Regulator for Wreck Diving

[eweingarden]

I'm a new diver; just taking my OW course now, so I'll be looking to buy some gear soon. Eventually I'll want to do wreck diving, and I want to adhere to someone's axiom to buy my second set of gear the first time. Since I'm new to the world of diving, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that wreck diving is at greater depths, and in colder water. So, I'm looking at two regulators; Cressi Ellipse Balanced MC9, which seems to be a good regulator for different environments, and the Sherwood Blizzard, which seems to be specific for cold water diving. Again, since I want to buy a regulator only once, can I get some feedback on the use of either of these two regulators for what I eventually want to accomplish. Thanks.

Ed

 

[elan]

Many regs nowadays work great so performance is usualy not the first thing to look at as many regs are as good as you tune them. I think in general it is a good idea to get a reg that can be easily fixed locally. Sherwood will work fine in cold water as will many other regs. Some sherwoods have non standard LP hose fittings so you have to order their hose if you want a different length. You cannot also use a sherwood reg on a stage as they have a dry bleed system that leaks tiny stream of bubbles. So if you later want to get more into technical wreck penetration and want standardize your regs you should keep that in mind. It also confuses your buddies as many would think you have a leak.

 

[scubadiver888]

Not all wrecks are deep and cold but the colder and deeper the wreck the better it is preserved. So you will end up wanting to go deep in cold water at some point.

I am not familiar with the Cressi Eclipse but my first regulator was the Sherwood Blizzard. All modern regulators are GOOD regulators but I find there are some GREAT regulators. The Blizzard is a good regulator. How it breathes changes with depth. If you get into technical diving you'll find it isn't good beyond recreational limits.

Additionally, you will find water getting in the second stage if you go upside down. Not too important in open water bt in a wreck you might have to go upside down a lot. The is way I replaced my Blizzard. I got into wreck diving ad discovered all the problems.

As far as using the Blizzard for a stage regulator, the bleed is INCREDIBLY small. I was told by a tech instructor that I cannot use my Blizzard for a deco bottle because of the bleed. I went to the Sherwood site and found that the bleed was so incredibly small that it would take months for it to lose a few cubic feet of gas.

Since you don't have a Blizzard yet, I'd avoid it. Talk to tech divers in you area and see what they like. The big difference between tech and recreational diving is that recreational divers always have the option to swim to the surface. Because of deco obligations, a tech diver cannot swim directly to the surface. A wreck diver is in a similar situation because it overhead environment. So the equipment for a wreck diver and tech diver have similar requirements.

 

[eweingarden]

Scubadiver888:
The information that I can understand is excellent. Can you tell me what a stage regulator, and the bleed are. Thanks.

Ed

 

[scubadiver888]

Scubadiver888:
The information that I can understand is excellent. Can you tell me what a stage regulator, and the bleed are. Thanks.

Ed

When you get into technical diving you have travel gas, stage gas and decompression gas. A stage regulator would be the regulator set on the stage cylinder.

The bleed valve on most Sherwood regulators is a valve on the first stage which lets a small stream of bubbles flow all the time. If you see one underwater it looks like the first stage is leaking. The idea is by keeping a steady flow of gas through the first stage will prevent free flows.

 

[Dr Dog]

When you get into technical diving you have travel gas, stage gas and decompression gas. A stage regulator would be the regulator set on the stage cylinder.

.

and in even more laymans terms, when you see a picture of a diver with a bunch of tanks around him/her. All of those tanks are called stage cylinder, that would be used at different parts of the dive. As in, if they have a 20 min deco stop at depth, they may have a special mix to breath off of during that. It is all that training, as you look farther down your PADI/SSI etc training programs.

You should also spread your wings a bit more and look at more than 2 regs. There are many regs out there, with some being as good or better than others for significantly less money

 

[elan]

The idea is by keeping a steady flow of gas through the first stage will prevent free flows.

The idea is that by keeping the constant flow of bubbles the first stage senses the ambient pressure without letting the water in thus keeping the ambient chamber dry.
It does not prevent freeflows by itself.

 

[Fishpie]

The reason Sherwood first stages are not recommended for stages is they flood when not pressurized.
Rapid descents also cause them to flood.

 

[rongoodman]

It's hard not to like Hog D1s--they're inexpensive, breath well, and route very nicely either for backmount or sidemount. If you want a first stage with a yoke connection, you can get an Edge instead of a Hog, they're pretty much the same.

 

[eweingarden]

My education on regulators is growing by leaps and bounds from this forum. Becoming aware of Hog/Edge has opened up a new area of possibilities. The Hog D1 cold water and D1 second stage have definitely caught my eye. I'm almost ready to push the button on that setup.

What length hose is the norm, and will it be different when I eventually go deep? Thanks for everyone's input.

Ed

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