Why was the Cousteau 1st stage discontinued?????

[Craig Winnerman]

First off I have not dove with many different regulators. I went from a Scubapro Mach V/190 to a US Diver Cousteau/Micra in the mid 90's and have dove with nothing else since. I still use the Scubapro 2nd staage as an Octopus. The Cousteau has proven to be very reliable and requires little service. I have never had any issues and take it in for service every couple of years or so when I remember or have the money.

1. Why was this 1st stage discontinued by Aqualung?
2. The Ledgend appears to have a similar shape. Did this replace the Cousteau? Are they very similar?
3. Any other history or facts on this reg would be interesting.

 

[PhilEllis]

First off I have not dove with many different regulators. I went from a Scubapro Mach V/190 to a US Diver Cousteau/Micra in the mid 90's and have dove with nothing else since. I still use the Scubapro 2nd staage as an Octopus. The Cousteau has proven to be very reliable and requires little service. I have never had any issues and take it in for service every couple of years or so when I remember or have the money.

1. Why was this 1st stage discontinued by Aqualung?
2. The Ledgend appears to have a similar shape. Did this replace the Cousteau? Are they very similar?
3. Any other history or facts on this reg would be interesting.

I suspect it was discontinued for the same reason the 1969 Camaro went by the wayside. Companies have to move one to bigger and better things.

Phil Ellis
DiveSports.com

 

[scubafanatic]

I suspect it was discontinued for the same reason the 1969 Camaro went by the wayside. Companies have to move one to bigger and better things.

Phil Ellis
DiveSports.com

.....yeah, I hear O2 cleaning a '69 Camero was a real b*tch too!

 

[herman]

I suspect it was discontinued for the same reason the 1969 Camaro went by the wayside. Companies have to move one to bigger and better things.

Phil Ellis
DiveSports.com

And in my opinion, they are rarely better....just more expensive..

 

[Couv]

.....yeah, I hear O2 cleaning a '69 Camero was a real b*tch too!

....and it has nothing to do with marketing.

 

[tstonedvr]

Besides the previous reasons cited...I would think the trend toward smaller lighter first stages and less brass/chrome in smaller stages cost the mfg. less money...the Cousteau was/is a great reg and I still have two that I use from time to time.

 

[jonenglishlee]

The legend is over balanced and a much better performing reg. but i think the cousteau could outlast a legend any day. that old cousteau first stage is almost as bulletproof as some of the old sherwoods. its a shame the canned it.
However, I am not sad to see the micra adj go. it was the pain in my side, as far as reg rebuilding went. I cringe everytime a customer comes and brings me a micra adj.

 

[Hallmac]

I am not sad to see the micra adj go. it was the pain in my side, as far as reg rebuilding went. I cringe everytime a customer comes and brings me a micra adj.

Send them to me, I love the little buggers. In exchange I will send you all the enviromentally sealed Atomics and I'll even throw in a few Posiden regulators for good measure

 

[jonenglishlee]

Send them to me, I love the little buggers. In exchange I will send you all the enviromentally sealed Atomics and I'll even throw in a few Posiden regulators for good measure

As a diver, i love the micra adj. As a technician, i abhor the little suckers. This is the way it goes i guess. you can keep your environmentally sealed atomics, i will just stick with my legends

 

[Luis H]

The legend is over balanced and a much better performing reg.

The funny thing is that the balanced second stage totally defeats the over balanced firsts stage feature…great marketing gimmick. The performance comes from the second stage…the overbalance is basically meaningless with a balanced second stage.

I do like Aqua Lung regulators. My favorite one is the Royal Aqua Master. Many of the new ones are good too…specially the ones that use the same parts as the RAM…many if not most of them do.

Aqua Lung has changed several times the body of their first stages keeping the exact same internal mechanism. Good marketing move that doesn’t hurt the great parts distribution and parts availability.