1st vintage dive.

[Nemrod]

Well, I feel your frustration with the dive shop owner, if he isn't going to dive them why keep them rotting away?

I would rather not comment on pricing of various people. Things are worth what they are worth to a particular person on a particular day. The Trieste is a great unit but I have limited knowledge of them. My thoughts are still in favor of a Royal, they perform better than anything else and they have probably the best parts availability overall. Yes, I am prejudiced, that said, one day I am going to see a Trieste I want and when that day comes I will pull out the stops and go for broke. I have been tempted several times. I am spread really thin, diving is not my only avocation--lol and I do have to spend some money on the wife! Good luck, hope you get what you want. N

 

[Turtleguy9]

Thanks for the info. An Aqualung Royal AquaMaster is defintely high on my wish list. My LDS may even have one in the basement, but he won't let me fish through the box of old double hoses to find. The owner is old school, and I am trying to wear him down to either sell me a fixer upper or fix one up for me. He claims not to have time, even when he sees how much money I have been throwing into the vintage stuff online. Very frustrating. Do you think that $575 Dan is asking for the Voit is a little steep, or is it reasonable?

Aloha Clevland Diver
Congratulations on your sucessfull vintage dive. Its amazing the freedom with minimal gear, no drag, almost effortless.
About the Trieste. I have two of them. My wife and I used them for our vintage underwater wedding in March. I love them. I think that the Trieste is what US Divers would have made if they made another model of double hose, before the modern Mistral.
My wife love the SPG, as she really worries about using a J valve. Mine do not breathe quite as well, as my square label Royal, but its a close second place.
Price? Well, they are quite rare compared to other double hose regs. I found one of mine in a lot of old gear on e-bay, with just some of the can showing in the picture. Got that one for $159, with a bunch of misc trash. My wife bought the other, minus the mouthpeice, for around $200. But with the price of the rebuild, and new hoses, it takes the price up a bit. I had picked up a few spare Voit mouthpeices over the last few years, so add another $50. Grey mouthpeice, hoses, rebuild, over $400, but I think it was worth it.
Aloha
Turtleguy