ScubaBrucie

 Basically I have three sets of regulators.

 In Spain I keep a set of Hogarthian rigged Cressi DIN regulators with 2 first stages. These are simple unbalanced piston regulators that are bulletproof and as Cressi seem to be the main brand in Spain they are easily and cheaply serviced. I did 55 dives on these last year, all of which were cave/cavern in 20+C water. They are so simple that you can make a good guess at your tank pressure just from the level of breathing performance!

 In the UK I keep my technical diving regulators. Four DIN Scubapro MK20/25 first stages, once again Hogarthian rigged. These really are the business and if I was buying again tomorrow I would buy the same. The performance they deliver is massive and hopefully well beyond what you would ever need. Their weakness is that they don’t really like water much below 5C. I have the teflon coated springs, finned and slotted piston covers and the latest composite, twin O ring icebreaker pistons in all of them which helps a little.

 For recreational bimbles on reefs around the world I have, for 9 years, used a set of Sherwood Blizzard A clamp regulators which I bought secondhand and already quite old. These have just 2 hoses on them as I use an Air 2 and a wireless air integrated computer. These have done hundreds of dives, most recently 77 in Bonaire over Xmas. They are great regulators especially with the second stage fins helping to stop your mouth getting too dry. The main drawbck is that they are heavy.

 On Bonaire I lost the front plate off the Sherwood Demand Valve so on my return I put the Blizzards and the Air 2 in for service. The bad news is that the DV is so old that the front plate is unobtainable, not only that but the  patented air bleed that Sherwood use is nearly dead. To add insult to injury the Air 2 is also in a bad way, needing internal parts. After chatting to the technician and looking at prices it became obvious that new regulators would be in the same ballpark as refurbishing the old ones when it came to wallet damage. A further incentive is the current low value of the dollar, it is nearly always cheaper buying dive kit from America but now some of the prices are really silly.

Replacing the Air 2 was simple. This regulator has gone through 4 versions in it’s life with the latest coming out (iirc) last year. Scubapro have continually improved the reg whilst making it lighter. I think my old one was a version 1! I like the Air 2, you always know where it is, unlike a conventional octopus. Nobody can steal if from you because there isn’t enough hose. It allows you to fill your BCD far faster than a conventional inflator and inflation is far easier to control than most inflators because it uses the Scubapro patented inflator valve instead of the simple shraeder valve that others use. I have used the Air 2 in genuine OOAs and practice with it regularly to ensure that my psychomotor skills are in place. A bit of searching on the internet found the Air 2 at $175, say £90, which is probably only a little more than the service and new parts would have been for my old one. Job done. http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.aspx?op=ItemDisplay&ProductID=SCPA2GYR

For the replacement for the Sherwoods I decided to stick with Scubapro because they are beautifully engineered, infinitely upgradeable and can be fixed and serviced anywhere in the world that people dive. After reading the rave reviews I decided on an A clamp MK17. This is a high performance diaphragm regulator with great design allowing it to provide a lot more air than usual diaphragm first stages. Still not in the MK20/25 league though. IIRC the MK17 is 6,500 litres/minute whilst the MK20/25 is 10,000 litres/minute, these numbers are massively beyond what you would ever need but they do smooth things out when you are working hard and deep. Advantages of the MK17 are that it is rated as currently the best cold water/ice diving regulator you can buy, it is also a lot smaller and lighter than my old Blizzard, which is great for travelling. An added bonus is that LeisurePro, already cheap, has the MK17 on sale with a R290 DV for just $200, a bit over £100! http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/CategoryID_1159/Context_954/Sort_Stock/DescSort_0/SCPM17R2.html?Hit=1 Add about 10% carriage to these prices and possibly 17.5% VAT if the parcel gets caught by customs. I will probably be putting a 2 metres long hose on these, the extra weight of the hose when travelling abroad being offset by the lighter regulators. I have done so many long hose deployment drills now that it has become second nature so it is probably good that my recreational OOA deployment is more consistent with my other kit configurations.