PICTURE HEAVY. New Diver that scored big on craigslist. Help ID. Scubapro.

[keller34]

I would say try and sell it...if you get more than what you paid then all the better! Use that money towards better gear that will last and keep you enjoying the underwater world. Best of luck!

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[herman]

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You guys, why all the negativity? SP regulators are collectors pieces, especially the MK 5. If he does nothing but keep it in a box for another 15 years, he's made a pretty decent purchase. That reg will do nothing but go up in value. As for the rest, well, it's probably not worth much but if its functional, I'd use it in the pool. I keep an old, beat up set of gear for the pool so that I don't ruin my good set. Believe me, it's every bit as ugly an old as this set up. I purchased it used in 1997. Its a Seatac wetsuit, which served me well for another 10 years in tropical conditions, a Seatac BC, which worked fine for another 4-5 years and an old reg set. Pool diving is great to keep skills fresh but if you don't have a set of pool dive gear, you probably won't do it much, because it's hard on your gear.
As for the SPG, any gauge is likely to be inaccurate, that's what gauges do. In fact, I don't even bother with my gauge on my pressure canner because I would have to get it tested at the Extension agency yearly for it to be safe for canning. I simply use weights instead. The canner has a gauge very similar to an SPG and its notorious for being inaccurate. That's why you should never dive without an adequate amount of air reserves. You need to account for some gauge inaccuracy, among other things.

I notice that a couple of the guys telling the OP that he bought a pile of junk have less than 25 dives. You guys are experts on scuba gear?

I agree.
First off, neither the MK-5 or the Dacor XL second is junk, quite the contrary. The MK-5 is one of the best piston regs ever made, it will hold it's own with any of the shinny new ones. Same for the XL second stage. It is better than most any of the mid range seconds on the market today and will still be diving when the current plastic ones are in the trash. There is good reason so many experienced divers still use the MK-5. The Olympic second is not the greatest performer but it is quite usable and much better quality than the low end second stages many diver use.
Wetsuits do degrade some but no where near to the unusable condition just because they are old, esp if it was a quality one to start with. My early 90s wetsuit is just as good today as it was new.....although it has shrunk some. Sure you can wear one out or abuse one to the point it is no longer useful but just because it's older means nothing.
Same holds for the BC, as long as it holds air and is otherwise serviceable it is not junk. It gets the job done just as well and as safely as a shinny new BP with H's all over it.
Even the tank is not actually junk. In fact it is perfectly serviceable, just because some dives shops are misinformed (or worse) is not the fault of the tank. Because there are so many of these shops it does make the tank a pain to have filled but again, that is not the fault of the tank. My LDS still use a few of them in our pool/class tanks.

 

[Nemrod]

Well the tanks could be worth $50 scrap. The Mark V looks okay but it appears to be an early two port. Photo was not very clear.

When venturing into the collector or vintage world the condition of the equipment and the item itself are everything. If you only paid 50 dollars for it I would use the regulators as a learning tool. Take them apart, see how they work, learn to begin to work on your own gear.

The tanks are essentially worthless, seriously, except for scrap.

Regulators:

USD/AL Conshelf
SP 109/108 with Mk V/X etc.
Anything USD Aqua Master/Mistral or Voit double hose (you can at least sell it for dollars or trade)
Essentially anything USD/AL and Scubapro can be fixed and updated

BCs:

Do not buy used BCs

Wetsuits:

Do not buy used wetsuits unless you like swimming in other peoples urine

SPGs:

If it is SP brass or any brass and glass construction and works, good, if not, do not

Fins:

If they are Jets, maybe, if not, then do not

Masks:

Just go get yourself a mask that fits, SP, AL, Mares all have a variety of good masks, the Atomic Frameless is to die for and you might when you see the price.

Knives:

Yeah, if it is a Buck diving knife, a USD SeaHawk or a Tekna Dagger or SP Dagger, yes, if it is butter knife or scissors, I am sure your wife already has some you can borrow.

Old depth gauges, watches, instruments are fun to collect but, frankly, for diving, get a cheap computer with Nitrox capability.

The Dacor thing, some people seem to like the stuff, I am not one of them. Dacor did have a few nice horse collar BCs back in the day but for the most part, if it is Dacor, run, run fast, there is something better in the next CL posting I am sure.

Mares, then and now, I love their fins, masks, their regs, nah, anything labeled a HUB or even resembling a HUB, run even faster, if you want to get laughed at, then go right ahead. They make great gag gifts or Halloween costumes.

TUSA, gag, gag, puke, vomit.

N

 

[Damselfish]

BCs:
Do not buy used BCs

Fins:
If they are Jets, maybe, if not, then do not

Why not? I think used BCs and fins are some of the easiest gear for a new diver with just a little research to judge the condition of. Great way to save a bunch of money when starting out.

 

[tracydr]

I still can't wrap my head around the requirement that shops have for students to buy fins as part of their " personal " gear. What, foot sweat is too gross now?
Throw the used wetsuit in the washing machine with some Woolite and sink the stink on gentle cycle, cool water. Line dry. It will be clean, smell good, no more urine worries.
Add a little Lysol or other disinfectant if it really bothers you.

 

[Nemrod]

I see wetsuits and BCs as basically disposable pieces, they last a few years, maybe, throw them away. I said what I said, it is my opinion. I do not get all tearful over a plastic bag covered in fabric or a stinky bit of what sells as neoprene these days. N

 

[halocline]

For $50 the OP did fine. Lots of dive shops sell a snorkel or a sea cure mouthpiece for more than that. Give the guy a break!

The 1st stage is a MK5, but it's not all good news. It looks like a 4 port model with the middle generation yoke, meaning it's not quite up to 3000PSI according to scubapro. People do use them on modern tanks without a problem, but all my MK5s have the heavier yoke that's stamped 3000 PSI. The thing that looks weird to me in the photo, and this might be why Herman thinks it's a clone, is the seat retainer. It's hard to tell if it's something in the photo or a different seat retainer, that would indicate a clone. I suspect it's just a photo issue. The good news is that the MK5 is one of two most successful 1st stages in history in terms of design longevity, influence on later regs, proven performance, and ease of service. Anyone who calls a MK5 a piece of junk knows nothing about regulators.

You can rebuild the Dacor 2nds, but you'd be better off IMO in the long run if you bought a scubapro 109, that's the old metal case adjustable 2nd stage and was very likely the original 2nd stage for that MK5. You can get one expertly rebuilt from Couv (he's a scubaboard user) and you'll have a top shelf 1st/2nd stage that will outperform most of what's in the dive shops these days and will last forever.

The BC, if it works ok, will be perfect for you to get some experience in, and once you get your skills to the point where you can accurately evaluate different types of BCs, you can look into something new, like a modern BP/W.

The dive gear industry is unfortunately populated with all kinds of B.S.,( like a failing a SPG will kill you, that's a good one!) and students are typically taught at dive shops in order to create a market for new shiny gear. So beware of the nervous nellies that tell you old gear is no good. Some old gear is junk, but so is some new gear!

 

[oly5050user]

I still can't wrap my head around the requirement that shops have for students to buy fins as part of their " personal " gear. What, foot sweat is too gross now?
Throw the used wetsuit in the washing machine with some Woolite and sink the stink on gentle cycle, cool water. Line dry. It will be clean, smell good, no more urine worries.
Add a little Lysol or other disinfectant if it really bothers you.

There are a couple of reasons a LDS requires a student to own personal gear of a mask/snorkel/fins/boots. One reason is to fit students for every pool session with this gear and get it adjusted for them is a time consuming process and as everyone know pool time is very expensive. Have a class of 8 students and spend 2 minutes or more time with each with them getting everything sorted out takes 15 to 20 minutes away from the class pool time. Multiply that by 5 pool sessions thats possibly an hour of lost time for the entire course. Comfort for the student is assured when they own their own gear and it fits properly makes the learning process go more smoothly.
Having the student own the mask/snkl/fins/boots that they will use on their ow training dives makes the dives go easier.
Of course the LDS has to make money and gear sales is a big part of the stores income.
Selling this personal gear keeps the cost of our ow course down. If we did not sell this gear and instead supplied mask/snkl/fins/boots the cost of our course will have to have go up. We do supply all big ticket items such as bcd/regulator/tanks/lead weight.
If a student comes to us with appropriate gear previously owned or purchased elsewhere we welcome them to class and they can use it as long as it fits properly and is of scuba quality, not something that is more appropriate for a 3' deep backyard pool. IF they have issues with the fit/comfort of a piece of gear in our pool that they purchased from us we immediately take a different size/model off our display wall (pool is onsite at the LDS) and see if that solves the issue. IF they use previously owned gear or gear purchased elsewhere that is ill fitting or simply does not work for them, there is not too much we can do except sell them the proper fitting item from our sales floor. If a student gets cold we recommend purchasing a 3mm suit. Our pool is 80-82 degrees and can be considered cold to many. We cannot supply a rental wetsuit for pool use as repeated almost daily use will destroy it in no time. I go through a wet suit in a year or less teaching there.

 

[tridacna]

Someone post this as a sticky...please.

There are a couple of reasons a LDS requires a student to own personal gear of a mask/snorkel/fins/boots. One reason is to fit students for every pool session with this gear and get it adjusted for them is a time consuming process and as everyone know pool time is very expensive. Have a class of 8 students and spend 2 minutes or more time with each with them getting everything sorted out takes 15 to 20 minutes away from the class pool time. Multiply that by 5 pool sessions thats possibly an hour of lost time for the entire course. Comfort for the student is assured when they own their own gear and it fits properly makes the learning process go more smoothly.
Having the student own the mask/snkl/fins/boots that they will use on their ow training dives makes the dives go easier.
Of course the LDS has to make money and gear sales is a big part of the stores income.
Selling this personal gear keeps the cost of our ow course down. If we did not sell this gear and instead supplied mask/snkl/fins/boots the cost of our course will have to have go up. We do supply all big ticket items such as bcd/regulator/tanks/lead weight.
If a student comes to us with appropriate gear previously owned or purchased elsewhere we welcome them to class and they can use it as long as it fits properly and is of scuba quality, not something that is more appropriate for a 3' deep backyard pool. IF they have issues with the fit/comfort of a piece of gear in our pool that they purchased from us we immediately take a different size/model off our display wall (pool is onsite at the LDS) and see if that solves the issue. IF they use previously owned gear or gear purchased elsewhere that is ill fitting or simply does not work for them, there is not too much we can do except sell them the proper fitting item from our sales floor. If a student gets cold we recommend purchasing a 3mm suit. Our pool is 80-82 degrees and can be considered cold to many. We cannot supply a rental wetsuit for pool use as repeated almost daily use will destroy it in no time. I go through a wet suit in a year or less teaching there.

 

[scubastingray]

I thought I'd just give an update.

I ended up purchasing a package from ScubaToys!
I bought with a couple family members, and got a pretty good deal from the pricing research I did because we spent so much together.

my setup will be:

Regs: Hollis DC3 + 212 2nd.
Octo: Hollis 321
BC: ScubaPro LiteHawk
Gauges: Tusa SCA-230T double analog Gauges
Computer: Mares Puck (previously purchased).

Rick gave me a hell of a deal and I'll just say I got better gear than I was planning on purchasing for a fair amount less. He also threw in their mesh bag and a reg bag.

I was in talks with LP, but honestly their pricing wasn't that great. Additionally, the representative I spoke with couldn't follow what I was asking (despite it being written out in an email), and it would take two or three rounds just to get a quote. This was when I'd include URLs for the products. I've purchased fins and a few other things from LP and was pleased with the speed and service, but for a custom package I say ScubaToys is the way to go!

I'm going to attempt to sell the stuff I picked up, but if I can't get what I've seen recently on eBay I may keep the stuff as a learning rig. It'd be good to repair/learn on, but if it can fund a few dives then I'll go that route.