This month’s test was carried out by a group of mad keen divers from HMS Seahawk. We presented them with 11 regulators, and asked them get diving and tell us what they thought…   |
You can test regulators scientifically with Ansti machines, but there’s no substitute for in-water experience by active, enthusiastic divers. With this in mind, DIVE asked a mixed bag of divers to help us by testing a selection of regulators that are generally held to be good all-round performers. We enlisted the services of a group of ten recreational divers, all enthusiastic members of Seahawk SAC, a BSAC club attached to the Naval air base at Culdrose, Cornwall.
As the Seahawk divers tried out the different regulators, it became clear that while they agreed on many points, they often came to wildly contrasting conclusions about certain aspects of the regulators. They did admit that that the look of a regulator was important to them as prospective buyers. However, they proved quite hard-nosed when it came to the breathing controls, concluding that in many cases this feature did not make much difference to the regulator’s performance.
The divers were not told how much each regulator cost, so they came to their conclusions based purely on appearance and performance. What can we learn from their sometimes contradictory conclusions? Well, everyone seems to have their own idea about how a regulator should breathe, so for prospective customers the best advice is to try before you buy.
THE TESTERS
The club members who took part in testing the regulators were: Honor Thorley, Ric Stoddern, Pete Batchelour, Ivor Milne, Lynn Reed, Sean Pinniger, Deb Pinniger, Donny Osmond, Richie Lymn, Dave Smith