Sherwood: Blizzard vs. SR1 for Cold Water

[PFD-93]

i am a new diver, just recently I joined my Fire Department Dive team. this is a non funded team by the city so we have to share gear. I just recently bought my zeagle ranger BCD. and while searching for regs, I was told I should get the sherwood blizzard due to the amount of cold water dives we do. However I think I like the sherwood SR1 better, just from reading about it. but havent been able to find out if it functions as well in cold water as the blizzard or if they are the same thing as far as cold water diving. any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

[D_B]

Welcome to ScubaBoard PFD-93



I'm sure you will get lots of advice

 

[halocline]

I'd avoid the SR1 for reasons other than cold water, I just don't think it's a well designed or built regulator, and it has a lousy track record compared to many other choices. Just how cold are you talking about? Do you have a drysuit?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The blizzard is a proven item. The SR1 looks pretty but so what? The blizzard also will not ste you back as much. I use blizzard on my stage when ice diving because it is what I would trust my life to and would not hesitate if I had to hand it off to someone to save theirs.

 

[Rascally Rabbit]

As others have said the Blizzard is a proven design where the SR1 is not but there is another reg in the Sherwood line you may want to consider. The Maximus is a diver adjustable effort reg with an equally impressive and proven track record.

 

[PFD-93]

thank you all so much for the feed back.. as far as how cold will I be diving. Yes I have a dry suit and we do LOTS! of ice diving mostly training dives but, I live in north west Indiana so it gets cold here. I talked to My local Dive shop and he also reccomended the blizzard but i just wanted some more advise especially since regs ARE NOT CHEAP items. look forward to getting much more advise from everyone here

 

[Texfrazer]

A Sherwood Blizzard is a very good 2nd stage for cold water diving. It is certainly more proven (and in my opinion a better design) than the $R-1.

For cold water diving, you can also look at older all metal 2nd stages, as they hold the heat from your breath and don't experience the issues in cold water like most plastic 2nd stages.

 

[sgl308]

I have a Sherwood SR1 regulator, if you want to purchase a year-old regulator that has just been serviced, I'll cut you a deal. That being said, I'm not happy with it. They say it's environmentally sealed and works great in cold water. My second stage froze on me and started free-flowing at 115 ft with the water temp at 42 degrees F. It cleared on the way up and I knew exactly what happened when I inhaled a chuck of ice. I don't know about other Sherwood regs, but I'm currently looking at Atomic. I know Dive Rite and ScubaPro make good cold water regs, all of which are much more expensive.

 

[bwade]

I DO dive under Ice, I USE regs in freezing temps. Seriously look at Zeagle's Flat Head series or ZX50D or ZX DS-V. These WORK when the water's freezing around you. I use the ZX50D plus CW Octo.

You won't have any issues with them. It's your life support and must work under those conditions. Don't go to a suspect system

Happy Diving

From a recent under ice day

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/370555-another-good-day-away-work.html

 

[markmantei]

I use a sherwood maximus, and would suggest that over the blizzard. I believe they have the same first stage. The second stage on the maximus is setup for underarm hose routing which I find very comfortable, and it has a breathing adjustment knob. It is more expensive than the blizzard, but if your considering the sr1, that shouldn't be an issue.

I don't know about other Sherwood regs, but I'm currently looking at Atomic.

I bought an Atomic B2 for my wife and dive with it on occasion. Very good regulator, however, Atomic uses a balanced piston design, which you need to environmentally seal. If you are ice diving I think a sealed balanced diaphragm design is preferable. I set my father up with a Oceanic EOS with FDX-10 first stage for this reason. That said, my last dive with my wife's b2 was in 35f water temp and I had no issues.