Best Double Hose Regs?

[Ed Palma]

One recent reg was listed as a "rare 1950's regulator" when in fact it was a common mid 60s DA Aquamaster. Certainly nothing wrong with it for restoration but 50's or rare it was not. A good DA Aquamaster or Royal Aquamaster are fine.

I think we both saw the same thing. I even sent him a message to that effect that W. Delhi was not the address in the 50s, and that the curved mouthpiece was from '61... But the info was not updated.

Anyhoo, here I am thinking of getting a 3rd, after my previous DAAM converted to Phoenix, and a Mistral. 3 months after getting bitten by the bug. Sold a complete single hose set, and have another for sale. Sold one of my single-tank wings, and might have another for sale. Got a horse-collar. And oval mask. No cure in sight.

Herman and others warned me before as well...

 

[Luis H]

I personally don’t like the idea of having an SPG attached to the tank valve. It is not too bad if you own your own compressor and no one else touches your tanks, but if that is not the case the SPG can get a lot of abuse.

Tanks are heavy and they get a lot of abuse. Even if you are very careful with your own equipment, it is almost impossible to avoid a tank from never getting bang. Due to its weight the tanks are always at the bottom in the trunk of the vehicle or boat, etc.

When I worked at an LDS in the 70’s there were a couple of customers with SPG attached to their valves. I always tried to be careful, but they are just too vulnerable. They can either be dangling to the side or you can secure the SPG head to the valve, but it didn’t seem to mater… they were a hassle to deal with.


Herman is down at the Sea Hunt event in Silver Springs. They are probably doing many dives one after the other.

An unbalanced piston regulator (old Healthways, Scubapro Mk-2, old Deepstar, old Aquarius, etc.) will get harder to breath as the tank pressure goes down. With an unbalanced diaphragm first stage (like the Aqua Master) or an upstream unbalanced single stage (like the Mistral) it actually gets easier to breath until you are just about out of air. With an Aqua Master it will only get harder to breathe when the pressure gets below around 100 psi.

 

[elmer fudd]

I think e-bay has gotten a little better recently. At least the guy who used to fill about half the vintage listings up trying to sell old ads seems to have left.

 

[JamesBon92007]

LOL. Well, in Thunderball 007 had white Voit tanks with the Big Blue V logo and a single hose reg. The bad guys had black tanks with the Swimaster shield and I think they had double hoses--have to check that. After careful consideration I've decided to go with painting my Voit doubles black and getting the Swimaster shields. I guess that makes me a bad guy. Either, as far as I can tell, might have been original for 1966 (date tanks were made). Besides that I refuse to wear an orange wet suit Next I'll need to find a wide Voit mask with the purge valve and I assume they were wearing black UDT Duck Feet but I might get by with my Jet Fins. But first let's see if the tanks pass hydro They looked perfect inside and were last hydroed in '96. So, between Mike Nelson and 007 I find myself on eBay and Craig's List using the search word "Voit" a lot.

You guys have convinced me to go with VDH but nothing is going to stop me from grabbing any other double hoses I might come across that are dirt cheap or a great deal. For that matter I can't resist ANY regulator that's cheap enough. I just missed out on getting a US Cavalero for $5. I only own six regs right now but times have been hard. Most of them I got for almost nothing and they all (now) are in good working order, thanks to you guys and Frogkick.

Gilldiver: what are the other HP ports for?

Now I'm going to go study the Aqua Lung Mistral and Aqua Master manual I downloaded from Frogkick....

 

[JamesBon92007]

Thanks Luis H. That's what I wanted to know

 

[elmer fudd]

The best places to get double hoses are Craigslist, garage sales, other divers and sometimes dive shops. You'll find that a lot of old divers have double hoses tucked away that they haven't used in decades, give them $75 and tell them that you mean to restore and dive it and they're usually happy with the deal.

On Craigslist, look for scuba gear as part of a garage sale, or listings that say something along the lines of, "old school dive gear, not safe to use $50". I find that dive shops are often happy to work with you too. When you bring in tanks to get them hydroed or inspected, let them know you like the old gear. They frequently get people coming in the door with what they consider "old junk" that they want to sell or upgrade.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Thanks for the tips Elmer. I search CL daily but usually the garage sales only say "scuba gear" or something and are often many, many miles away. I'll let the owner at the LDS know that I'm looking for old stuff. But he thinks I AM a piece of vintage diving equipment. The first thing he said when he saw my doubles was "how are you going to neutralize your buoyancy if you can't put a BC on those tanks?" I said I'll just take a couple of pounds off my weight belt. Besides that I have my old Voit horse collar if I really ever need to increase my buoyancy. Somehow I suspect I'll end up with the Aqua Lung double hose he has there. I must have SOMETHING he wants more.

 

[elmer fudd]

I find Craigslist is better for weird old gear and single hoses than for DH regs. That voice comms system you have in your other post is a good example. I have found three pairs of old doubles with J-valves and backpacks on Craigslist though, as well as a MK7/R109, 2 Mk5/109's and a Sportways Waterlung Navy. The most I paid for any of them was $100 for a set of double 50's with the Waterlung, an old wing and about 40# of lead.

 

[Airleron]

I have purchased 90% of my stuff from VDH or guys on the site. I try to stay away from EBay, but I did get a DA and cap gauge from there. You definitely take your chances. Good luck!

BTW, it really is a matter of personal preference. I first purchased DA w/Phoenix nozzle. Loved it! Then I purchased a Jet Air (single stage) Love it more! I purchased the Voit cans and put Mistral guts in it. Love that even more! Just purchased the Snark III Silver w/ backpack and tank. (Since this one has very hard to find parts, and is completely original, even hoses, it will not see the ocean very much). I love them all, BUT I prefer the single stage regs.

Lisa

 

[USdiver1]

Airleron,

Yes the single stage DHs are special, I use an early USD Stream Air for mine, plus a couple of Voit FFs that I am now rebuilding (hope to have at least one ready for Portage in August). The Voit and USD two stages do have the advantage of being able to utilize the Phoenix valve, which makes them infinitely more useful on charter boats and the like where octopus rigs and poodle jackets (BCDs) are required by the captain (or at least his attorney) to dive. There is nothing like the woosh of a single stage on inhale. Sorry to have missed you and the gang at the Silver Springs Sea Hunt festival, it looks like it was a great time.