How old is "vintage" gear?

[herman]

Do what a lot of us do. Have one AM with a Phoenix and one with a Banjo and hookah port adapter.

Then you can add a RAM and a Mistral and .......

ONE !? There is no such number as one to a DH junkie.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The Phoenix adds about 3/4 inch to the length of the assembled regulator, sometimes this causes fit issues with some back packs and smaller diameter tanks.
N

That's why I worked so hard to get the Freedom Plate up to speed (and fully available again BTW) To be able to work with the Phoenix and all modern style wings and regs too.
Even though it's not vintage it's darn close in design and definitely fits in the "eclectic" category.

Sorry, saw this thread and just had to get in a shameles plug.

 

[TN Traveler]

ONE !? There is no such number as one to a DH junkie.

Well - what I guess I failed to say is one of each to dive with - several of each for display and for parts --- then there are the Voit's and the "off brand" collectibles - and the accessories (masks, fins snorkels, weight belts, BTs, harnesses, horse collars, etc) and the tanks (singles - doubles - triples).

And finally - the Divorce Lawyer (Vintage - you will need that wisdom)

 

[Luis H]

How about my old SP MkV and R 109/R 108's?

Probably not. It is neither old enough nor does it fit within the methods, techniques or training that so distinguish vintage era diving from the current plastic era.

N

The Scubapro Mk-V came out in the mid 60’s, about the same time as the Royal Aqua Master… so what are you saying that the Royal Aqua Master is not old enough either?
The Mk-V also became extremely popular from its introduction. It was used a lot from the late 60’s and on (to this day).


When you are talking about plastic… do you also want to exclude the Jet Air, the 50 Fathom, the Aquamatic, etc.
:lol:

BTW, If we use Fred Roberts “Basic Scuba” as a yard stick, I guess my 1957 Drager tanks, the Poseidon Cyklon regulator (also from 1957), the Australian Dolphin regulator (1952), and most other foreign diving equipment is also not considered vintage. So using Fred Roberts’s book as a yard stick is basically like saying that it had to be popular in Kansas during the vintage era to be considered vintage.


Another casual observation: I would never claim that the Phoenix is vintage since I didn’t come up with the drawings for a producible design until a few years ago, but my idea dates to the early 70’s when I started diving my Royal Aqua Master. Modifying the RAM for it to have a HP port has been in my mind from the first time that I dove it. Therefore, in many ways it has very strong vintage roots, but it was not produce during the vintage era.
The LP ports were not part of the first design or prototype… (as you know) I redesigned the nozzle and added them later due to the request from the vintage equipment diving community.

 

[WD8CDH]

I dive what might be called Vintage Tech. Almost all of my equipment was purchased prior to 72. I was using BCs with power inflators, ponys, octos, SPG, double outlet independant shutoff manifolds, and even wings at the end of the 60s for cave and wreck diving. I was diving with a doublehose primary and a single hose backup on skinny triples back then and still do now.

The funny thing is that my oldest regulator, a Poseidon Cyklon, is almost always looked at as a modern reg and some of my newest tanks, aluminum ones with natural gray finish, are usually mistaken for ancient.