Greg Barlow
Contributor
watchoutheyspit:
I have a Mistral and a DA Aquamaster. Both were completely rebuilt with new parts. The reproduction hoses are okay, but a bit too stiff and short.
Greg
New Aqualung Mistral
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I have a Mistral and a DA Aquamaster. Both were completely rebuilt with new parts. The reproduction hoses are okay, but a bit too stiff and short.
Greg
We have one at the shop I instruct for. I wouldnt encourage any of my students to purchase it as for much less money they could have a legend LX or for about the same money an Apex Black Pearl. As far as I'm concerned it's a low end reg with a high end price.
4 Sure:
I think they are the same company or at the very least affiliated/connected in some way.
I recognize the names under the "about us" link and if you check the addresses, they appear the same (I also seem to remember reading several years ago something from DiveInns site about DiveInn's site being started by the son...or something to that effect). Regardless, I purchased a couple of things from them several years ago and had a good experience.
You would be better of purchasing a DA or Royal Aquamaster and having it rebuilt by any of several pros who do this all the time and then of course learning how to dive with it safely from some one who knows the oddities of these things compared to modern single hose units. I seriously doubt the new Mistral will outperform a Royal Aquamaster in any substantive way and it is ugly besides. A well tuned Royal is a fine breathing machine, I am sure the hubcap in the mouth guys would not like it but once you adjust to the differences there is much to appreciate and enjoy--more than just the bubbles behind you.
The reproduction hoses could be better but really they are quite decent and hold up nicely. I am at least moderately pleased with them. One of my Royals has NOS hoses and they are only sligtly softer, slightly longer than the reproduction ones. The repros are good enough and certainly better than nothing. N, double hose and solo
The reproduction hoses could be better but really they are quite decent and hold up nicely. I am at least moderately pleased with them. One of my Royals has NOS hoses and they are only sligtly softer, slightly longer than the reproduction ones. The repros are good enough and certainly better than nothing. N, double hose and solo
Dave, I don't think they will. One end is 1 inch and the other is 1.5 inches for the vintage aqualungs and Voits. the new Mistral is proably different. My reproduction hoses stretched out a bit during my recent vintage excursion and really are very nice--could be better but darn nice. N
For those who might be interested, heres a snippet from a Mistral review written by Charles Hood in the March 2005 issue of Dive magazine (I think it explains quite clearly the differences between the new Mistral Twin-hose and the old):
The new Mistral has four low- and one high-pressure port so that the diver can connect the full range of peripheral equipment such as an octopus, submersible pressure gauge, BC and drysuit inflators. The Mistral first stage comes with either a 232-bar yoke fitting, a DIN 300-bar fitting or with the new nitrox/O2 M26 x 2 to allow for any configuration. Its first stage is based on the existing Titan. Its operating principle is the same as that of a single-hose regulator. Unlike the original twin-hose regulator, the flow of air is delivered in two stepsfrom the first stage and then the second stage. To get around European regulations, the first and second stage, despite being mounted on the tank, are connected by an intermediate hose and to make matters even worse you are given a choice of a shorter hose for warm-water use and a longer one for cold water. The logic for this is that in an ordinary single-hose regulator the hose has to be longer for the air to warm up between first and second stage. Personally, I think they should have tried to find a way to integrate them as one unit, even if this means they cant be used below 10C.
The new Mistral is approved for cold-water use and has passed the EN250, EN 144-3 and EN 13949 standards, which among other things required a breathing effort below three joules per litre at a depth of 50m with a supply pressure of 50 bar. Aqualungs own test divers have taken it under ice and have shown that the Mistral resists freezing, even under such extreme conditions as a forced extended free-flow. This is because the Mistral has both first and second stages fitted with environmental protection. Cold water never comes into contact with the moving parts.
The new Mistral has four low- and one high-pressure port so that the diver can connect the full range of peripheral equipment such as an octopus, submersible pressure gauge, BC and drysuit inflators. The Mistral first stage comes with either a 232-bar yoke fitting, a DIN 300-bar fitting or with the new nitrox/O2 M26 x 2 to allow for any configuration. Its first stage is based on the existing Titan. Its operating principle is the same as that of a single-hose regulator. Unlike the original twin-hose regulator, the flow of air is delivered in two stepsfrom the first stage and then the second stage. To get around European regulations, the first and second stage, despite being mounted on the tank, are connected by an intermediate hose and to make matters even worse you are given a choice of a shorter hose for warm-water use and a longer one for cold water. The logic for this is that in an ordinary single-hose regulator the hose has to be longer for the air to warm up between first and second stage. Personally, I think they should have tried to find a way to integrate them as one unit, even if this means they cant be used below 10C.
The new Mistral is approved for cold-water use and has passed the EN250, EN 144-3 and EN 13949 standards, which among other things required a breathing effort below three joules per litre at a depth of 50m with a supply pressure of 50 bar. Aqualungs own test divers have taken it under ice and have shown that the Mistral resists freezing, even under such extreme conditions as a forced extended free-flow. This is because the Mistral has both first and second stages fitted with environmental protection. Cold water never comes into contact with the moving parts.
OK, the Royal and DA Aquamasters are two stage. The Royal uses the same basic 1st stage as the Conshelf including parts interchangeability and is fully balanced. The Aquamasters can support an SPG via a banjo fitting and can support a BC and octapus from the low pressure hookah adapter using an adapter fitting. The a short whip hose to a three way spliiter or just put the splitter directly to the hookah port depending upon various obstacles.
The Aquamasters are also ice resistent, rugged and reliable. They have the advantage off all brass, chrome and stainless construction with real rubber parts and were built to last decades which they obviously are capable of easily.
There probably is a solid niche market for a modern two hoser but this so called New Mistral thing does not qualify IMO. N
The Aquamasters are also ice resistent, rugged and reliable. They have the advantage off all brass, chrome and stainless construction with real rubber parts and were built to last decades which they obviously are capable of easily.
There probably is a solid niche market for a modern two hoser but this so called New Mistral thing does not qualify IMO. N
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