WTB an argonaut kraken

[scrane]

Announcement on the VDH facebook page that a few Krakens are now available for purchase. Yoke only, shipping end of January.
I saw 6 available this morning, down to 4 this evening.

Looks like there's a VDH double hose Backplate available also!

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Looks like there's a VDH double hose Backplate available also!

Not any more.

 

[Franklin Brown]

Awesome! I just bought a new one while he has some in stock!

 

[azstinger11]

Not any more.

grabbed a plate, can’t swing the kraken right now. Hope 2021 brings a bit more stability for VDH and the world.

 

[Diskskip]

Announcement on the VDH facebook page that a few Krakens are now available for purchase. Yoke only, shipping end of January.
I saw 6 available this morning, down to 4 this evening.

Thank You Kupu! Sorry James, I ordered Two! My Buddy and I are now dancing around in glee!

 

[herman]

Thank You Kupu! Sorry James, I ordered Two! My Buddy and I are now dancing around in glee!

Welcome to the club. If this is your first DH reg, please ask questions, either here or on VDH. They dive a little differently than a single hose reg but many of us prefer them to a single hose reg.

 

[Diskskip]

Welcome to the club. If this is your first DH reg, please ask questions, either here or on VDH. They dive a little differently than a single hose reg but many of us prefer them to a single hose reg.

Thanks Herman!

This IS my first DHR. I really don't know exactly what to expect. I love the idea of no bubbles rumbling past my ears though. I also like that there will be no bubbles in the way of my ikelite.

I wonder about clearing the reg though. Since it has no purge, if you have no air left in your lungs, what is the procedure?

I have also read about the physics of double hose regs but I am unclear about easier / harder flow due to position in water.

I am purchasing hose weights and HP splitter for my transmitter/SPG. I like having both. any other "must haves"?

My steel 72 twins now have a kindred Regulator.

I grew up in a desert in New Mexico. I saw Star Wars in the theater when it came out. I lived in a town of 35 population. I have no excuse for always wanting to throw on a wetsuit and pull a double hose regulator down past my mask as though i were a sci fi pilot of a underwater dream. That being said, being born when I was, I missed the double hose world by a tad. Life drags you into all sorts of paths that you cant avoid, but I have found my way back, and now indulge.

Thanks for the kind Welcome!

 

[James79]

I wonder about clearing the reg though. Since it has no purge, if you have no air left in your lungs, what is the procedure?

I have also read about the physics of double hose regs but I am unclear about easier / harder flow due to position in water.

Diskskip,

I'm no pro at it, but I do enjoy my Cyclone/HPR DAAM.... in response to clearing, there are 2 methods I use that don't require full lungs.

First is to rotate the mouthpiece to face down and hold it above the level of the cans briefly (this will make it freeflow and the downward facing mouthpiece will trap the air bubble) then rotate it into my mouth. That leaves minimal water in the mouthpiece, allowing that first breath. My other approach is to just put the flooded mouthpiece in my mouth, and use my tongue to puff my cheeks in and out. With each "puff" out, a little water goes out the exhaust non return, and on the inward "puff" a little air comes in. The mouthpiece clears pretty quick that way.

After either method, exhale while rolling approx 90 degrees left (making the exhaust on the can the lowest point of the loop) to clear the water out of the exhaust hose.

As for the DH position in the water effecting breathing... it does, but good can positioning will minimize the effects. To oversimplify it, second stage regulator cracking pressure is measured in inches of water... based on center of diaphragm vs mouthpiece. In a normal diving position (flat or near flat trim) and the cans positioned below the base of your neck, it will crack (initiate a breath) at a very similar effort to a single hose reg. But if you roll on your back and surface swim with the mouthpiece in you mouth... now the diaphragm (in the cans) is underwater by 6 to 12 inches while the mouthpiece is in your mouth.... so it will chipmunk your cheeks out with 6 to 12 inches of water pressure (feels almost like it is trying to force you to inhale) and exhaling is against that same pressure (the loop's exhaust is right by the diaphragm). Roll head down and get the cans above lung height, and the exhale is super easy... but cracking pressure goes up. The better you get the can positioning (closest as possible to the top of your lungs and tight to your back) the less orientation in the water effects breathing resistance.

Hope that helped some.

Respectfully,

James

edit to add: Cheeks getting chipmunked out is separate from actual cracking effort changes... the work of inhale/exhale is done by the lungs (which should be close to the cans) while the cheeks feel the pressure differential of their vertical distance from the can. You can have the cans on the same level in the water as your lungs and your head up and get chipmunked cheeks even though the actual breating resistance is normal.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

James is correct. I debated giving you the three-page fine-print how-to description from Roberts Basic Scuba but decided instead to give you Wheeler J. North's much abbreviated version in his Golden Guide to Scuba Diving:

 

[Diskskip]

Gentleman, you are awesome. It is wonderful not to be looked at like an alien by fellow divers for being passionate about vintage dive methods.