Me or the reg or both?

[thomjinx]

At 85' it could have been a bit of Nitrogen Narcosis adding to your feeling of unease.

How deep were you when you began to notice this problem?

 

[r&wc]

i cant speak for ronski's situation but prior to service i compared my reg to my wifes (exact same setup) and my friends 15yr old psiedon and mine was definetaly breathing a little harder than the rest out of the water, after having serviced it now breathes fine in shallow water and it seems to be inherent to that reg to start breathing hard at 80' i have done many dives after and have paid close attention to the reg with my depth guage in hand and at exactly 80' it starts to breath differently

 

[cerich]

You're a man of great integrity.... You'd have to know that to not see it as a slimy jab at Sherwood.

Be careful what you suggest (implicitly or explicitly) about the competition.... In your position, your appearance of professionalism is critical.

R..

Good point, I actually was curious.

When I worked in Cayman this was a frequent occurance. When the dry air bleed element get corroded the regulator would breath much harder. The element can/will get corroded when water enters the first stage. What was described sounds like exactly that. (harder to breath the deeper you go)

That is why I asked if it was a Sherwood, because if it was (and tons of rentals are) that is a possibility.

Wasn't meant as a dig to Sherwood at all, there are reasons why there are tons of their regulators in rental. I've also personally owned a couple (Blizzard and Ultima) back in the days of real cold diving in Canada because they worked, which is far from the case in that type of cold with most regs(think ice diving, -20 air temp with high winds and water temps just below freezing by a couple degrees like in a slushee....)

 

[ScubaThor]

Were all the other dives shallower than 85'?

 

[Ed Palma]

I think Cerich posted a fair enough question based on his knowledge of regulators (oceanic or otherwise). I guess the question should have just been more general and been "what regulator was it?" After all, the OP's question was "Was it me or the reg..?"
So... what reg was it?

 

[DandyDon]

Diving the first dive on a trip, the first in 6 months, to that depth doesn't seem like a good idea. An operator that would take you there doesn't sound like as good of an op as one who would require a check-out dive first. Additionally, all that on a rental reg is foolish to me. I don't know your dive experience ronski101 (you can put that in your profile now, it's fixed), but I suggest every diver should own his/her own reg.

 

[Ayisha]

Punta Sur as in Punta Sur (Devil's Throat) near Cozumel? A long winding tunnel beginning at 80 feet and ending at 120 feet with a bottomless drop when you come out?

If you chose this dive as your first dive in 6 months AND with equipment you haven't tested, I wouldn't be surprised if you were anxious.

You mentioned the visibility being good, but that can be falsely comforting and fleeting in a tunnel. All it takes is one mud puppy to silt up the whole tunnel and make it an even more dangerous dive for everybody. You only mention up to 85 feet, so did you go in the tunnel (if it's the same place)?

I did Punta Sur several years ago but I've heard it's changed since the hurricane last year - more open now. So, maybe it's a little safer, but it's still very deep for a first dive in 6 months. I'm surprised the operator took you without watching your skills and buoyancy first on a previous dive(s).

 

[DandyDon]

Punta Sur as in Punta Sur (Devil's Throat) near Cozumel? A long winding tunnel beginning at 80 feet and ending at 120 feet with a bottomless drop when you come out?

Punta Sur is an advanced dive for first in six months on rental reg - but not necessarily the Throat. I do not think he meant that.

 

[TheRedHead]

Punta Sur is not Devil's Throat. Devil's Throat is located on Punta Sur North. I suspect he was on Punta Sur South which is a long descent onto sand to about 100 feet and if there is a current you have to kick across it. I think it is very easy to get excited during that descent when faced with the majestic pinnacles looming ahead and start breathing hard. Diving a high pressure tank, there are a very limited number of dive operators he could go with and they all have very good equipment: Oceanic and Mares.

 

[Web Monkey]

Scenario:
As I decended I noticed that the reg was breathing hard which seemed to me to increase as I got deeper. Note: I switched to the octo and back but both seemed hard to breath. At about 85' I was getting anxiety/panic thoughts so I really concentrated

I vote for a crappy and/or in-need-of-service regulator.

You and your buddy should both be able to suck like hoovers at way over 100 feet without it being hard to breathe.

You may or may not have been anxious but that shouldn't effect how hard it is to breathe.

Terry