US Divers Micra?

[ChrisA]

Could someone describe a "US Divers Micra Regulator". I know what an Aqualung "Micra" is. It uses the Aualung Titan first stage, what about the older the US Divers version? I'm thinking about putting the US Divers reg on a pony bottle but want to know a little bit about it first.

My other option is a new Auqalung "Calypso". Both are available to me at very low cost.

My criteria for a pony bottle reg is of course reliabilty over everything else. How it
breaths is way down the list below servicabillity, conpactness and so on. As long
as it delivers air within recrational depth limits and all regs do that.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Could someone describe a "US Divers Micra Regulator". I know what an Aqualung "Micra" is. It uses the Aualung Titan first stage, what about the older the US Divers version? I'm thinking about putting the US Divers reg on a pony bottle but want to know a little bit about it first.

My other option is a new Auqalung "Calypso". Both are available to me at very low cost.

My criteria for a pony bottle reg is of course reliabilty over everything else. How it
breaths is way down the list below servicabillity, conpactness and so on. As long
as it delivers air within recrational depth limits and all regs do that.

Hi,

I have been diving my "US Divers Micra" regulator for a little over 7 years now. I have one as both my primary and my octopus. In my case I have the SEA first stage. The first stage has evolved into what is now called the Cousteau first stage. My SEA is not environmentally sealed. My Micra second stages are not adjustable.

Even though you are less interested in how it breathes... I was diving last week and was with a diver who was low on air and we elected to have him breathe off of my long hose while I swithced to my necklaced second stage. We were both breathing from my tank and although we were shallow, the first stage had no difficulty providing enough air for both of us. He had been breathing on a (less than a year old) Aqualung Legend and when we got to the surface he said that my micra was an easier breathing regulator than his Legend. My regulator was last serviced about 50 dives and 16 months ago.

For your use on a pony bottle the hose routing is excellent if you are looking at an SEA first stage. The hoses come off both sides rather than around a circle, you could place the first stage on the tank and have the high pressure hose and your second stage hose both run down the side of the tank next to each other. This configuration will make things neat and protect the fittings from hazards. The SEA first stage is somewhat large and certainly fairly heavy, the Micra second stage is quite small and light. I think that for a pony a used SEA / Micra combination is a good choice. The only reservation is the weight of the first stage.

My regulator has proven to be quite dependable over the years, but I make sure that it is completely rinsed after diving. I do skip service intervals getting it maintained on average once every two years, but this schedule is variable as my dive frequency is also a factor in choosing the interval.

Best of luck,

Mark Vlahos

 

[rescuediver009]

I would go for the calypso, and I don't know if it is available but if you want a cheap moderate performer, the OMS dros regs are pretty good.

 

[Mako Mark]

I used the Micra as a rec reg for years and it was fine and breathed ok, the negative side is the size of the 1st stage is rather big and heavy, and the second stage is very hard to open and fix without special tools (not even normal tool box type tools will work), I also found that the second stages are a little vulnerable to geing crushed, so general consensus is that it is not a very good tec reg, if ease of breathing is no real biggie, I would go with the calypso and have it tuned up to breathe light..