Vintage Double Hose

How Much is Vintage Dive Gear Really Worth?
- My buddy Rich and I found some vintage treasures at a dive shop over the weekend and I got to thinking and comparing the various prices I've paid for my vintage diving gear collection... Sometimes I've paid next to nothing and other times I've had to pay a lot to get something (like a Voit regulator) that I could never find a bargain on.
- Last winter, I paid $50 for an old, used Mike Nelson Sportsways depth gauge and $80 for Voit fins with like new rubber... Items I needed for the Sea Hunt Forever event. But, this weekend, I paid $20 for a New-In-The-Box vintage US Divers Depth gauge. And, $20 for Like-New yellow rubber vintage shoe fins with a spear gun thrown in!

- The guy had a set of Twin 50s tanks made from low pressure (1800 psi) steel CO2 tanks with new HP stainless bushings, USD J-valve manifold, back pack, and SeaTec horsecollar BCD. VERY nice set up. He told me to make an offer and I thought $150 was low. He said he'd take that. Well it was for Rich and Rich is working on a different double tank project. So, he offers them to Rich at $100. I was ready to snap them up just because... But I have two unfinished double tank projects and lots of other tanks already. Rich passed on them, too.
- So then we went "Out back" to the shed, and that's where I got my depth gauge and fins. BUT, he had a nice DA AquaMaster with the blue "Made In France" label and offered it to Rich for $40. I paid close to $200 to get one like it a few years ago off Ebay. Rich also snagged a brand new unused (1980s) USD single hose reg for only $35. But then there is the story of how Rich bought a very nice Mistral from an antique store for $25 and the guy gave him another 10% off for cash! Followed by me ordering him a very nice DA AquaMaster from Rob in order to get one with good Chrome and a long yoke... That one was around $200 but the chrome, label, hoses and mouthpiece were still good.
- What I've concluded is that vintage dive gear in good condition is worth a lot more to me than whoever is selling it could get from selling it to anybody else. What I'm saying is: I bet I could have got that depth gauge for $5. And, I wouldn't be surprised if $50 would have taken those Twin 50s tanks home. Unfortunately, I now have almost too much of this stuff... But I sure enjoy it.

SurfLung wrote: . . .

Unfortunately, I now have almost too much of this stuff... But I sure enjoy it.

What is this "too much" to which you refer? I don't think I'm familiar with that.

The value of any object is what somebody is willing to pay for it at that moment.

For me, if I am happy with the (vintage) item, cannot get it at Walmart and it is what I wanted and serves some purpose in my life, I could afford it, I am satisfied. On the other hand, the value of any vintage object, composed largely of rubber, such as but no limited to fins, masks, wetsuits, etc. is pretty close to zero.

Nem

I have found that there are two market prices for vintage gear. One is the inflated prices that eBay commands, the other is the garage sale/flea market prices. I have bought a couple dozen DH regs for under 50 bucks, many under 35 and one as cheap as 10 bucks at yard sales as well as Craigslist., Same goes for the other accessories. You need to be patient but there are a lot of deals out there if you are looking. I have gotten many steel 72 tanks for free or for 5 bucks as well.

Sometimes, items themselves can become forms of currency - in a barter system. I had several SP Mk1s with me (or what seemed like Mk1s) and traded a rebuilt one for a 109 which I converted into a balanced adjustable octo for my Argonaut. As the saying goes, "one man's junk is another man's treasure"




(unfortunately, since I'm a pack rat, a lot of what I have would still be considered junk regardless!)

Hey Eben, Can I take Rich with me the next time I need to buy a car? It sounds like he gets the deals!

Oh yeah... That crazy Rich will likely wear down the toughest negotiator. SeaHunt Jerry affectionately calls him "50,001 Questions Rich".

I was at a family wedding last weekend and brought the little "Vigo 18" tanks for my grandsons to dive in the motel pool. Now something like that is awfully rare... Two complete miniature scuba sets with like-new re-built double hose regs. How do you put a price on that? If I wanted to sell them, I bet it would be tough to get much in dollars. They're for children but they're not toys. Not many people can handle that.