An old friend of mine, has amassed one of the largest private collections of vintage scuba gear, dating from circa 1950-on, that I have ever seen; and he has one helluva enviable workshop.
As a recently-retired engineer, he said that he had always admired the storied evolution of skin diving equipment, from “the nearly experimental and daring, which wouldn't satisfy the f**king nanny state," to the items that we now so take for granted and can readily order online.
One of his more recent items, in terms of manufacture, was a gold-plated regulator from 1993, a "commemorative" Poseidon Cyklon 300, limited to 500 (his was engraved within the "two-fifty-something range," at his insistence), in a nice teakwood box, along with a scroll of sorts, written by the late Ingvar Elfström, the company's founder, related to the regulator’s long lineage, dating back, essentially, to 1958; that, and, for whatever reason, a souvenir tie tack?
From that document, I learned that my first, inherited regulator, was the so-called "Cyklon Super," the first 300 bar regulator, from 1972 -- which still sees some action, on a pony bottle.
I recall that the old Bamboo Reef Dive Shop, South of Market, in SF, had one of the gold 300s on display, gathering dust, for years.
Anyway, he finally admitted that he had never hooked it up to anything, since he obtained it in the mid-1990s at an estate sale; and, over an evening of gin and tonics; a grilled ling cod, that I had pronged; several reckless rounds of darts, and social distancing, we dug up a yoke; an LP hose; and an old 72 from his garage.
After some twenty-seven years, the IP was still spot-on and remained, steady, at 11.5 bar; and he said that it breathed well.
I guess that it is now officially "used" gear . . .
As a recently-retired engineer, he said that he had always admired the storied evolution of skin diving equipment, from “the nearly experimental and daring, which wouldn't satisfy the f**king nanny state," to the items that we now so take for granted and can readily order online.
One of his more recent items, in terms of manufacture, was a gold-plated regulator from 1993, a "commemorative" Poseidon Cyklon 300, limited to 500 (his was engraved within the "two-fifty-something range," at his insistence), in a nice teakwood box, along with a scroll of sorts, written by the late Ingvar Elfström, the company's founder, related to the regulator’s long lineage, dating back, essentially, to 1958; that, and, for whatever reason, a souvenir tie tack?
From that document, I learned that my first, inherited regulator, was the so-called "Cyklon Super," the first 300 bar regulator, from 1972 -- which still sees some action, on a pony bottle.
I recall that the old Bamboo Reef Dive Shop, South of Market, in SF, had one of the gold 300s on display, gathering dust, for years.
Anyway, he finally admitted that he had never hooked it up to anything, since he obtained it in the mid-1990s at an estate sale; and, over an evening of gin and tonics; a grilled ling cod, that I had pronged; several reckless rounds of darts, and social distancing, we dug up a yoke; an LP hose; and an old 72 from his garage.
After some twenty-seven years, the IP was still spot-on and remained, steady, at 11.5 bar; and he said that it breathed well.
I guess that it is now officially "used" gear . . .
