Rant: My old regulator setup froze solid on a job in Lake Superior last January

I used to run a standard twin-hose reg with no dry-air kit, thinking it was fine for cold work. After 45 minutes in 34-degree water my second stage started free-flowing bad and I had to cut the dive short. Anyone else switch to a heated or dry-air reg after a close call in cold temps?

1 comments

1 Comment

carter.jennifer2h ago

Whoa hold up, I gotta push back on something here. You said 34 degree water but Lake Superior in January is way colder than that, usually more like 32-33 degrees at the absolute warmest. That little difference matters a ton when you're talking about freezing regs. Also, that 45 minute mark is exactly when most unheated regs crap out in really cold water because the moisture starts freezing inside the second stage. I switched to a dry-air system after my own free-flow incident in a quarry and honestly it was a night and day difference. Just wanted to correct the temp thing because that could give someone the wrong idea about what's actually dangerous. A few degrees makes or breaks whether your reg is gonna last the whole dive or not.