Posted by Wayne on June 25, 2002 at 08:50:19:
In Reply to: Re: Mares Regulator Feedback posted by divindude on June 24, 2002 at 21:39:30:
I tend to agree about things like titanium are cool marketing ideas with little benefit. And I agree that the "minimum performance" of regulators on the market is still quite good. but that being said, there is a difference between a high performance regulator and a lower performance one. The real question is this: Does it matter to you in your diving?
I used to drive a Surburban with a 454 CID engine. It had the horsepower I wanted when I was towing my boat -- actually it had power to spare. But most of the driving it did was taking the kids to school, basketball, and soccer. Did I need the extra performance? No. Did I want it? Yes! I think of regulators similarly. Do you dive air to moderate recreational depths on relaxing dives? If so, any old regulator will work great. Performance will not be an issue for you. If you do deep technical dives where the work might be greater, then you need higher performance. Simple enough, but at some point you might say "What if?"
You are playing in the Avalon underwater park, or the Yukon and you are near 100 fsw. Something happens and you are swimming hard/breathing hard. That air gets thicker at depth and that regulator seems smaller. Panic is not far away when breathing resistance increases. Are you likely to have such an experience? No. But the legitimate argument for all divers using high performance equipment comes from this type of scenario.
Not everyone can justify purchasing the high priced regs. And testing regs in shallow water will not show the differences. You need to consider the kind of diving you will do and buy gear that exceeds your needs. But you need not equip yourself for a 250 fsw dive if all your diving is 60 fsw local or 100 fsw warm water drift dives.
Wayne