Future advances in regulator design?

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

I am sure if they sold well, Aqua Lung would have kept them in production.

Herman and Bryan do a great job with double hoses, but they are a niche product and I get the impression it is more a "labor of love" than a way to get rich.

The new Mistral had many flaws especially in the second stage.. which is a topic for another post..
8 years ago I left a very successful career so I could dedicate myself to VDH full time. I believe in what we are doing 110% If I could rely on just what I sell now I would get by...not rich by any means..But I am not satisfied with the status quo and R&D eats up any spare capitol I scrape together but in my opinion investing in what we CAN do is most important.
Every sale big or small helps me further that effort.

 

[ams511]

Every sale big or small helps me further that effort.

At some point I will get around to restoring my DA Aquamaster and Mistral (old version). BTW, the link to Herman's tools is broken in your store.

 

[halocline]

...the dive companies seeing the writing on the wall, made a business decision to abandon the product.

Herman and Bryan do a great job with double hoses, but they are a niche product and I get the impression it is more a "labor of love" than a way to get rich.

Yes, I agree that the decision to go with single hose regulators by the major manufacturers was a business decision, i.e. motivated by profit more than by product innovation. And it is true that at the time, the single hose regs solved the position-sensitivity issue, which I'm sure was seen by many divers as a significant improvement. The regs were cheaper to build and more popular for the expanding recreational dive market. You can't blame them for going in that direction.

But this thread is about regulator performance innovation, not about what makes the most money for manufacturers.

 

[herman]

I don't have a web site, just an email address. Between VDH, SB and word of mouth I'm not hard to find.

 

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

I don't have a web site, just an email address. Between VDH, SB and word of mouth I'm not hard to find.

There are 20+ links in the store to Herman's catalog but for those that are interested here is the link It's in my Dropbox in PDF form.

 

[Joneill]

Yes, I agree that the decision to go with single hose regulators by the major manufacturers was a business decision, i.e. motivated by profit more than by product innovation. And it is true that at the time, the single hose regs solved the position-sensitivity issue, which I'm sure was seen by many divers as a significant improvement. The regs were cheaper to build and more popular for the expanding recreational dive market. You can't blame them for going in that direction.

But this thread is about regulator performance innovation, not about what makes the most money for manufacturers.

What was/is the "position-sensitivity issue" that single hose regs solved?

 

[Akimbo]

What was/is the "position-sensitivity issue" that single hose regs solved?

A double hose will freeflow when the mouthpiece is raised above the diaphragm and increase inhalation resistance as it moves below. This is due to the pressure difference between your mouth and the diaphragm rather than an engineering issue.

 

[Diver0001]

You know, last night I was giving lessons and one of my students had a regulator that tuned to the point that if he *touched* it and it wasn't in his mouth it started to free flow. Even putting it in the water with the mouthpiece down wouldn't stop it. Only squeezing the mouthpiece shut would stop it.

We've told our reg guy not to do that **** because it sucks giving lessons to students who are distracted by constantly free flowing regulators with all the in/out of mouth exercises we need to do.

His counter is that people who rent those regulators want the easiest breathing possible and they complain if the regs seem even the slightest bit stiff.

Ergo, we have an issue where instructors want the regs to be slightly detuned and people who rent those regs want them to tuned to a knife's edge.

Given the premise of this thread I would like to see a regulator that would NEVER free flow unless something in the first stage had broken.

R..

 

[Joneill]

A double hose will freeflow when the mouthpiece is raised above the diaphragm and increase inhalation resistance as it moves below. This is due to the pressure difference between your mouth and the diaphragm rather than an engineering issue.

Thanks!

 

[Bryan@Vintage Double Hose]

A double hose will freeflow when the mouthpiece is raised above the diaphragm and increase inhalation resistance as it moves below. This is due to the pressure difference between your mouth and the diaphragm rather than an engineering issue.