First Double Hose Dive In THIRTY YEARS!!!

[duckbill]

They're still "state-of-the-art" in the 00's!

 

[Nemrod]

I don't dive the new stuff either... agree on the plastic parts issue. My current regs might be considered "vintage" by some.

Keep in mind.. I said I did my first double hose reg dive in nearly 40 years. I used to dive what is now referred to as vintage equipment when it was state-of-the-art back in the 60's!

Uh, exuse me, some of us including me also dived the equipment when it was new in the 60s. N

 

[drbill]

Uh, exuse me, some of us including me also dived the equipment when it was new in the 60s. N

Now, sonny boy... you look too young to have done that! Just kidding. I didn't mean to suggest that others here hadn't dived double hose in the 60's, just that I had.

I'm glad to hear the new Mistral is such a mess... those opinions mirror mine. Must admit I haven't dived a vintage double hose since they weren't vintage so I can't really compare. Besides, that was the 60's, I was there, and therefore I can't remember a darned thing!

I did find that the double hose design was not easy to accommodate while I was filming. I greatly prefer the single hose for that. In fact, I just purchased my fourth Mk10/G250 tonight. Now that is a reg I love.

 

[duckbill]

Uh, oh! Whatever happened to Drake? I hope diving those antiques didn't get him.

 

[DrakeAndrews]

Nope, still here! I might dive with my Voit snorkel with the ping pong ball valve but I'm afraid the ping pong might IMPLODE!!!!

 

[Gilldiver]

I just got a DW Air Stream cleaned up and working. Worked well in the pool, have to try it out in the Sond next weekend. I also have a 1958 Mistral on the bench all cleaned up (didn't need it, the inside was pristine when I opened it) and am just waiting for the new parts to come in the mail in a few days.

By the way, for those who don't know the Mistral and DW Air Stream are the same reg only the Air Stream has a Red lable w black hoses and the Mistral has a yellow lable and yellow hoses (some also had a yellow mouth piece).

The original Mistral is so simple and rugged that there just is nothing to go wrong with it. It has only 1 O-ring and that is not under any pressure, it just helps hold the valve seat push pin in place.

Now, what I did find out was that a double hose reg and stage bottle deco just don't mix all that well. The double hose gets pulled off to one side sooner or latter, then the mouth piece gets a bit high and you start the free flow.

 

[Luis H]

I just got a DW Air Stream cleaned up and working. Worked well in the pool, have to try it out in the Sond next weekend. I also have a 1958 Mistral on the bench all cleaned up (didn't need it, the inside was pristine when I opened it) and am just waiting for the new parts to come in the mail in a few days.

By the way, for those who don't know the Mistral and DW Air Stream are the same reg only the Air Stream has a Red lable w black hoses and the Mistral has a yellow lable and yellow hoses (some also had a yellow mouth piece).

The original Mistral is so simple and rugged that there just is nothing to go wrong with it. It has only 1 O-ring and that is not under any pressure, it just helps hold the valve seat push pin in place.

Now, what I did find out was that a double hose reg and stage bottle deco just don't mix all that well. The double hose gets pulled off to one side sooner or latter, then the mouth piece gets a bit high and you start the free flow.

I may be wrong, but I think that the DW Air Stream did not have the same venturi nozzle as the Mistral. My understanding is that the Mistral was the first regulator to include a well design venturi nozzle.

Many (if not most) Stream airs were retrofitted with the Mistral venturi nozzle. Most were upgraded by the owners, but there has been some speculation that US Divers might have retrofitted the last of the Air Streams (in their inventory) with the newer nozzle before selling them.


If you are going to leave a double hose unattended you do need to close the tank valve. I would think that closing a stage bottle valve is a good way of reducing any risk of a free flow or any air loss wile not in use (no mater what regulator you are using).

 

[Nemrod]

You were not using a Mistral on a stage bottle huh? No, that will not work well for the reasons you described. However, you can use a double hose as your main. I do it OK enough. The double hose can either be secured with an octapus clip or bungee below the chin or as some of us are doing experimenting with a DSV to revent free flow. A simple mouthpiece plug is a possibility. N

 

[Gilldiver]

I was fooling around on a wreck in 100' using my twin 72's (1970's) the Mistral for back gas and a 40 of 50% on the hang. I thought I could just let the double hose mouth piece drop below my chin and hold it there with the 2nd stage from the 40. The double hose kept pulling towards my right due to how I was holding the up line. As soon as the mouth piece got to ear level it started free flowing.

A clip from the double mouth piece seems to be the way to go.

By the way, you can loose an incredible amount of air from a freeflowing Mistral this way.

Pete

 

[Nemrod]

You can do a "DIR" type bungee around the mouthpiece using a slip fishermans knot to hold the double hose mouthpiece. These will pll free should you need to donate air (buddy breath). I have not tried the Manta bungee on a double hose but that might works as well as the homemade versions but I have bungeed the mouthpiece with good results.

I will let Luis describre the PMDSV. N