the big rubber exhaust tee. The G250V might be better than what she has; it's the same size as the R190, so if bubbles were not a problem with your reg, probably the G250 will be okay. It breathes great. The X650 I don't know anything about except it looks sort of like a D400 but without the coaxial exhaust valve, which is strange because that was a big part of the point for those regs in the first place. The S555 is small so you'd want to avoid it in this case.

The micra's pretty tiny so bubbles are probably a real issue.

I'm surprised that she didn't like the breathing of your Mk9/R190. You should try the micra and if it does breathe better then maybe something's wrong with the Mk9/R190. (I know you just had it rebuilt) They're both downstream 2nds, but the larger lever/diaphragm size of the R190 should give it a noticable edge, at least in theory.

If she's going full blast into photography, you might look into a double hose; you could get her a nice rebuilt vintage one, and if she threatens to cancel the wedding take it back and try the "new" double hose that aqualung came out with a few years back. They may have already discontinued it, but they'll support it for years I'm sure. The thing about the double hose regs, in case you don't know, is that they vent behind your head at the tank, so photographers love them. If you want to explore the double hose option (it's not cheap!) there's Luis H on this forum who is an expert and will gladly advise you.

 

[gijo1977]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the help.

Matt,

I thought that the Micra Adj was a balanced 2nd, while the 190 is unbalanced?? I really dont know though? If it is the size that she doesnt like then I guess there is an impass....... bigger reg = better bubbles, Smaller Reg = more comfort, which she may be percieving as a better reg.

I will check out the Mistral solutuion, she might be swayed?

 

[halocline]

The aqualung website (U.S.) does not list the micra adj as balanced, so I assume it's a standard downstream valve. Be careful about the "2nd stage size=comfort" assumption. Larger 2nd stages hold more air, and as such are more buoyant, so any extra weight is negated. Hose length and mouthpiece design will make a MUCH more noticable difference in comfort than size. The whole idea of "compact" 2nd stages is just another marketing ploy; it looks good in the dive shop, but underwater it has no benefit. Just like all that cushy padding and endless D rings on BCs.

A well tuned R190 on a MK9 (equal to MK10) should be a very nice breathing reg, but it really has to be tuned carefully to match the IP of the 1st stage. It often is not. If you have a tank, you can try a quick test; pressurize the reg and gradually submerge the 2nd stage, mouthpiece up, into a sink or large pot of water. Just slowly push it down and see how far under the diaphragm will go before the reg starts to flow. It should be well under 2" on a recently rebuilt R190. If water gets in the mouthpiece before it starts flowing it's way off.

The mistral (I couldn't think of the name) might be a great solution; you might try some posts asking about photography with that reg. I think it has a bit of an uneven reputation, but remember most of the people interested in it will be comparing it to the old double hoses that they love.

Good luck, and I'm enjoying the D300! Thanks for sending it to me.

 

[TSandM]

My Aqualung Titan does not send bubbles into my face, with or without a mask, and it's an awfully nice regulator.

 

[gijo1977]

Well as an update to my earlier posts:

I purchased two MK25/S600 setups and she finally had a chance to test hers in the Solomon Islands (Great Diving)...................... The end result is that she prefers the way teh micra/cousteau breaths, and liked the bubble dispersion of the S600 better.

I dont know how to help her now, as she was recieving some "less educated" advice and opinions from her cousin, and has given me grief about the SP stuff ever since

What would be the difference in the "feel" of how the two reg sets breath?

Is there a better AL 2nd which could be mated to teh cousteau 1st that might make her happy?

Anyway I have decided she can get what ever she wants to replace her AL gear and i will keep my MK25/S600's for the day I do some tech diving.:14:

 

[nwdiver2]

If she liked the micra, I did for many years (all gone now &#61516 and she doesn’t like the bubbles she should try the side exhaust Aqualung Kronos. It is a premium reg from Aqualung.

She will get use to the bubbles using a conventional reg. I only know one Poseidon side exhaust user of 30 or 40 Underwater Photographers I know. I tried the side exhaust oceanic Omega but went back to the Micra, I now use Zeagles.