Traditionally, the backup second stage regulator has been a lower-performance lower-cost unbalanced design because it was thought to be less likely to free flow and less prone to problems. However, experience has demonstrated concerns with using a lower performance regulator under conditions that forced a switch to the backup, and most experienced divers are now choosing identical high-performance backup and primary regulators. Our high-performance balanced second stages are very resistant to free flow when it has the venturi setting on pre-dive and the adjustment knob set low. Field experience has shown our regulators to be quite trouble-free as well.