Project Argonaut, totally new, vintage style DH regulator

[Nemrod]

This photograph shows one of my NOS RAMs. This one displays the horseshoe lever and a duckbill exhaust valve. Two of the things I so do not miss on the Kraken.

Oh boy, I got my Krakens last Summer, too late for my annual Florida adventure and so hardly have dived either of them. So, if all goes well, Kraken DD-6 will hit Caymans very soon. I think we need a DSV valve with a GoPro mount built in! Just throwing out some ideas for Luis, .

N

 

[Luis H]

I have some stuff for you to try out in Cayman. You will see.

Yes, there is not much resemblance between the old Royal Aqua Master and the Argonaut. I did take the some of the best ideas out of it for a starting point, but the new second stage and housing are very different. The aerodynamics with the new second stage and case combination are very different.

 

[Nemrod]

The Argonaut innards for comparison to the RAM. You can see the large mushroom exhaust valve and the HPR second stage assembly as well as the flat center diaphragm. All very useful and compelling for actual diving, even if only by Caribbean Luxury Divers :

And, why, here is a CLD right here, caught in his native environment preparing for a night dive bar side, Argonaut, mandatory equipment of course:

Only thing missing is the Pina Coladas, no worries mates, they have been pre-ordered.

N

---------- Post added April 27th, 2015 at 07:35 PM ----------

If one looks closely you can see four different versions of Kraken mouthpieces, two are test pieces:

And a passing nurse shark just cuz:

N

 

[Luis H]

Ft. Stark, Newcastle, NH
Water temperature 44F.

Heading back to the Caribbean sounds really good!
The cold is not too bad… It is the gear needed to stay warm… and the weight needed to sink it (in the ocean, salt water).

 

[trapezus]

The original is acceptable everything ..

 

[Luis H]

Yesterday I was trying a new dry-suit that I just inherit. It belonged to my high school dive buddy (Jim Louvau), who lost his fight with cancer last November. It was a new suit. He never got to use it. It is a great suit.

I also inherit his Argonaut. One of the original first four prototypes. He was one of the first four investors.

I will definitely be visible with this suit.

Here are some of the critters we saw, moon-snail, flounders, nudibranch, crabs, angry crabs, etc.
Water temperature was 45 F (7 C).

This is john. He was my dive buddy. He actually owns an Argonaut, but decided to try one of his single hose regulators today. How can he stand does bubbles?

I never see my bubbles.

 

[Nemrod]

A short video. I am not very good at this video yet (maybe never):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lynvu4uxPgs

N

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

It seems to me that this new reg has made all the older double hoses irrelevant and obsolete.
If you had an old but restored DA Aquamaster, PDAAM, or a PRAM and a Kraken sitting on a table in front of you and you wanted to go a DH dive, which one would you choose?
That's my point, since these are available people will phase out the old stuff.

 

[Nemrod]

It seems to me that this new reg has made all the older double hoses irrelevant and obsolete.
If you had an old but restored DA Aquamaster, PDAAM, or a PRAM and a Kraken sitting on a table in front of you and you wanted to go a DH dive, which one would you choose?
That's my point, since these are available people will phase out the old stuff.

Well, I think there will always be collectors and people, including me, who enjoy diving the vintage gear in context. And, a PRAM/HPR is no slouch of a regulator (nor is it truly vintage). But it is true that for divers who need to conform to modern equipment standards while traveling/chartering or due to whatever constraints required upon them (even by themselves) for PRACTICAL diving, the Kraken is the winner for me. It's all around performance versatility and ability to interface with modern gear raises the double hose bar. It is a slick unit.

N

 

[herman]

It seems to me that this new reg has made all the older double hoses irrelevant and obsolete.
If you had an old but restored DA Aquamaster, PDAAM, or a PRAM and a Kraken sitting on a table in front of you and you wanted to go a DH dive, which one would you choose?
That's my point, since these are available people will phase out the old stuff.

Obviously, they have been obsolete for some time but there are and I suspect always will be, those of us who still like to dive the old regs. Granted, for more serious diving or to make the dive ops happy the Kraken is a better choice. I admit I do dive mine quite a but a lot of that is pride. I had a good bit to do with it coming to life and like to show it off. That said, I will not be sending my DA, Mistral, RAM,50 Fathom (Faux unfortunately ) or Phoenix to ebay. They will all get dove at times. I also like to keep DHs in the public eye, the more people exposed to DH regs the more likely they will continue to grow in popularity, which I think is good for all of us who like the old style regs.