21 REGULATORS

THE DEEP BREATH TESTS
Sherwood Blizzard
Piston dry-bleed first-stage with five mp and two hp ports. Plastic second-stage with heat exchanger. Cold-water spec.
First Impressions:
The radial layout of the ports means a difficult hose routeing but there are five mp ports. The patented Sherwood Dry-bleed piston design can lead other divers to tell you that a tank O-ring is about to blow! We all thought the second-stage had a great mouthpiece and its soft front offered easy access to the purge button. The wide-spaced exhaust tee met with disparate opinions. Some thought it could get caught in fishing line and the like. We all thought the component parts might have been better designed to mate with each other.

At depth:
George: " Overall it was OK, but nothing to write home about. A reasonably good performer without silly knobs, but only average charisma factor. Not for me."
Sarah: "A great mouthpiece but a bit wet even back at 9m. It had a nice feel and colour. Why are most regulators black?"
Steffi: " Very smooth. There was no resistance when I demanded air and I was very happy with the mouthpiece. Face up it was quite good. In that position, probably the best I've tried."
Steve: "Fine on deep inhalations but I disliked the mouthpiece."

Upside-down: Very good.
In a fast current: Poor to average.

What the machine found:
An acceptable performer but with a high initial resistance to inhalation.
Work of breathing at 50m: 2.06 joules/litre.

Guide price: £252		 Sherwood Blizzard


Sherwood Blizzard
Sherwood Magnum
Piston first-stage with four mp and two hp ports. Plastic second-stage.
First Impressions:
First-stage impressions similar to those with the Blizzard. We all liked the clean looks of the second-stage, with a good integrated purge, easy access to the mechanism and a great mouthpiece.

At depth:
George: "A very functional mouthpiece but a pity about the performance. It was an OK breather but not my cup of tea. It was too watery for me."
Sarah: "I wrote on my slate 'Wet (Bad) Dream'. It was a good breather but only if you like salt water! A great mouthpiece with no jaw ache."
Steffi: "It felt comfortable but there was some resistance to inhalation. It seemed slightly wet."
Steve: "It seemed slightly wet. I choked a little."

Upside-down: Retained a fine spray of water.
In a fast current: Poor to average.

What the machine found:
Almost identical performance to the Sherwood Blizzard.
Work of breathing at 50m: 1.81 joules/litre.

Guide price: £201		 Sherwood Magnum


Sherwood Magnum
The Deep Breath Tests | ANSTI Testing | The Conclusions
Apeks TX40 and TX100
Beuchat Evolution and VS8 Club
Cressi-Sub XS1 and F3
Mares MR12 Voltrex and MR22 Ruby
Ocean Reef 6600 and Enterprise		 Oceanic Delta IID and Gamma D
Poseidon Cyklon 5000 and Jetstream
Scubapro Mk14/M50 and Mk20/G250
Sherwood Blizzard and Magnum
Spiro Ranger XP and Supra D XR2 Cryo,
US Divers SEA4 Micra ADJ
Appeared in DIVER - March 1998.