US Divers Metal second stages, Why not?
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I sold somebody a beautiful set of AMF Voit MR12s with the rare tech covers. Was it you? I miss them but do not want them back, ha, ha.
Wasn't me. prolly Greg Barlow, another AMF Voit MR12 aficionado. I have a couple of those rubber donut covers as well, but using them ruins the look of the regulator IMO. OTOH, a US Divers supreme [cold water silicone] kit works on the Voit MR12 first stage. Looks great too. Will upload a pic soon.
Standard Voit MR12 first stage
With US Divers Supreme cold/contaminated water kit installed
Another view
That's pretty neat. I haven't seen it with the cold-water kit.
Time for a bit of trivia. A few years after Voit was purchased by AMF, Voit picked up Swimaster which was well known for its Duck Feet fins and other high quality snorkeling and spearfishing gear. By the time the MR12 was introduced, Voit was using Swimaster labelling to indicate their higher end offerings. For example in their 1969 catalogue, the most expensive Swimaster speargun was $59.00 while the top Voit was $34.95. Voit considered all their regulators to be premium products which is why the original MR12 had the Voit Swimaster label on the second stage.
However by the time MR12 II was introduced, AMF had decided to use the AMF Swimaster name for gear sold through dive shops with Voit gear being sold through mass market retailers such as K-Mart and Sears. As their top of the line regulator, the MR12 II was apparently reserved for dive shops and thus the AMF Swimaster branding. (Please correct me if anyone has seen a Voit-branded MR12 II.).
Except (as far as I can tell) in Japan. AMF had purchased Mares in 1971 and for some reason decided to use Mares branding on MR 12 II regs sold in the Japanese market. Here's a couple of photos cropped from a current Yahoo Japan auction.
Here's the auction:
A link to the catalogue: https://www.vsc-ds.cz/soubory/priloha/346/voit-swimaster-catalog-1969.pdf
Time for a bit of trivia. A few years after Voit was purchased by AMF, Voit picked up Swimaster which was well known for its Duck Feet fins and other high quality snorkeling and spearfishing gear. By the time the MR12 was introduced, Voit was using Swimaster labelling to indicate their higher end offerings. For example in their 1969 catalogue, the most expensive Swimaster speargun was $59.00 while the top Voit was $34.95. Voit considered all their regulators to be premium products which is why the original MR12 had the Voit Swimaster label on the second stage.
However by the time MR12 II was introduced, AMF had decided to use the AMF Swimaster name for gear sold through dive shops with Voit gear being sold through mass market retailers such as K-Mart and Sears. As their top of the line regulator, the MR12 II was apparently reserved for dive shops and thus the AMF Swimaster branding. (Please correct me if anyone has seen a Voit-branded MR12 II.).
Except (as far as I can tell) in Japan. AMF had purchased Mares in 1971 and for some reason decided to use Mares branding on MR 12 II regs sold in the Japanese market. Here's a couple of photos cropped from a current Yahoo Japan auction.
Here's the auction:
A link to the catalogue: https://www.vsc-ds.cz/soubory/priloha/346/voit-swimaster-catalog-1969.pdf
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It's magnificent that those that take this old garbage to the dump, didn't take this old garbage to the dump
and are able to waste their hard earned $1000 to $3000 per new the same reg set instead on other garbage
and are able to waste their hard earned $1000 to $3000 per new the same reg set instead on other garbage
Problem there is that those integral yoke type firs stages were not built to modern standards and in some cases may not install on those combo DIN/yoke valves. And they have a lot of flex when pressured to 3000+ psi.
Standard Voit MR12 first stage
With US Divers Supreme cold/contaminated water kit installed
Another view
Green Frog
Contributor
Well, a very reasonably priced complete Conshelf 21 rig showed up on everyBody’s favorite auction site last week, so being able to resist anything but temptation, I pushed a few buttons and it was on its way. The C-21 first stage is my Goldilocks type with one large HP port and four LP ports the same size. Pair one up with a couple of 1085 brass seconds and the AL SPG of the day (with the built in analog dial thermometer) and I’m a happy frog (man).
I’m still using all classic/vintage gear, just shuffling parts around to get all the features I want. I now have all the parts for a complete set just the way I like it, parts to rebuild a matching backup set, and a couple of plastic body seconds I can cannibalize for internal parts. These are all user serviceable with minimal special tools. Life is good!
Froggie
I’m still using all classic/vintage gear, just shuffling parts around to get all the features I want. I now have all the parts for a complete set just the way I like it, parts to rebuild a matching backup set, and a couple of plastic body seconds I can cannibalize for internal parts. These are all user serviceable with minimal special tools. Life is good!
Froggie
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