Last week in Virginia I hit a flea market and manged to pick up a very nice Fenzy and a cylinder. Works perfectly with no leaks and the cylinder had pressure in it. I peeked inside the bottle and it was clean. I also got a very nice Pico Blvd pressure checker with the "Diorama diver" logo in it as well as an old dive reel for the princely sum of 20 bucks for it all.
I felt like the scuba god had grinned at me. I am in Florida this week and just hit a yard sale. I own hundreds of pounds of lead dive weights but I bought over 20 pounds of soft weight at a yard sale today for 3 dollars. The shops are currently gettin 4 bucks a pound for soft weights so I could not let it just sit there. The old lady just sighed.
Next stop was a flea market in St. Pete. There was a very heavy duty dive bag like I have never seen before. It was made by Global out of a hypalon material and it was full of old dive gear and some vintage gear. It did have a set of large Viking fins and oval mask. The reg was a N.E. /Sportsways single hose. It had a Sea View gauge as well as other capillary gauge of an unknown manufacturer. Also there was a Sportsways j-valve steel 72 with the 1/2" straight thread valve in it mounted on a backpack with a pull rod. There was also the other odds and ends in the bag like log books, neoprene hoods, gloves and save-a-dive kit. I never fail to turn up some neat old dive gear or dive books when in Florida and always have trouble packing up when I head home. One year I had to fit a very nice commercially built tank tumbler I bought for 12 dollars at a yard sale in the back of our vehicle. The old lady hated hauling it around all week.
I am at the stage in my life where I need to get rid of gear, not accumulate more. I have over 40 tanks in my shop and I just don't use them. The guy was trying to get rid of this gear but I decided I would muster up the strength to just say no. I told him that old junk would kill you. As I walked away he told me I could have it all for a buck. I handed him a dollar and threw it in the back of my vehicle. I have spent less then 5 bucks for it all today and a lot of it I will use. I felt I did rather well. I am sure the old lady wll start back talking to me any time now once she hears from you guys how well I did...