One Man's Trash.................

[YankDownUnder]

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Some of us dive vintage gear, some just collect it and some do both. I am curious as to why each of us has the collection that we have. I would like to start this thread by listing three regulators that I own, explain why each is important to me and why I think it is a collectible item. I invite each of you to do the same. Tell us about them all if you wish!

1. Heinke Mk III Venturi Jet (London 1961)

Heinke was the first company to get around the Cousteau-Gagnan patent with a new design. It was made by an old conventional diving dress company and built like it. It breathed better than any double hose regulator of it's time. I was a 15 year old American kid, living in Australia and had to have a double hose like Mike Nelson, but I wanted the Rolls Royce of regulators and thought the Heinke was it.

2. Aqua Lung w/green riveted label, (Broxton 1953)

The green labeled Broxton was considered the first Aqua Lung actually made in the USA. It is a source of American pride for me to have one. However, I did not set out to buy it for that reason. I only learned about it from Phil Nuytten's article in Historical Diver. I found a new one in a dive shop in Utah's west desert. One of the employees was about to drive nails through the blue hoses, to hang it on a wall. I stopped him and negotiated with the store owner, who only knew it's 4 digit serial number meant it was old.

3. Porpoise Universal (single hose 1976)

Porpoise was the first commercially successful single hose regulator in the world (1952). It was made in Australia and was used by my late and best friend, when I was a boy. Production was ended, except for military contracts, years before I bought mine. My late brother had spoken to the company about buying one for me, but he was told they were no longer available to the public. When I visited Melbourne in 1976, Australian Divers agreed to make an exception to policy and sell one to me. In 2005 I told the story to the inventor Ted Eldred. He said I own the last Porpoise ever sold.

So much for my nostagia. Do you have a Voit because Mike Nelson had a Voit? Do you have an Aqua Lung because Cousteau had one? Enquiring minds would like to know.

[captain]

I have the Voit VR 2 that Bryan so generously gave me. The VR 2 was my first regulator that I bought in 1957. I don't reall recall what happened to it.

I have a all chrome Aqua Master that I kept when I closed my shop in the early 70's. It is my work horse and has the Phoenix conversion. I also have a satin chrome AquaMaster.

I have both a later long yoke USD Mistral and a mid 1950's Spiro Mistral.
When I don't feel the need for having an SPG and BC inflator I use the Spiro Mistral.

I have what I have been told is a rare U S Navy magnetic Aqua Master. It's the closet queen.

If and when the new Mistral becomes dirt cheap I might add one to the lot.

[Bryan]

I have a Jet Air because it was my 1st regulator. I dove it in every pond, creek, lake and river I could get to in Southern Missouri. I had a plastic helmet and Halloween costume that my mom put yellow stripes on the sleeves and legs so I would shut up about getting a Cousteau wetsuit. I often watched Cousteau on TV with my mask on my head and my tiny white fins that I got at the Coast to Coast hardware store on my feet. I built a diving bell after seeing one on a Cousteau special, I tried to submerge it in the cattle pond but it turned upside down and filled with water and sank….

I have a Dacor 200 Olympic and a cheap ass USD pressure gauge because it was my 1st modern regulator. I have pristine examples of both versions of this regulator. I think the one I got from Dacor Jerry was NOS.

[standingup]

Royal Aqua Master :vintage -1966/69 rect label
:purchased rebuilt from VDH ( best decision I ever made)
:reason for owning- trying to remember my youth, I remember rectangular labels but not color or name.
:future improvements- new silcone dia-adding same age single hose octopus thru hooka

DA Aqua Master :vintage -1964/69 rect label
:purchased from ebay
:reason for owning- need a 2 stage for Phoenix upgrade
: future improvements- VDH rebuild followed by Phoenix upgrade- adding same age single hose octopus and pwr inflator hose for bc

Possible future regulator purchases (next year ) Mistral (to see if I can remember breathing differences), voit (to be like Nelson)

[Creed]

2 Healthways single stage regs - my "tinkering" regs. One is stock except for hoses, the other has had various modifications.
1 Pico Address DAAM, satin finish. Got it because it was going for $49, and I couldn't take the temptation.
1 Warner address DAAM, shiny finish. My first double hose.
1 Jet Air - somewhere between Kansas and Australia.
A bunch of Conshelfs, and other misc single hose regs.

I dive what I like. I started talking to this "Nemrod" character on scubaboard, ended up coming here and VSS, and started into it. I was born in 1975, so I can't lay claim to any first hand experience with new "vintage" gear back in the day.

[Nemrod]

When I returned to traditional diving the core of my equipment was my actual gear from circa 1968 including a non functional, hoseless Mistral. Quickly purchasing one from ebay I robbed it of parts. Then I found this place and VSS and realized I could repair it completely, restored the ebay unit and sold it. Mine is a Pico Mistral in excellent shape. It shared many dives aboard a steel 72 and I had a Voit Snug Pack with Voit Skin Diver Fins and Voit oval mask all which I still have.

I also have a Phoenix--nah, nah, nah na, nah--- , number 006. It is on my number two excellent round label RAM. I have my flagship, a NOS Royal Aqua Master. I also aquired via ebay a very, very nice square label RAM and it is often the one I grab for a mission since it is equipped with a 1966 matching Calypso second stage I have owned since forever.

My current favorite grab and go regulator is and has been for several years now, my very nice DA. To think I had it for sale--shame. It is now equipped with RAM parts and breaths super easy and looks like a cool cat though non authentic in it's Voit hoses and USN mouthpiece.

My favorite vintage mission fins are the UDT from VSS and of course my ol' Sea Hawk, Voit/taylor depth guage and compass combo.

I grew up on a medium size lake in Louisiana. This lake was natural but had been dammed. Unusual in that during WWII it had been quarried for iron deposits as a potential mine. Thus it was deep, rock and gravel and sand bottom and was mostly spring fed. In the summer and fall it would often clear up quite nicely and it had the deep hole at the quarry near the dam with a bulldozer in the bottom. My older neighbor, Rex, and I had many adventures in this lake.

I also have non functional Nemrod gear from the 60s and a Calypso from 1966 purchased new by myself. I like to dabble with Voit MRs and of course I am long fasinated by the non vintage Tekna equipment.

I sometimes mix and match gear from vintage to present to the horror of Allan because when it comes down to it, I am a diver and the gear I choose for an adventure is that which suits the mission thus my eclectic nature. I have posted this pic before but I like it because it shows my eclecticism. Phoenix, Seatec BC, Mares X mask, Tekna Octapus and on stage another Tekna, Tekna Knife with ScubaPro fins and USD spg with Tekna depth guage in ScubaPro mini console and my new--old---sharkskin 1/4 inch suit .



Nemrod

[standingup]

Nemrod slightly off topic but I have to ask. In the picture the tank seems to be a bit high. Is the tank resting on something pushing it up, or is this the height you dive at. If you dive with the tank at this height do you notice breathing drag?

[Nemrod]

LOL, the rig is an aluminum 80 on a tech style Hammerhead BP. The tank is resting on the seat/leaning post thus it appears high. I like to wear my harness loose and though I normally use a crotch strap to keep the "loose" harness from going away, in this case, the crotch strap is not being used. I just got this suit from Mike aka Cleavelanddiver and I had not yet adjusted the crotch strap to fit with this suit. No worries mate, the Phoenix sit closer to your back which helps to offset a higher than ideal tank position anyways. When using a BP it is diffucult to get the tank low enough to perfectly position the regulator, the Phoenix and a good RAM in general are quite tolerent of this. To answer directly, no, in use it is not that high.



In this pic you can see the Phoenix sitting deceptively high also, again, with no crotch straap and the wing inflated it is trying to lift up. The crotch strap has since been fixed to accomadate the new suit. The fellow there is a friend, hopefully he will accompany me to SDIV for some real vintage diving.

Nemrod

[clevelanddiver]

My first Double hose was a Healthways SCUBA deluxe single stage. I still have it, but rarely dive it (if only someone would make a silcone diaphram to replace the plywood one in there now). It does look good in my display case though.

Next came a crud filled Nemrod Snark III which only needed a good tear down and acid bath to restore to fully functional. I got it before I found VDH and VSS and learned about the availability of USD reg parts. It is a fun reg to dive and sees some bottom time when it is up in the rotation.

Of course when I became enlightened to the availability of Aquamaster parts, I had to have one of them (I now how 2, but one was traded for labor rather than purchased). My ugly Aquamaster is my diver: dented, scratched and faded label. Breathes great and the hooka adapter lets me use a BC and/or Octo if necessary. The pretty/shiny one I got for humping 50 old steel tanks out of a nasty old basement, breathes OK, but not as nice as my beater (possible Phoenix conversion canidate).

Then there is my Voit Trieste, it is nice, but not the ultimate reg I had made it out to be in my head. Supposedly Dan at VSS has a thing for them, maybe I will send it to him and see if he can work some magic with it.

However, my most recent aquistion is not a reg, but a SeaTec wing. I don't know if it is techinically vintage, but try finding one today. I have been searching for one for 2 years now and missed out on several used/questionable ones on Ebay. A couple of weeks ago I got an NOS black SeaTec wing on Ebay. It just arrived at my a couple days ago and it looks like it was made last week. My dog gave my funny looks for securing a tank to it and walking around the house, but who cares. If my bath tub was deep enough I'd have tested it that night!

Bunch of other stuff too, but I am quick to let go of stuff I am not actively diving if another vintage diver will actually get it wet. I love pointing to stuff in my display case telling people it is 40 years old and I had it down to 75 feet this summer.

[pescador775]

When I was a kid, I made a snorkle by heating and bending a bean shooter. My fins were some kind of JC Higgins or something. In 1952, I saw the movie "Frogmen" with Richard Widmark. Seeing the men swimming with triple tank SCUBA and with bubbles streaming made a strong impression. In 1954, dived with homemade twin tanks and Seahorse regulator but obsessed for a real Aqualung with triple tanks. Eventually, years later, joined the Navy and was in a position to use or buy some of the toys that I thought I required. In 1965, just out of the service and making some decent money I liked the advanced Royal Aquamaster regulator and bought one. The balanced mechanism was a real improvement. However, as a child I had become fixated on the Aquamaster square label with its "official" look and could not get used to the "crown" design of the RAM. Even today, the crown looks a bit wussy to me. So, my RAM's are fitted with the blue Aqua Master plates and always will be. So strong are the impressions which we carry from childhood.

[treasureman]

My first double was a Nemrod Snark in Silver, thats is what I graduated from PAdi on. I soon bought a Royal Aquamaster Square label in the 1060's for under 50 bux. I bought a DAAm later in the lateer half of the 60's. Both had been in pieces for over 30 years until I found VDH.

I bought a DAAm from VDH , and started again to dive with more vigour. A single hose just kinda sucks the life out of me.

I dont wear a BC, use lead weights, but new masks and fins.

I sent my RAM and Bryan did a marvelous job on it. The DAAm i bought of VDH was superb. Now if I can only get my Mistral running.

I recall Sea Hunt, Voyage to the bottom of the Sea, and other underwater shows . It was these shows that got me to forsake skiing, and take up diving, and I have never looked back.

[JES]

Here are my regulators. They are listed in the order that I came to own them:

1) Voit Trieste II. I love the small size and the factory HP & LP ports. It is an awesome regulator.

2) Aqua-Lung Royal Aqua-Master (Round Label). I remember seeing one in the dive shop when I bought my first regulator which was a single-hose U.S. Divers Calypso. To me the large round label and the incredible breathing characteristics are what make this regulator special. It has one of Bryan's silicone diaphragms.

3. Aqua-Lung Aqua-Master (Round Label). This is my Phoenix Royal Aqua-Master conversion (Serial 008). I can't thank Luis and Bryan enough for this nozzle! It also has one of Bryan's silicone diaphragms and both a round Phoenix can & knob label from Jerry Moseman.

4. Aqua-Lung DA-Aqua-Master. The square label is almost perfect (it doesn't have a serial number) and it has the original yellow mouthpiece & hoses. She is a beauty!

5. Aqua-Lung DW-Mistral. Again this label is almost perfect (no serial number) and the inside of the can didn't have any signs of corrosion. Everyone should own at least one Mistral. They are a wonderful example of simplicity and you just have to love the "whoosh" of air when you take a breath! It has one of Bryan's silicone diaphragms.

Finally various other SPGs, depth gauges, masks, fins, manifolds, etc. and a real love as a child (and now) for the Cousteau TV specials!