Modern "vintage"

[Nemrod]

I want to dive vintage because I grew up watching "Flipper" reruns and because it just plain looks so cool! I also like the idea of fewer bells and whistles and getting back to what diving was meant to be.

Yeah, Flipper was cool. Yes, "vintage" is a more minimalist diving form.

With vinatge gear becoming harder to find and thus more expensive, are there any manufacturers that produce reliable vintage style double hose gear? I am not really mechanically inclined so piecing my own rig from parts of other rigs is not really in the equation?

Thing is back in the day of Flipper or that show the older guys wax nostalgic over, something called Sea Hunt or such silliness, dunno, you see, back then scuba gear was pieced together, divers generally maintained and repaired their own gear as there were no dive shops except in the largest cities. Diving was more rugged, scuba gear required some tinkering ability, diving skills were paramount, watermanship was required. Divers today rely on layer upon layer of equipment that is kitted out for them at a retail dive store and maintained for them and is usually discarded in a couple of years for the newest fancy gizmo and worse, today's average diver cannot even swim a lick to save themselves without their poodle jacket and snorkel.

My point is that if you want to dive vintage and experience the simplicity and adventure of earlier years, you will need to learn to maintain your gear, tune and repair your gear as you will not be able to taker it into Bob's Scuba World and Tofu Emporium for repairs and adjustment. You will have to do it yourself.

N

 

[Paladin]

Well, where are you? There may be some of us near by that can help you along and there are a lot of other vintage divers that do not frequent this board that many of us know. Off hand I know divers in Fla, Ga, Cal, Tx, NY, NC, Tenn, Wa, Oh, Maine, Va and Il and several countries besides the US.

Shame on you, Herman! You forgot West Virginia!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

One thing you can do now to start moving towards simpler diving like they used to do back in the day even without full vintage gear is to work your way towards minimalist diving. Getting rid of the BC and learning to dive with just a plate or a tank with just straps is a prerequisite for vintage and double hose diving and a good start. I learned to dive with no BC long before I used a double hose, just like I had already been skin diving for some time before I got scuba certified.
It made it that much easier.

I know some people convert their Aqua Lung DH regs to a Phoenix so they can use a BC and have an octo but to me that defeats the purpose of going vintage. They didn't have any octos or BC's back then. Part of the appeal to me is having just the breathing loop on a tank, a depth gauge, timer, a J valve, and your brain.
I guess I'm a purist when it comes to double hose diving.

The $250 deal at VDH is a smoking deal.
If I didn't already have a DA Aquamaster I would go for that deal.
You can't go wrong.

 

[elmer fudd]

What ZKY is saying is spot on. For the most part, the vintage equipment itself is just a fashion statement. The real nuts and bolts of diving vintage is using the same techniques vintage divers used.

I find there's a wonderful feeling of speed and freedom that goes with having such a minimalist rig, especially compared to what a typical drysuit diver here dives with. When temperatures permit me to dive wet here, I'm able to dive with an LP72 and only 10 lbs of lead. My entire rig, 7mm suit included probably weighs between 55 and 60 lbs. My drysuited buddies on the other hand are packing more like 100 lbs. What's more, drag is reduced drastically. When I want to, I can move fast. Buoyancy also becomes a bit of a non issue. Sure it changes with depth, but you just deal with it as best you can with your lungs. There are no buttons to push and nothing to inflate or dump. Imagine a controlled ascent from 100' to the surface without ever having to dump air.

I do use an SPG and an octo when I dive with buddies though.

 

[herman]

Shame on you, Herman! You forgot West Virginia!

Sorry, I had moved you to NY. and I forgot about Nemrod too. Fact is there are a bunch more, those were the states I could think of off the top of my head. As you can see dirwannabenot, there is a fair amount of good natured ribbing that goes with the vintage community. A lot of the reason is we make an effort to dive together when we can. I drove 11 hrs - both ways- last August to dive with some of these nuts in a quarry.

One thing you can do now to start moving towards simpler diving like they used to do back in the day even without full vintage gear is to work your way towards minimalist diving. Getting rid of the BC and learning to dive with just a plate or a tank with just straps is a prerequisite for vintage and double hose diving and a good start. I learned to dive with no BC long before I used a double hose, just like I had already been skin diving for some time before I got scuba certified.
It made it that much easier.

I know some people convert their Aqua Lung DH regs to a Phoenix so they can use a BC and have an octo but to me that defeats the purpose of going vintage. They didn't have any octos or BC's back then. Part of the appeal to me is having just the breathing loop on a tank, a depth gauge, timer, a J valve, and your brain.
I guess I'm a purist when it comes to double hose diving.

The $250 deal at VDH is a smoking deal.
If I didn't already have a DA Aquamaster I would go for that deal.
You can't go wrong.

Besides being a new old toy, a lot of us moved to the Phoenix for other reasons. I admit I do like a SPG without a banjo but mainly it was to appease the legal beagles. Unlike the west coast, on our side of the US we do not have much access to shore diving so we have to use charter boats. With no oct, BC or SPG most dive ops will not let you on board. The Phoenix gives us a way to dive DH with those dive ops but by simply plugging the holes we can go back to a vintage configuration or anywhere in between as conditions allow. And before Bryan had DA seats reproduced, it was a way to get old regs with shot HP seats or bad HP nozzles back in action and/or to beef up the yokes for higher pressures. Most of the time my Phoenix has a SPG attached and nothing else but if needs be I can go as modern as needed to accommodate dive op demands. Otherwise I totally agree with you, I prefer to dive it as minimal as possible.

 

[SwimJim]

I really enjoy diving a double hose and already had a few by the time the Phoenix came around. I bought a Phoenix out of the first batch because it's makes diving my dry suit easier. Up here in Wisconsin a dry suit is a must most of the year, especially on Lake Michigan. I'm spoiled though as I also have an MK3 as a go to COLD water reg. Both are variations on the same theme.
Be careful before opening that vintage door though. Your going to discover that you can't have just one. It's kind of like eating peanuts, but a lot more expensive! Ha. On the other hand, it will make you a better diver and I think the vintage group enjoys diving all the more.

Jim

 

[captain]

Shame on you, Herman! You forgot West Virginia!

And Louisiana

 

[herman]

It's nice to have so many dive buddies you can't keep track of them all.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Unlike the west coast, on our side of the US we do not have much access to shore diving so we have to use charter boats. With no oct, BC or SPG most dive ops will not let you on board.

This is where we are lucky on the west coast. Some of the charter boats down in Southern California will let us dive as minimaly as we want. Most of the minimalists use modern stuff but if somebody was to show up with a double hose with no spg and a J rod they would let you go in. At the most they would tell someone to maybe go with you that had an octo for your benefit, which would be kind of a double standard because they let people solo dive with only one 2nd stage all the time, so what's the difference?
I have a friend that dove his double hose on the Great Escape charter boat at Catalina on a boat full of Sport Chalet open water students. He knows the captain and used to DM for the boat. The captain let him go in totally old school, no spg, no BC, just the reg.
The captain got a kick out of the comments from the stores instroketers and diveknowitalls. He told them to not worry about it and worry about their students instead

Here is a link to the California backpack divers:
Gallery of California Backpack Divers : 1999-2001

 

[Nemrod]

.
The captain got a kick out of the comments from the stores instroketers and diveknowitalls. He told them to not worry about it and worry about their students instead

Here is a link to the California backpack divers:
Gallery of California Backpack Divers : 1999-2001

See, this is why I am thinking human kind deserves extinction should it come to pass. These very same people who profess to care so much about "safety" rules are the very same people who will cut you off while cursing at you on the road, or, drive around me while I was laying in the road for 30 minutes paralyzed. And yet, they think they should have some say in my scuba gear choice or other personal decisions in the name of "safety" and I know what the real truth is, they are scared little bunnies, little sheep who are frightened by the few wolves who remain, who go their own way and don't ask permission of the sheep leader to do as they freaking please.

Screw'em. If I can say that and all of their three letter acronyms while at it. Die with your boots on.

N