I'm somewhat of a new diver (3yrs, ~80 dives). I purchased only a mask and had been renting the rest of the gear whenever I dived. During my dive trip, I experienced two regulator failures (from two different dive shops) that nearly caused me to drown as I swallowed a few mouthfuls of seawater. After that, I decided that was two too many and went to a dive shop and picked up a new Scubapro MK25.
I brought it to an indoor dive facility to test it out. Towards the end of every breath, it would sputter (as in the delivery wasn't smooth and would rapidly cut on and off). I then took it back to the dive shop, and the owner hooked it up to some machine that measured the pressure output and assured it was working perfectly and was not defective. He said that it is likely that I am not drawing my breaths consistently, and recommended that I work on my breathing.
The main selling point he made for regulator is that you could inhale as if you're breathing normally and effortlessly. Whereas many regulators I've gotten as rentals had me inhaling pretty hard to to draw air.
I realize this is a reputable brand and model, so defect incidence is likely very small. So my question is is there a proper way to inhale to ensure smooth and consistent air delivery? Am I supposed draw breath at the same rate/pressure throughout my entire inhalation?
