Ishie
Guest
I got the Proton Ice fairly recently and I love it. It's a pretty heavy reg, but once I replaced the original mouthpiece with the SeaCure, it's really comfortable.
The humidifying feature is NICE. When I was renting gear, I would always come out of the water with the nastiest case of dry mouth. Also, I'd feel more dehydrated making me feel fatigued, that sort of "after airplane" feeling. Apparently, the Ice also allows the air to warm. I'm naturally cold blooded, so to me I haven't felt much of a difference in that category.
One of the other factors in my getting the Proton Ice was the V32 1st stage, also quite heavy. It's very nice. Jim and I both tried to simulate a panic attack on it (above water, starting gasping hard and fast, gulping air) and it didn't feel at all like we were overbreathing it. When I've tried that on other regulators, after a second, I've felt a little air starved, so if you needed to pass it off to a buddy in a crisis (and breathe off your octopus), it would be likely to calm them down.
Can't speak to it above or below the others, but I am very happy with my regulator. So far, seems pretty hardy. Conditions in Monterey were not pretty last weekend, and a couple of times, due to my own stupidity, I got pummeled into the sand, effectively filling my gear. The proton didn't free flow with that much sand stuck in it, and still worked (when I've used Sherwood rentals, even a little sand seems to get them completely free flowing). Of course, after getting out, I IMMEDIATELY and thoroughly rinsed everything out.
The only downside I could really see with the Proton Ice is the increased weight, and that doesn't bother me. My instructor also said that they can be more expensive/difficult to maintain, but that Mares makes very quality fins and regs (and he's a ScubaPro man).
Ishie
The humidifying feature is NICE. When I was renting gear, I would always come out of the water with the nastiest case of dry mouth. Also, I'd feel more dehydrated making me feel fatigued, that sort of "after airplane" feeling. Apparently, the Ice also allows the air to warm. I'm naturally cold blooded, so to me I haven't felt much of a difference in that category.
One of the other factors in my getting the Proton Ice was the V32 1st stage, also quite heavy. It's very nice. Jim and I both tried to simulate a panic attack on it (above water, starting gasping hard and fast, gulping air) and it didn't feel at all like we were overbreathing it. When I've tried that on other regulators, after a second, I've felt a little air starved, so if you needed to pass it off to a buddy in a crisis (and breathe off your octopus), it would be likely to calm them down.
Can't speak to it above or below the others, but I am very happy with my regulator. So far, seems pretty hardy. Conditions in Monterey were not pretty last weekend, and a couple of times, due to my own stupidity, I got pummeled into the sand, effectively filling my gear. The proton didn't free flow with that much sand stuck in it, and still worked (when I've used Sherwood rentals, even a little sand seems to get them completely free flowing). Of course, after getting out, I IMMEDIATELY and thoroughly rinsed everything out.
The only downside I could really see with the Proton Ice is the increased weight, and that doesn't bother me. My instructor also said that they can be more expensive/difficult to maintain, but that Mares makes very quality fins and regs (and he's a ScubaPro man).
Ishie
