Turret or Swivel on Reg??

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I am always diving with a redundant first stage over 60'. Pretty much dive doubles for all 60' + depths. Or even less than 60' if there is an overhead environment. I know my HP hose blew one day prior to the dive and it does sound like alot of air is moving pretty fast but if u isolate or shut down the valve reasonably quickly then the amount of gas lost is manageable.

Drew
 
DIVERDREW wrote...
I know my HP hose blew one day prior to the dive and it does sound like alot of air is moving pretty fast but if u isolate or shut down the valve reasonably quickly then the amount of gas lost is manageable.
Yup, that's why I now dive with two first-stages whenever possible.
Still, I can't see enough benefit from the swivel to justify the risk when purchasing a new reg for myself. After all, the Mk20 was still within its annual service period, and had been serviced by a SP-approved tech. YMMV.

I haven't seen the specs, so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a failure of the dynamic o-ring going to be equivalent to a high-pressure hose loss, but from a significantly larger aperture?
 
metridium once bubbled...
Even on a catastrophic failure? On a 100' solo dive, for example?

When mine failed, it was moving some serious air. I have nothing to compare it with, so perhaps it sounded much worse than it was...but I suspect it wouldn't have taken long to drain the tank.

if that turret o-ring no longer limited gas flow
but the functioning HP seat and piston has a limited gas delivery capability. High performance 1sts like the Mk20/25 are pretty high CFPM but I'm thinking it is still limited to something on the order of 8 to 12 cu ft per minute. So, while it's probably not a good time for just one or two more pictures before you go, you should have at least a good minute plus of gas remaining if you were at the end of a dive (~700 psi) and maybe 5 minutes or more of gas if it was early in the dive. In either case, a controlled emergency assent should be possible. And any redundent gas source (good buddy, pony, spare air!) should turn it into one hell of a story over post dive beers.
 
I would rather not have the swivel. However I have 50 D with the rest DS4's and Flatheads. I can't remember why I have it. I think I needed an extra reg one day and took one off the shelf and that's what was there. I have never had a problem with it. Right now it's an a deco bottle but I do not believe in using lower quality or less reliable regs on deco bottles. On my doubles I want my hoses to stay where I put them so the 50D gets a spot on a stage or deco bottle. As I get new regs I cycle the old ones out and carry them for backups. This one will eventually get cycled out.
 

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