Regulator sand protection

[NamTinker]

After crawling through some surf on a shore entry, I found both my regs (Apeks ATX50's) to be nicely clogged with sand.  Took quite a bit of purging to clear everything out.
Since then I added a pantyhose toe over the regs and it seems to keep the sand out.
Any other ideas?

[Mdemon]

Is this going in or coming out?  Do you leave the panty stuff on during the dive?

The front piece of the ATX50s can be unscrewed by hand and flushed out quite easily.  The first time you undo them they seem spotwelded on, but it gets much easier from then on.

I think Dom posted some images of how to do this...  Have a quick search, I'm sure they're still there.

HTH

[NamTinker]

This was going in.  The hose just fits over the purge disc side.  Doesn't interfere with operation.
I'll check for the unscrewing.  Tried a few times, but as you said - fitted tight and I did not want to damage it

[Digger]

Put on a washing up or surgeon's glove. Ideal for gripping the cover. Make sure both surfaces are dry, tho, or you'll be even worse off than with bare hands!!!

Failing that, hit it with a hammer. Hard. B*stard regs. Make me grumpy. Very grumpy. Arrgh. Please don't actually hit it with a hammer. I was joking.

[Dominic]

Hmmm... haven't checked out ATX's to see if they unscrew the same way.

Make sure you're gripping the right place - assuming ATXs are like TXs, only the faceplate unscrews - the sides don't. A flat palm pushed against the faceplate and then turning it anticlockwise usually does it.

If not, there's a special Apeks tool that fits into the holes in the faceplate - they won't sell it to you, but you can jury-rig one up without too much hassle...

A few mug shots of a TX100