I Want A Bomb Proof Cold Water Reg!

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cleung

Contributor
Messages
863
Reaction score
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Location
Collingwood, Ontario
# of dives
200 - 499
After this dive season in Canada, I'm going to retire my old Scubapro MK20/G500 reg (or might still use it for warm waters) since it froze on me at 8 degrees C water. So my next reg I want to get for Canadian waters should be bomb proof - okay I know no such thing but I want the best cold water reg I could get.

So I narrowed my choices to the following three cold water regs since they were all US Navy tested I believe.

Apeks MTX-RC
Mares Abyss Navy ii
Poseidon xStream

If anyone here has experience with any of the above in cold water or better yet, had a chance to compare them in cold water, I would appreciate any feedback.
 
I'm partial to Poseidon, but the Argonaut Kraken is the only production regulator that is functionally impossible to freeze since the second stage is environmentally sealed as well as the first.
 
I won't be doing any ice diving but I want a reg that will not freeze in say 6 degrees to 10 degrees C which would be average water temperatures for a future BC trip and the absolute lowest I would dive up here in Ontario.
 
I won't be doing any ice diving but I want a reg that will not freeze in say 6 degrees to 10 degrees C which would be average water temperatures for a future BC trip and the absolute lowest I would dive up here in Ontario.

The new SP MK19, Atomic M1 are top choices for the conditions you reference. I know people who use them in technical diving in your area including ice diving as well as in the great lakes. No issues with them at all. I have been checking with my friends. The SP MK19 is much newer model however. The M1 has been around for many years. My friends in the great lakes also use the SP MK25 EVO/S600 without issues.
 
I'd go with the Poseidon Jetstream or XStream, for cold water. I have used them for decades -- Cyklons included -- and have never experienced, so much as a hitch with the regulators, even under freezing conditions -- whether with the more recent XStream first stages or the older models with their vodka-filled environmental caps.

Keep in mind, though, that any regulator can freeze, if used improperly under the harshest conditions . . .
 
On an Antarctic trip we had 18 divers, each doing about 6 dives, each about 45-60 minutes long, and using probably 18 different kinds of regulators. Mine were DiveRite XTs, nothing special. All regs were detuned a bit for the trip. Nobody had a freeze up. Water temps were -2 to 2C.
 
I have had nothing but positive experience diving my Poseidon XStream regs in Lake Erie and Ontario, Wonderful regs. They are just "different". I've also used my MK17/g250v in Erie, Huron, and Gilboa. They only let me down because they needed service.

For ice diving, my choice is either my Kraken, or a PRAM. DH regs are fantastic in the cold as @tbone1004 said.

Early on in my diving I dove an unpacked MK10/109 (or 156) on Erie without issues. I'd frequently see MK20/25 regs fail, but I think it was due to too hot of a tune. I also feel a metal air barrel is a minimum, and the more metal in the second stage the better.

I still think diaphragm regs are a better choice for cold water.

YMMV
 
I’ve used Atomic M1s for years in near freezing temps without issues. Poseidon is another great choice. Older Apeks regs have been free-flow prone around here (Lake Ontario) but I hear good things about the MTX.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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