Regulators for Ice Diving

[Bob3]

... breathing off it as little as possible on the surface.

Best to not even stick the reg in your mouth until you're underwater.
In BAD conditions, it only takes 1 or 2 breaths to freeze the 2nd stage.

... he had a reg that was sealed and so he poured grain alcohol into the first stage ...

The very first single hose regs to have any sort of anti-freeze protection was the Poseidon Cyklon. They have a rubber cap that goes over the end of the 1st stage & we would usually use rum, it doesn't need to be 99 octane. (rum seemed to be the least affected by the "rubber flavor".
I was diving a double hose well into the mid '70s 'till the Cyklons became more widely available in the US. Got teased a lot, but I'd get 'em back when their regs froze up.

 

[hg frogman]

A Mk25 isn't the best choice - by far - for ice diving. And which second with it ?

"Lots of metal" matters more for the second stage (last repeat), unless it has a specific "very cold water" design.

You can find advice about cold water regs on internet, no problem, but the web isn't the right place for learning ice diving.

 

[mathauck0814]

Understood. As I said, our dive club will be doing some this winter as a way of selling training during slow months. I expect to participate in the training, just want to make sure I have the right gear to go along with it.

 

[ScubaSam]

My reg is Mares Proton 42 Metal and although I've yet to dive ice, I did dive in 44 degree water temps for all of April at our local quarry without an issues.

Good luck with whatever reg you eventually go with.

 

[renegade17]

This is what entails all the best features of a good ice diving reg and second stage. It's an Aqualung Legend Glacia. Research it, and I think you'll like what you find.