Greg, the Atomic option is for those who think the extra performance is worth the extra investment and your option is for the more frugally minded. Like so many things, it probably just comes down to personal taste. You are way more experienced in deep diving than I, so I certainly respect your recomendation. If I didn't own these regs already from my OC days, it would probably have been too prohibitive to purchase them for this purpose and quite possibly I would have never bothered to fully appreciate the difference.
loanwolf wrote: A Deco/BO reg is something that you are only going to be using when decoing or on bailout headed for the surface not as a primary, when on deco you should not be working as hard.
Ideally, yes, I agree but what about those times when the shit hit's the fan and you are working much harder than you intended?...like in an emergency, in heavy current when you've got a lot of deco left to go, you could find yourself spending a lot of time on your BO reg working harder than you "should". It's my understanding that the whole WOB-Co2 retention issue that gets talked about a lot with CCR also applies to OC and it would seem that being able to BO to a high performance reg could be worth the extra cash at least in some circumstances. It took me one nasty experience many years ago pawing at the sand below a hundred feet trying to swim up against a 2 knot down welling sucking through what felt like a narrow straw to be convinced that a high performance reg just might be worth the extra cash even though the need for that extra performance is rare. I've concluded that there are times when that extra edge can span an otherwise potentially lethal gap and that is priceless to me. There are plenty of other valid conclusions and I admit perhaps I have overreacted to a few experiences I've had early on, but the memory of the feeling of suffocation is something that has stayed with me and has been very motivating... it's no wonder it's used as an interrogation technique.
loanwolf wrote:As for free flow concerns most tech divers use isolation valves on their 2nd stages.
I have resisted plenty of norms like this only later to come around, maybe this is yet another...time will tell. On the other hand, I've had flow stops stick and I've watched people take in water expecting a reg to work when they needed it the most and were too caught up in the moment to remember to turn on that valve. At this point, I'm going to be sticking with the practice of leaving all sources of gas on and all regs functional... so a reg that doesn't free flow in current still has it's appeal to me.
loanwolf wrote:Wola, for just over $200 you are ready to go for up to 100% O2. You can buy 3 of them for the price of an Atomic. That gives you bottom mix, 50%, and 100%. You are ready for trimix diving.
Surely this is an impressive option for the money, but one of the things that's both cool and a bit frustrating all at the same time about this sport is just how diverse the opinions out there are as to what is the best BO mix split. I"m guessing OC tec is more straightforward. My trimix instructor shies away from carying 100% o2 as BO, explaining that it's better to have more gas that can be breathed deeper and that another advantage of a leaner gas is it can be used either for OC or SCR, making it a more flexible option. I guess I buy that argument for now, so I don't have a need for a 100% o2 reg.
Cheers,
g