Blizzard Oasis 1st Stage Difference

[jerry1818]

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[ghost8404]

I've never done any diving with a Oasis but some buddies and myself us a Blizzard and they are solid regs. A tec instuctor of I know used a Blizzard at 300 ft and said that it breathed like a champ.

 

[drdaddy]

I've never done any diving with a Oasis but some buddies and myself us a Blizzard and they are solid regs. A tec instuctor of I know used a Blizzard at 300 ft and said that it breathed like a champ.

I love my Sherwood Oasis+ - essentially the same as Blizzard, but without teflon in 2nd Stage. And I have been deep (number of times) in high altitude lake at less than 40 degrees and 90 feet - no problems. And I've been much deeper in tropical areas - no problem.

By the way, I do think that my older (80/90's) Sherwood Oasis+ breathes better than my much newer Oasis2 and Magnum.
My LDS tech/Sherwood Dealer agrees - Why is this?

I continue to exclusively use my 80/90's era Sherwood Oasis+. My newer ones are my backup and loaners. And I have another older Oasis+ a (through Craiglist/UPS) on it's way to my door as I write - that will be my real backup.

 

[diveprof]

I love my Sherwood Oasis - essentially the same as Blizzard, but without teflon in 2nd Stage. And I have been deep (number of times) in high altitude lake at less than 40 degrees and 90 feet - no problems. And I've been much deeper in tropical areas - no problem.

By the way, I do think that my older (90's) Sherwood Oasis breathes better than my much newer Oasis and Maximus.
My LDS tech/Sherwood Dealer agrees - Why is this?I continue to exclusively use my 90's era Sherwood Oasis. My newer ones are my backup and loaners. And I have another older Oasis a (through Craiglist/UPS) on it's way to my door as I write - that will be my real backup.

I have also found this to be the case. Thanks for the post as I appreciate confirmation of what I'm experiencing. I have used the newer generation Oasis and agree that it doesn't seem to breathe as easy as my Oasis + from the 80's. Is this due to the reduced volume of the second stage air chamber or something to do with the diaphram? Though I love the look of the SR-1, some of the posts I've read makes me wonder if this is Sherwood trying to model after the Atomics or SPs. I'm afraid that one of the more popular Scuba Diving mags may have contributed to this decision with their reviews and "breathing machine testing". To get the really great scores take more bells and whistles and things get more complicated. And to what end - for the real life diver - who probably cannot tell the difference in any of the top 10 regs in breathing performance as the difference is so slight only a machine can measure it! To me it seems regulator folks seem to be making more ultra high performance Ferraris and Porsches than simple, reliable Toyotas and Hondas these days. For reliability, I'd rather have a less complicated and reliable reg. I remember the Sherwood slogan from the 80's/90's - Sherwood, so simple it's ingenious! Here's to hoping they will return to this path.

 

[drdaddy]

I have also found this to be the case. Thanks for the post as I appreciate confirmation of what I'm experiencing. I have used the newer generation Oasis and agree that it doesn't seem to breathe as easy as my Oasis + from the 80's. Is this due to the reduced volume of the second stage air chamber or something to do with the diaphram? Though I love the look of the SR-1, some of the posts I've read makes me wonder if this is Sherwood trying to model after the Atomics or SPs. I'm afraid that one of the more popular Scuba Diving mags may have contributed to this decision with their reviews and "breathing machine testing". To get the really great scores take more bells and whistles and things get more complicated. And to what end - for the real life diver - who probably cannot tell the difference in any of the top 10 regs in breathing performance as the difference is so slight only a machine can measure it! To me it seems regulator folks seem to be making more ultra high performance Ferraris and Porsches than simple, reliable Toyotas and Hondas these days. For reliability, I'd rather have a less complicated and reliable reg. I remember the Sherwood slogan from the 80's/90's - Sherwood, so simple it's ingenious! Here's to hoping they will return to this path.

Dear DiveProf,

Thank you for your answer. I edited my above post to accurately describe my 80/90s Oasis+ as my best breathing regulator, second best is 90s Oasis2, and last is newer Magnum. I also have another Oasis+ on its way (CraigsList/UPS) as a better backup.

I have often wondered if I could/should just get my Oasis2 and Magnum "better tuned" so they would be "better breathing", but my LDS tech tells me "NO" - my Oasis+ is simply the best reg. I understand why they have to change styles etc, but really (!) these regs are mechanical devices which respond to outside pressure and deliver us air at a ratio-ed amount. Once you have the best, it's hard to improve. I can understand self containing them and making them freeze proof with "anti-freeze", and customized features for truly "professionals" in specific conditions. But there really hasn't been any real jumps in technology or quality since Aqualung's Conshelfs and Sherwood's 80/90s Oasis/Blizzards. Same goes for BCDs which really reach their peak about 10 years ago, now they are adding colors and plastic without any real improvement.

I digress. I guess what I really want to know is if there is something that I should be doing to bring my newer Oasis2 and Magnum a bit closer to the performance of my Oasis+ (my original regulator that I bought when I began diving! - I'm 59yrs).

You've really answered for me - as my LDS tech has also over the last 10 years since I've picked up these newer Sherwood Regs.

Thank you

P.S. I loaned my friend the Magnum when his great Oceanic was being serviced. He noticed the breathing difference right off, as I had, but he would not had any difference had I loaned him (which I wouldn't ) my Oasis+. There is a short list of Aqualung, Sherwood, Oceanic, ScubaPro, and a few others that are just bulletproof reliable breathers that cannot (present technology) be improved upon.

My PADI Instructor son loves his old Aqualung Conshelfs (100s of "no issue dives" - cold/deep, tropical, sandy/dry/damp,etc), but right now he's taking a break to go back to college and getting married this summer.

 

[diveprof]

You forgot to mention that the Oasis + is also a very classic design that is still very stylish today (Oasis 2 is a bit more dated - for some reason I think A Clockwork Orange and Stanley Kubrick -heck maybe I'll keep it as retro is coming back in style ). Sherwood did things very right with this reg (Oasis +). Everything from the slight angle of the hose going into the second stage (no swivel needed) to the easy (turn by hand) removal of the second stage cover and ease of adjustment of the second stage with a standard screwdriver. I've dove this reg way below the standard rec limits - no problems. Yes maybe, I say maybe 'cause I really don't know because I've never had an issue, it will not deliver a gazillion cubic feet of air per second at extreme depths. Of course, if you are going through copious amounts of air at depth you have a much bigger problem than a reg not performing to the most extreme high performance level . Yes, the 1st stage is a little heavier than the $$$ oxygen mix challenged titanium ones (yes, an ounce or two in travel weight would certainly make a big difference to me I would certainly pay huindreds of dollars mroe to save an ounce -yeah right ). Unless the current crop of Sherwoods go back to the basics I guess I'll eventually enter the "vintage dive equipment" diver club - and absolutely nothing is wrong with that :cool2:

P.S. Those conshelfs that you son is using - they are also very bullet proof. In the early 90's the shop I was teaching with used them in rental. Rarely any problems, and if any, nothing you couldn't adjust/fix on a rocking boat in 6' seas. Still, love my Oasis + more.....

 

[drdaddy]

DiveProf,

I just got my UPS Tracking number from the guy that's shipping me his old Oasis+ that he bought/been using in the 90's. Looks like my "new" backup reg will be coming in on Monday to my office.

You're right on with the placement of the ports. And the one way bleed valve is an ingenious trademark of the Sherwood. You already mentioned it, but the easy adjustment of the second stage with a regular screwdriver has been great for me. After servicing, it always needs a little adjusting and it is so simple.

 

[diveprof]

DiveProf,

I just got my UPS Tracking number from the guy that's shipping me his old Oasis+ that he bought/been using in the 90's. Looks like my "new" backup reg will be coming in on Monday to my office.
You're right on with the placement of the ports. And the one way bleed valve is an ingenious trademark of the Sherwood. You already mentioned it, but the easy adjustment of the second stage with a regular screwdriver has been great for me. After servicing, it always needs a little adjusting and it is so simple.

Envy, envy
(Though you will probably never need a back-up with this reg - hmm, I'd like an extra too )

 

[drdaddy]

Envy, envy
(Though you will probably never need a back-up with this reg - hmm, I'd like an extra too )

I got it! Changed the hoses around to my configuration. Noticed that someone had gotten a little mixed up when doing the 2nd Stages, so I switched them around. Hooked them up to a tank and this new Reg worked flawlessly.

Sorry about hijacking this threat. It's just that these older Sherwood Regs are better than the new ones, so when we (diveprof and I) see the older Sherwood Oasis+ out there, we really want the new divers to understand, even though made in the 80s, these older guages are better than many of the new ones!