What to do when regulator free flow in cold water?

[Kylebee]

I prefer the choice based on the type of dive and my training for that type of dive....

That's a very good point

 

[rx7diver]

... I prefer using my tongue to block most of the direct stream of incoming gas.

Tipping your head may be useful in getting an eye outside the bubble stream so you can see better. It doesn't have anything to do with breathing. ...

+1

Recreational dive--so, no mandatory deco obligation, and nothing overhead (like boat traffic)--correct? 20 ffw? I would continue to breathe off my free-flowing regulator, using my tongue to help regulate the amount of air that is coming into my mouth, signal my nearby buddy, and omit my safety stop and slowly ascend to the surface.

Note: A diver experiencing a free-flowing reg for the first time, without ever having practiced breathing from a free-flowing reg, won't care at all for the noise and obscured vision caused by the huge amount of bubbles being released by the free-flow!

rx7diver

 

[ZephyrNYC]

P.S. - if you are going to dive in water under 50 deg F, you should REALLY be using a winterized regulator that is rated for ice diving. Heavy breathing can cause 1st or 2nd stage to ice up in water WELL above freezing. Being in Buffalo, all my regulators are rated for ice, and my 1st stage occasionally has a block of ice on it in 45 deg water.

Which regulators do you recommend most? And caution against?

 

[Caversluis]

What is the standard procedure when regulator freezes and begin to free flow in cold water at the depth of 20ft?

Put a Y-valve on your cylinder and use 2 first stages such that each second stage uses its own first stage.

Note: with this setup you can change to your octopus which should operate normally. However, there is still a risk of emptying your cylinder fast. So it is important that you can shutdown the valve that causes the freeflow.

Source: i dive in Denmark, also during winter where temperatures get down to 2 degrees Celsius. I started with that setup. Now I prefer twinsets. When diving solo, I bring an additional stage cylinder.

 

[steinbil]

Which regulators do you recommend most? And caution against?

Environmentally sealed diaphragm 1st stages usually perform well in cold water. All of my Apeks regs (DS4, DST, FST, FSR) are workhorses that have no problem in water down to 35ºF (1-2ºC), although it's a good idea to be careful with how you operate the regs in those temperatures (with air temps below freezing) – meaning don't breathe them on the surface, detune the second stages until you descend, make sure not to purge or have any second stage mouthpieces pointing up as you enter the water etc.