Blending of new and old

[Scubaroo]

Just heard from my LDS. As of last Friday (28 Jan 2005) there 40 left available in the USA for February, and 8 more for March. Retail $990.

All the best, James

Not bad - SimplyScuba has them for 459 pounds, or about $850 USD, hardly worth the effort of importing them privately.

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Even if the new Mistral uses check valves in the mouthpiece it will still require some slightly different non industry standard techniques in operation and will remove the option in most cases of donating the primary regulator to an OOA diver. The fact that it is "different", "not an industry standard" and based on "old" or even "antiquated" technology that has long since been replaced by "better" single hose technology is problematic from a liability standpoint. It pretty much ensures that some moron will do something stupid with one or use it without adequate training and kill themselves as then of course some laywer will takwe the case and sue the company for selling a sub standard product that allowed the moron to kill himself.

I recently finished "Fatal Depth" and while it is not the best read I have seen on diving, it provides a good example of this phenomenon. A tech diver who lied to his instructor and several other people, wrote an inflated number of dives on the paperwork to qualify for trimix training, and signed a hold harmless waiver to dive on the Andrea Doria, got himself killed on the wreck.

An attorney then represented the deceased family and sued the boat owner, the instructor and the training agency for $36 million dollars because he felt someone should be held accountable. The defendents ultimately won the case but they still incurred substantial legal expenses in a case where the deceased was the person ultimately responsible for the events and decisions leading to his death and had willingly signed several waivers along the way indicating he knew and accepted the risks.

As long as we continue to devalue the concept of personal responsibility and allow trial attorneys to bring nuisance lawsuits we are not going to have an environment that is conducive to allowing companies to do something different. The sad part is that the ultimate cost is borne by the consumer who indirectly pays for the outrageous cost of liability insurance premiums and/or settlements on outrageous lawsuits.

I (and others) selling Vintage Rebuilt Doube Hose Regs have offered brass adapters for connecting an octopus to the vintage Aqua Lung Aqua Master's reg's. However, because of issues of liability and lawsuits today I discontinued selling them. They did however work great. There is a air pneumatics distributor in Florida that was making these for me when I was offering them. They did a swell job making them for me and they worked quite well. It did add an extra margin of safety to the vintage regs that many (and I) were seeking. Some vintage divers didn't want any part of them stating that the very reason many dove this old regs was 'simplicity' and in adding an octo one defeated the issue of simplicity and the vintage 'authenticity' of such.

You decide!

I believe Bryan at Reb's Parts still offers these adapter's for the vintage Aqua Masters. He has a web site as well and offers vintage parts of the Aqua Master's, etc.

 

[JES]

The AquaLung U.S. website has the new Mistral listed:

AquaLung Mistral (U.S. Catalog)

 

[ScoobieDooo]

Yea,
I saw it. Price tag is set to be $900 with only 500 pcs scheduled to be released.

That was a cool idea but I still think the older version is nicer, historically 'correct' and more aesthetic!

 

[Thomcmdchief]

Actually, they're available in Spain for $610.91 plus around $60.00 shipping to the US, 3 day air.

 

[ScoobieDooo]

That’s insane - one can have 2-3 Royals or DA's for that price! Thought the whole idea of diving double hosers WAS the fun of buying, restoring, rebuilding and tuning of vintage 50's-70's regs?

I just acquired a new one 2 wks ago. At first I didn't think it warranted what I paid for it. Then I took it to the pool for the first time. It wasn't bad - but not quite like an Apek's or Legend. Then I began to look at tank position, etc. I had my tank up WAY too high still on my back. I dropped the tank down between my shoulder blades and went tonight and tried it again - BIG DIFFERENCE! Awesome! It breathed quite well, never flooded - but I especially found not having any exhaust in my face really enjoyable. It was quite quiet and I got a lot of stares and inquiries on "What the heck IS that that you’re diving there" statements!

I was surprised on how EASY it was to clear after removal from my mouth and replacing again. I also found regulator 'recovery' to be quite easy as well.

I'm sold on mine and wouldn't give it up now for any price...

In fact, I'd like to add more to my collecting now and am committed to using them for all my dives below 100 ft.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

...Then I took it to the pool for the first time. It wasn't bad - but not quite like an Apek's or Legend. Then I began to look at tank position, etc. I had my tank up WAY too high still on my back. I dropped the tank down between my shoulder blades and went tonight and tried it again - BIG DIFFERENCE! Awesome! It breathed quite well, never flooded - but I especially found not having any exhaust in my face really enjoyable. It was quite quiet and I got a lot of stares and inquiries on "What the heck IS that that you’re diving there" statements!

I was surprised on how EASY it was to clear after removal from my mouth and replacing again. I also found regulator 'recovery' to be quite easy as well.

I'm sold on mine and wouldn't give it up now for any price...

In fact, I'd like to add more to my collecting now and am committed to using them for all my dives below 100 ft.

ScoobieDoo,

'Glad you found the magic of dropping the regulator to between your shoulder blades. It does make a great difference in the breathing characteristics of any double hose regulator. Actually, it does for a single hose reg too. Ever been vertical, look up at the surface and tried to breath on the single hose dream machines? That's when they breath hard. This is why I'm still interested in the New Mistral, because it looks like I can detach the second stage, and try the ideal breathing position, a chest-mounted regulator.

SeaRat

 

[ScoobieDooo]

A recent post by a member who just tried one of the new Mistral's found it rather dissapointing. Thats unfortunate for a reg costing around $900 US.