Scubapro vs Aqualung

[Curly]

the_kuang once bubbled...
With Aqualung I'm looking at either the Titan LX or the Legend. With Scubapro I'm debating between the MK25/S600 and the MK25/S550. Does anybody have experience or preferences with any of these products?

The Legend is a excellent reg. Does AquaLung still offer the Cousteau? Prior to the introduction of the Legend, the Cousteau was their top-of-line first stage.

 

[ew1usnr]

I saw earlier that someone said that they didn't want to buy AquaLungs because the were "French". My answer "Viva la France!" Where would we be today if not for the Frenchmen Emile Gagnan and Jaques Cousteau? Not only did the French invent SCUBA , but they popularized it and introduced it to the world through books, movies, and TV shows. "The Undersea World of Jaques Cousteau" starring the Calypso dive team was the best diving show ever produced. The French provided sport diving with an air of adventure, elegance, and romance. Instead of "narcosis" it became "rapture of the deep" a much more decriptive term. The double hose regulators that were produced under Cousteau's guidance embraced a diver like a lover and vented the bubbles behind his head. They were designed as a result of actual experience and were some of the finest that were ever made, the Mistral, DA AquaMaster, and Royal AquaMaster, for example. The balanced diaphragm first stage of the Royal Aquamaster, introduced in 1964, set such a standard of durability and performance that it has been carried forward in the Conshelf series and even up to the present Titan regulator.

Scubapro is terriffic also. A 1970's vintage low-air audio alarm MK-VII "honker" first stage coupled with a chrome-plated balanced-adjustable 2nd stage makes one of the nicest regulator combinations ever made. Put that on a Scubapro Depth Compensating Adjustable Reserve (DCAR) J-valve, add an orange Stab-Jacket, and you are ready for the big time!

 

[oversea]

That was a well written commentary and assuming true, very informative almost to the point of convincing me oterwise. Although since I last posted, I'm beginning to think the French were right about our previous political situations and am now in limbo as to whether I hate them or not. In ligh ofthis, I did recntly buy a Suunto compass which is Aqualung.

 

[diverjed]

The big difference between ScubaPro and Aqualung is that Jethro Tull never wrote a song about the former....

 

[KrisB]

oversea once bubbled...
That was a well written commentary and assuming true, very informative almost to the point of convincing me oterwise. Although since I last posted, I'm beginning to think the French were right about our previous political situations and am now in limbo as to whether I hate them or not. In ligh ofthis, I did recntly buy a Suunto compass which is Aqualung.

Suunto isn't Aqualung. Suunto is distributed by AL in North America, but is a seperate company. Suunto Oy is the parent company of Suunto USA, FitzWright group (Bare wetsuits), Ursuk Oy, Recta AG, among others. No mention of AL anywhere.

BTW: Suunto is a Finnish company. To the best of my (admittedly limited) history knowledge, Finland has never supported the US in any war. Does that mean they should be boycotted?

 

[oversea]

I'm not going to argue with you about the suunto thing, however I'm sure I read (I believe in the enclosed paperwork) that suunto is a subsidiary of aqua lung, I'l have to check it out.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I am a die hard Scubapro fan. I have nothing against the French or a French company, I just like Scubapro regs better and I like their long term committment to parts support.

 

[ew1usnr]

I really like the old Scubapro MK-V and MK-VII first stages and the chrome Balanced-Adjustable second stages. I also really love the old US Diver AquaMasters and chrome Conshelf 12's and 14's.
The key points with either make being "old" and "chrome". Have a good weekend everyone. Go under and blow some bubbles.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

ew1usnr once bubbled...
I really like the old Scubapro MK-V and MK-VII first stages and the chrome Balanced-Adjustable second stages.

I am not a fan of the MK VII but I love the Mk 10 and feel the Balanced Adjustable second stage was one of the best ever made. I own six of them. They still breathe every bit as well as a G250 but are more durable, hold their good looks and offer far better heat transfer traits in cold water.

People need to remember the big advantage of the phenolic resin/graphite case on the G250 was lower production costs. You can drop a tank on a Balanced Adjustable, hammer out the biggest dents and go dive. Try that with a G250 and all you have are bits and pieces. I also recently took a late 60's vintage Adjustabe second stage, added the balance kit (with the same internal parts as the G250 and G200B) and found it to be one of the sweetest breathing regs I own.

 

[ew1usnr]

Hey, AquaMaster. Dropping a tank on a balanced adjustable might not hurt it, but dropping a MK-VII first stage would flatten it like a pancake. Those first stages weigh 3 1/2 pounds by themselves. You can almost skip a weight belt when you wear one. They wouldn't be good to try to take on an airplane. It would set off every metal detector within 40-feet and result in a $35 excess weight charge. Other than than, the only trouble with them is the temptation they create to breathe a tank almost empty just to hear the sonic low pressure alarm. "Honk! Hooonk!!"

Have you ever seen the old Scubapro helium-filled 500-feet depth gauges? If you show up with one of those and a MK-VII you will give every other diver on the boat a permanent inferiority complex.