Whats your wish list?
- Thread starter Turtleguy9
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Captain, quit messing around on the internet and get your gear packed!! I already sent Dick by UPS three of the most dangerous and unsafe regulators I have. If the Non Magnetic doesnt kill me the Spiro Royal or the Drager most likely will LOL !!
OP
Why would anyone want to fly an airplane, when you can book a perfectly good flight on a commercial carrier anytime.mempilot:
Why do people rebuild and collect antique cars?
Why would anyone ever want to dive deeper than 130 fsw, all the pretty stuff is in shallow water.
I dive 700 to 800 dives a year on average. I have little desire to dive DIR, or tech. I do enjoy antique machinery, and our diving heritage. My antique dive gear is better maintained than my modern gear, at least more recently rebuilt.
I enjoy this type of diving, because its a change from my everyday life.
Aloha Turtleguy
captain
Contributor
OWIC647, my dangerous old regulators are always packed and ready to go. I will see you next weekend and watch out for those pesky hose cutters.
Mempilot, my regulators are in as good a condition as when they left the factory. The only basic difference between a modern single hose and the two hose is the ability to attach SPG and inflator hoses directly to the regulator. This can be overcome in other ways. Older K valves have ports that a SPG can be connected to. If you need bouyancy control a BC can be inflated orally. I learned to dive with a two hose regulator so to me it is not out of the ordinary. I switched to the single hose in the 70's but kept my two hoses. Now after finding both old and young divers interested in diving with the two hose I took mine out of retirement.
Captain
Mempilot, my regulators are in as good a condition as when they left the factory. The only basic difference between a modern single hose and the two hose is the ability to attach SPG and inflator hoses directly to the regulator. This can be overcome in other ways. Older K valves have ports that a SPG can be connected to. If you need bouyancy control a BC can be inflated orally. I learned to dive with a two hose regulator so to me it is not out of the ordinary. I switched to the single hose in the 70's but kept my two hoses. Now after finding both old and young divers interested in diving with the two hose I took mine out of retirement.
Captain
I finally got an item on my wish list, an Allen Bug Diver dive light. Had one when I originally got certified in the 70's. Sold it & I've kicked myself ever since for doing so. It's a great light, takes 10 D batteries, has 110,000 candle power, and they were made in Healdsburg, CA, a town very near to me. Can't wait to take it diving with my double hose reg.
What does this have to do with relying on very old regulators to provide life support O2? Airplanes are actually very simple devices. A 1946 champ stays airborne under the exact same principle as a 2004 Airbus. It actually does it easier and with less work.Turtleguy:
Rebuild and collect are the key words. You don't see someone driving their 1950's era collector car as a daily driver.Turtleguy:
Not true, but if you haven't been there... Again though, nothing to do with using old gear.Turtleguy:
I enjoy antique machinery as well. But most of the events I attend show the equipment being used in demonstration environments and not in everyday life support roles. Why would you maintain your old gear better than your new gear?Turtleguy:
Don't get me wrong. If you dive an antique piece every once in a while, I think that's cool. If you dive it every day, 800 dives a year, then I think the chances for failure are greater. Advancements happen for a reason. I'll drive my antique BMW on the weekends, but keep my daily driver in the same decade.
rndboulder
Registered
There are may reasons people dive vintage gear, and each person has their own. One of the primary justifications is the same reason you would fly a champ, simplicity. Pilots know that a plane built in the 40's is not any less safe than one built in 2004. In fact private aviation would not exist without "vintage airplanes". It is true that there have been changes made in scuba regulators over the years, but to say that they have been made safer is not necessarily true statement. A USD mistral only has about six moving parts. It is very easy to disassemble, clean and maintain. It is a simple utilitarian design, minimizing the components that can fail. A Royal Aqua master is a fully balance two stage regulator that uses many of the same parts as virtually every Aqualung regulator to date. Parts are available as well as manuals and these regulators have been in use for at least 30 to 40 years with an excellent track record. Longevity is a good indicator of reliability. All equipment needs to be maintained, no matter what year it was produced. The military still uses double hose regulators that are virtually unchanged from any of the best regulators from years past. It is important to realize that the evolution of regulator design has not been driven only by safety. There is great incentive to develop new designs simply to have a new catalog item for the year. Do you think that a regulator manufactured in 2004 is safer than a regulator made in 2000. The main reason double hose regs were discontinued is that there was no longer sufficient market demand. As demand increases we may very well see the reintroduction of the double hose design. Aqualung is considering the idea at this very moment. The reduction in the amount of equipment worn by a vintage diver greatly reduces the task loading of the diver. Vintage diving also encourages the acquisition and maintenance of many skills that are overlooked by many divers: proper weighting, air management, and dive planning. I feel that I am a better and safer diver since I started diving with vintage gear. At the end of the day it is the diver not the equipment that has the biggest impact on safety. My philosophy is dive what you know and know what you dive. If you want to experience vintage equipment or just learn more about it. Come to the vintage dive get together at the end on Aug. Bring your modern regs and have fun. All are welcome. There will be clinics on gear evolution and maintenance. Details can be found at www.vintagescubasupply.com. Cheers -Ryan
junior diver
Guest
Why did you have to get me started on this? I'd love to dive twin hose! I'm trying to find someone who is selling one of these and will let me try it before I buy it. Not neccessairly the old ones. Just a twin hose. No regs getting kicked out of mouths or reg falling out in a backroll entry. Sounds great! Do any modern dive manufacturers do twin hose for something that isn't a rebreather?
OP
junior diver:
Aloha Junior Diver
Unless you are coming over to Hawaii, I probably cannot let you dive one of my double hose regs.
Currently US Divers manufactures a double hose reg for the military, the Mentor. The regulator is also supposedly available in Canada, but at over $750 or more.
Perhaps you can find someone in your area, to let you try one.
Turtleguy
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