Adjustable breathing reg: worth it or a hassle?

[shamufish]

I used to be really into paintball. I ended up buying a very complex market with a bazillion moving parts. On PAPER, it owned the competition, in practice, it barely fired a shot as it kept jamming and breaking.

I'm now firmly pro-simplicity. I see all these regs, with several controls on them. In particular, breathing resistance. Does this have any value for recreational diving? Or is it another gimmick?

 

[skankpile]

With an adjustable reg you can easily adjust it to the very reaches to freeflow so it breathes as easy as you want, and you can turn it back if you are in current etc... its worth it. Usually the non-adjustable types are adjusted a little stiffer for the cracking force to make up for this.

 

[Zung]

+1
A great number of non-adjustable seconds share the same body as their adjustable counterparts; the only difference is: the adjustment knob is replaced by a plug, with the same o-ring. No fewer parts. The only catch is, if both the barrel and the knob are metal, there's a chance of seizing if you don't lube them well.

 

[ianr33]

Totally worth it. (And I try to be as minimalist as possible)

 

[Peter_C]

I have my primary set to bubble at under 40 feet, then I can slightly detune it so it breathes great, but no more bubbling. My backup bungeed under my chin is identical to my primary reg in my mouth (Both are Scuba Pro S600's). The backup is stored with the adjustment screwed in, but if needed can be adjusted out so it will breathe easily at over 100 feet.

Take a look at the HOG regs for a cost effective reg that offers affordable rebuild kits and can be serviced by most any dive shop.

 

[j yaeger]

sp 109's
old school simple
cheap to boot!
all i use under ice
and have seen a lot of'the best' have problems....
have fun
yaeg

 

[mathauck0814]

I dive the same 2nd stage on my bungee as I do on my long hose. On the bungee I have the resistance cranked up, on my primary I have it more opened. Doesn't happen often, but if I end up with the wrong stage in my mouth the breathing resistance helps me know which one I'm pulling from.

 

[halocline]

I'm also a huge fan of the SP 109, especially when upgraded to balanced/adjustable. Maybe the most successful 2nd stage design ever in terms of simplicity, performance, durability, and influencing later 2nd stages.

The coaxial valve SP regs, beginning with converted pilots and going through the D400, do breathe a little better IMO and they are not user adjustable. The design of these regs, while more complex, solves some basic case geometry problems in a very elegant way. But, they are more specialized (although hardly more difficult) to service, and they have not had the kind of influence that the basic barrel poppet adjustable has. I often dive with one of these as my primary and a balanced/adjustable as a secondary, and I'm perfectly happy breathing out of either.

 

[knotical]

Well, you can accommodate a pretty wide range of cracking pressures with your mouth.
I dive a nice adjustable, and I tune it so it breathes real easy, but sometimes I crank it to the stops in both directions and don't really see it as that big a deal. I find I just dive with whatever setting it happens to be on. If I ever replace these regs, I might not bother with adjustable – depending on the cost difference.

But, you might want one if:
- you're diving really deep, or
- you're going to be diving strong currents, or
- you want to be able to fine tune it between service intervals, or
- you just like the idea of being able to adjust it on the fly.

Maybe I'm a throwback, but this modern stuff breathes so easily compared with some of the things we dived in the bad old days, that I think they're all wonderful, with or without adjustments.

And with or without adjustments, almost all modern regs are extremely reliable.

Good question. Keep being curious.

 

[j2s]

So much diving equipment comes down to personal preference...The more you dive the more aware/sensitive you'll become to the differences in what you like/don't like and your likes/don'ts will evolve over time...If you can, try friend's equipment, rent other things.....Try as many different brands and styles/types as you can.....After awhile you'll find what you like best and if it performs as advertised........I have a friend who dives for the oil industry...he uses the best equipment made when he's working and has a two car garage filled w/the latest/best equipment money can buy....W/one exception, his casual dive mask...He dives w/a round kid's mask from K-Mart !!!!...And has ever since we were kids :shocked2:.....It's all in whatever works for you.....