Blending of new and old

[Nemrod]

Thanks DA, just what I figured--lawyers--deciding for us what we can and cannot buy.

Well, if this regulator is actually available in Europe then some enterprising person who actually lives in a free country unlike the Peoples Republik of Amerika could start a cottage buisness exporting the regulators to those of us who live behind the legal iron curtain of idiocy. Not PC correct and I don't care! N

 

[captain]

Here is the skinny direct from the horses mouth. To be available in the US later this year so said. This link takes a while to download.

http://www.factory.fr/aqualung/EN_Cata2005_export.pdf

Captain

 

[Walter]

Nemrod, while I agree with your point that this regulator should be available in the US, it's a marketing decision on the part of Aqualung, it's not a result of it's sale being banned by the US government.

 

[caveseeker7]

Do you have any more photos of the new regulator?

Only the one below.
On a German website I found it theu're offered for sale.
Don't know if they ship to the US.

When I got certified in '83 it was on both single and double stage regs, both with buddy breathing due to lack of octos. Simple training, not rocket science.

It would be a shame if it wouldn't reach the US because of liability worries.
Having passed CE (two different ones) it should be a decent regulator.

According to the press release at the boat show the reason for the Mistral is the increase in UW photo and film and therefor demand for it. Considering the amount of diving done in the US, there should be a good enough market to support it.

 

[caveseeker7]

It's your lucky day, turtleguy.

My friend Janwillem just posted his BOOT-05 report on his Rebreathers Worldwide website and included the new Mistral with a couple of pictures.
Just scroll down past the Dräger RBs and FFMs.

 

[Deep Sea Alan]

Hi,

The idea of a double hose regulator intrigues me, the bubbles behind me would be nice.

Are there any double hose regulators either vintage or contemporary that will allow the following standard devices to be safely used?


A place to connect a standard low pressure inflator hose to fill a back inflate wing or other standard BC.

A place to attach a modern second stage in the event of my own equipment failure or the need of a second stage by a buddy.

A place to attach a submersible pressure guage.

The ability to use this on a modern 3000 psi tank with either DIN or Yoke valve.


I guess some of these things might be accomplished with an H or Y valve and a second modern first stage regulator set, but I am not the least bit familiar with vintage regulators so this might not even be possible due to obstructions. I guess that is why I am asking here. I hope these questions are not out of line, but if I never ask I will never know.

I am also curious about just how much bouyancy the air in the double hoses adds when compared with the modern regulator I am diving now.

Mark Vlahos

Hello Mark,

I may be dating myself but when I first attended Navy Dive school we did use single hose regulators (US Divers Conshelf 12’s) but a few double hose regs were available. I eventually bought one from a swap meet and grabbed every spare part for it I could come across (especially the rubber duck bill exhaust valves). I stripped it down and made it serviceable, with the help of the real "Old Timers". I am writing this because you need to realize you don't have a second stage to sense the ambient water pressure where your mouth is. Every thing is behind your head, which depending on your position in the water, is at a slightly different depth. The bottom line is this- If you set your double hose to breath easily in a normal swimming position when turn on your back it will be forcing the air to you. If you set it to breath correctly when you are on your back (as in working under a ship face up) it will be harder to breath in a normal swimming position. I still have my U.S Divers “Royal Aqua Master” Double Hose in perfect condition but I dive my Scubapro X650 / Mk 25 and I trust my 10 year old son to a Scubapro S600/ Mk25. I have no experience with the new double hoses mentioned by the other divers but I would highly advise trying one before you invest your money. Mark I hope this helps, half the fun of diving is new equipment, enjoy!

Alan

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Wow,

I had sort of written this thread off to the ages.

Lots of good info here, many thanks.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Turtleguy9]

It's your lucky day, turtleguy.

My friend Janwillem just posted his BOOT-05 report on his Rebreathers Worldwide website and included the new Mistral with a couple of pictures.
Just scroll down past the Dräger RBs and FFMs.

Aloha Caveseeker
Thanks so much for the great post. You have come up with the best pictures of the new Mistral I have seen yet.
Turtleguy

 

[Nemrod]

One thing about double hoses, we used both double and single hoses units in my scuba class and I have dived a Mistral for quite a while before retiring it and now only to resurrect it yet again. Think about that. A regulator my uncle bought in 1958 and dived a bunch, given to me circa 1968 and dived bunches more and here in 2005 it is still in great shape! What modern single hose made of plastic thingy will still be serviceable in 2055? These things were built in a time when things were not designed with planned obsolecence in mind, they were meant to be rebuilt over and over and so thay have been.
There is basic difference in set up for a single vs a double. Most diving was done with 72s or even shorter double 38s etc. These tanks were set low in the backpack, lower than is typical for a single hose today. Since, further, BCs were not in use many of us were weighted slightly negative at depth which required one to swim with their body at a slight angle of attack to provide bouyancy via lift. This placed the main sensing diaphram of the double hose approximately equal to the center of the lungs or slightly higher. When breathing with a double hose, rather than the "normal" breathing we do with single hose units, one should instead take long, slow deep breaths and near complete exhalations. Why?, because the cracking effort to get a double hose breathing is greater than a modern single hose but once air is flowing a venturi effect occurs within the main housing that helps to pull the diaphram downward and provide an Easy flow of air. To minimize the work required to get the flow started, the cracking effort, you minimize the number of times this occurs by taking the longer deeper breaths, rather than many "normal" breaths. Exhalation with a double hose is as easy if not easier than with a single hose and exhalation effort has been shown to actually cause greater fatigue than inhaling.
Not an expert on the above, just some observations and what has always been told to me by those who know more. Do not dive a double hose without proper training on clearing, set up, expectations. N

 

[captain]

http://www.factory.fr/aqualung/EN_Cata2005_export.pdf

If any of you tried this link and thought it was bad it takes a while to open but it is the Aqua Lung catalog with pics and specs on the new Mistral