2nd Regulator

[ehuber]

I was wondering if most of the technical divers use two high-performance regs for a doubles rig? I've gotten a bit of contradictory information, so forgive me if this is a common question.

Or... could you buy a high-performance reg for your long hose and a sturdy, reliable BASIC reg for the short hose that resists freeflows? I live in Minnesota, so I would certainly need a cold-water regulator. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

My primary reg is an ATX200 from Apeks, if the information helps.

 

[Scuba Cowboy]

Yes, most technical divers use two high performance regs. If you had an issue with your primary reg at depth, which reg would you switch to? Wouldn't you want it to be a high perf. reg? Any high performance reg can be detuned a tad to resist freeflows. If you are looking to take short cuts with equipment, don't even consider tech diving.

 

[Toolbox-13]

I second that Scuba Cowboy...my life at depth is worth the extra bucks. I use Apeks TX-50's for primary and secondary second stages

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Yes...the backup should be at least as good as the primary. Most techical divers ascribe to the "donate the primary" philosophy (obviously as the primary is on the long hose) so you would be the one breathing off the backup.

 

[ehuber]

So you're saying that for a reg to be high-quality it must be high-performance as well?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

So you're saying that for a reg to be high-quality it must be high-performance as well?

If you plan on doing deep technical diving, a reg that only adequately meets the demands of recreational diving at 130 ft or less won't cut it, especially when you are in a demanding situation such as sharing gas with another diver at depth under a heavy workload such as swimming against a current. You need to configure for the worst case scenario.

Also, in my experience, higher inhalation resitance tends to increase CO2 retention...and elevated CO2 levels tend to be associated with the aggravation of a variety of things like nitrogen narcosis and O2 toxicity.

I will use lower performance regulators in technical diving such as using a MK 2 on a deco bottle. It is a good choice as it is simple, utterly reliable and well suited by design to high O2 applications. But the deepest it will see use is at 70 ft with a 50% O2 deco gas. And even in this application I prefer to use a balanced and adjustable second stage rather than an unbalanced and non adjustable second stage like an R190 or R390 to ensure easy breathing during long deco stops. And on a stage bottle with a travel gas that may be used at or below 130 ft, I'll use a higher performance regulator.