Is there a CLIQUE ???

[Halthron]

The average American doesn't know much about Formula One. Yell when Renault wins in NASCAR.

 

[Jamdiver]

Michael Schumacher - "Who is Jeff Gordon?"

...., I think the lack of information of the respective motorsport types goes both ways.

 

[Poseidon8118]

I love all forms of auto-racing, most true racing fans do. Not everyone is as closed minded in the US. I have read about and followed racing (and racing history) most of my life, saw my first race at the age of 6 and fell in love with the sport. Indy, NASCAR, and F1 are a religion here in Indiana as are the Bears and Colts! My favorite all time race car driver is Jim Clark…if you don’t know who Jim Clark is you’re just a spectator and not a fan…He did it all with no aero (downforce)!


http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-clajim.html

 

[Poseidon8118]

Can you say Hijacked!!! Wow from Beuchat regulators to Jim Clark and F1…LOL

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Most all of the regulators on the market today are conventional downstream secondstages with the "pie pan" design running off a diaphram first stage. yeah, some are pressure balanced or over balanced and blah blah but really they perform little different from a 1966 Calypso other than having much larger exhaust valves. Exhaust was found to be critical very early in reducing fatigue--other than the substitution of plastic for metal in modern regulators how are they more muscular than say a Voit MR12II from the early 70s or late 60s? How do they perform compared to a Tekna 2100 from 1978 or the follow on composite version the 2100B?

I agree with you that basic designs have not really changed all that much since the 60's. Most of what has passed as major improvement is related to things like the number of ports needed and changes in industry standards.

What is worse, in the last 20 years, the only real progress has been the adoption of the plastic (phenolic resin, graphite-epoxy resin, or whatever else the marketing folks want to call it) second stage case that has been forced upon us as "progress" under the claim of light weight.

I suspect that bean counters and a $3.00 to $5.00 per unit production cost had a lot more to do with the decline of the chrome plated brass case (and the rise of second stage freeze flows, dry mouth, cracked cases, broken cases and scratched to the point of ugly after 20 dives cases and purge covers)

Personally, I feel that unless you have extremely specialized requirements, there is nothing that a current regulator will do that a 20 year old design will not do just as well. And if you have specialized requirements, be aware that many "new" regulator designs are just rewarmed and repackaged older designs with few noteworthy refinements.

 

[Nemrod]

DA, yes, sitting here watching the "Ten Most dangerous Sharks"--lol!!!! Hey, about those plastic cases, yep, I think it is all cost related and mass production. There is no real advantage other than cheapness. If quality and longevity were important the second stages would be constructed of stainless steel or titanium or good old chrome plated brass. All these plastic jobs crack and are long term unstable. I have stored them away to come back later and find them cracked where o-rings applied constant pressure! I have used some of these well known plastic jobs and I just don't see them still being useable 35 years down the road. I am still diving several Voit MR12II units from the early 70s that perform excellent and are extremely rugged and durable and all metal. I have a metal body Tekna 2100 that just is today as good as the day I bought it in I think 78. Yes, metal can dent but it does not crack so much and dents can be repaired and chrome can be replated after years of use--if desired--or not--I sorta like battle scars! Plastic is not so bad but for the cost of some of these "muscle regulators" shoudn't they be made from something other than recycled milk cartons at least as an option? If the SPG should be made from brass---maybe the regulator ought to be also huh? N

 

[aquaoren]

DA, yes, sitting here watching the "Ten Most dangerous Sharks"--lol!!!! Hey, about those plastic cases, yep, I think it is all cost related and mass production. There is no real advantage other than cheapness. If quality and longevity were important the second stages would be constructed of stainless steel or titanium or good old chrome plated brass. All these plastic jobs crack and are long term unstable. I have stored them away to come back later and find them cracked where o-rings applied constant pressure! I have used some of these well known plastic jobs and I just don't see them still being useable 35 years down the road. I am still diving several Voit MR12II units from the early 70s that perform excellent and are extremely rugged and durable and all metal. I have a metal body Tekna 2100 that just is today as good as the day I bought it in I think 78. Yes, metal can dent but it does not crack so much and dents can be repaired and chrome can be replated after years of use--if desired--or not--I sorta like battle scars! Plastic is not so bad but for the cost of some of these "muscle regulators" shoudn't they be made from something other than recycled milk cartons at least as an option? If the SPG should be made from brass---maybe the regulator ought to be also huh? N

Plenty of plastic SPG's around too nowdays.
BTW, Beuchat is considered rather an upscale manufacturer of recrational dive gear in Europe and their regs get excellent reviews FWIW.
AFAIK, Beuchat is the inventor of the original Jet Fin that we all know.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Just as a follow-up to my previous post, I bought my Beauchat VX-10's because they had incredibly high scores on things like WOB and cracking pressure at depth tests. They were highly rated, and recommended.

As it turns out, the units were shoddy, scary junk, and the the company's "customer service" attitude would make Attila the Hun look positively wimpy by comparison.

As I said, your mileage may vary, but my advice would have to be that if you have a chance to buy these regs...run like Hell!!!

 

[kirikuru]

I have a VX 10 with a VS octopus and have over 600 dives on them. not a single problem, and I only serviced them 3 times in 9 years. I have just purchased a Apeks ATX200 last week, mainly because of the weight of the VX-10 (it feels like a ton) when I travel. but performance-wise, it has never failed me.

 

[Nemrod]

"Plenty of plastic SPG's around too nowdays. "

I am talking about the tech/DIR group who uses plastic regulators but whose equipemnt "rules" require a brass SPG with no rubber housing. I have a a bunch of SPGs, I have one USD plastic unit from 76 that is still functional but I have several brass units that work fine and they are from the 60s. I have several newer plastic SPGs and only one of them is not cracked and leaking. N