New guy, new to everything

[fourthirteen]

Hey gang,
Might as well introduce myself to the group. My name is David and I am new to diving and vintage gear. I honestly never had much interest until about a year and a half ago when I started getting interested in oceanography and deep sea exploration. I just got my degree in mechanical engineering and have been thinking about going for my masters in oceanography.

I need to do my check out dives to finish my open water certification, and since it is about 30 degrees outside right now it will have to wait a bit. Fortunately, I just got a job that allows me to travel cheap enough, so I am thinking about going someplace warm in the next month or so to finish this up. If you have any recommendations let me know. I might add that I can fly cheaply, but I still need to pay for everything else, so maybe not someplace with 400 dollar a night hotels.

I guess you could say I am a vintage guy, mostly for the sake of simplicity and functionality. I don't need a bunch of fancy gadgets or hip logos on my gear, and I don't care how worn and old it is, so long as it works like I want, and I guess this applies to everything I own. Between this philosophy and watching Mike Nelson I am pretty well hooked.

I just bought a mid 60s Mistral, mostly on an impulse. It needs lots of love and I just ordered a bunch of parts from Bryan to make it work like new again. Assuming the new seat will seal in the valve I think it will be fine.

[Herman]

Welcome to the board David.

Since diving is new to you, it may be best if you spend some time with your modern gear learning how it functions and to get your buoyancy down pat before jumping into vintage style diving. If for no other reason than it will be the same gear as all of those around you are diving. If at all possible it would be a good idea to find someone locally to you that dives DH regs to join you for some dives to help you understand the differences between the modern gear you will learn in and the Mistral, they are different and your instructor will not prepare you for the differences. I encourage you to learn to dive the old gear but IMO taking it one step at a time is the best way. Learn to dive, learn to dive modern, go minimalist modern then move to vintage. The gear has been here a long time, it will still be here in a year or 2, we want you around to be in it with us.

[swimjim]

Welcome to the board David! Where do you hang your hat? Perhaps there's somebody in your area that could give you some pointers when the time comes.

Jim

[Bryan]

Or....Pick up a copy of Basic Scuba by Fred Roberts or The New Science of Skin and Scuba diving....http://www.alibris.com/ usually has some copies or E-bay etc. And start getting yourself familiar with the differences in style and techniques between vintage and modern diving. If your store is ok with it, try diving your double hose in their pool...They may laugh but just tell them you are nostalgic about early equipment and will only use it in the pool A thorough background of reading original diving manuals and some pool sessions practicing what you read and you will be ready to try out your gear in open water....I would suggest as Herman has to complete your checkout dives and finish your course before going into open water. Enjoy!

[JES]

Welcome aboard David! We're glad you've decided to join our humble ranks.

Stay safe, soak up the advice and guidance, and most of all enjoy your equipment!

[DaleC]

Welcome aboard David but be very careful. This vintage stuff can become addicting. The diving of course, is just fine.
I too have a Mistral and when I first opened it up I was wondering "where is the regulator part?"... Oh, that's all there is I guess

[fourthirteen]

Thanks all for the warm welcome.
Is there some important difference between a single hose and a double hose regulator that I am not understanding? Seems to me that other than the lack of a purge button and the differential pressure caused by the horizontal rise in the supply hose that they are the same.

I guess I forgot to mention that I live near the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

I met SeaHuntJerry last week at Aquaventure's sea Hunt Night. Had a blast playing with the equipment and meeting people. I didn't notice much difference between Jerry's Mistral and the single hose regulators we used during my confined water dives.

I'll take that advice, Bryan, of getting the books in question.

[Herman]

Nothing difficult but how do you purge it, proper buddy breathing off one supply, how to clear the hoses, how are you going to keep up with your gas supply and lost hose recovery are few things that come to mind off hand.

[Ron]

There's also the fact that a double hose is far superior in cool points to a single hose. Also, women tend to like the larger, longer hoses of a double hose to the thinner, less gerthy variety found on modern regulators. Lastly, underwater combat with enemy divers is far superior with a double hose.

Fred Roberts is also an ME. You should buy Basic Scuba, it would interest you. Welcome aboard, you have just found one of the best kept secrets in diving. You get all the information here AND you get to keep most of the money in your wallet.

[fourthirteen]

Nothing difficult but how do you purge it, proper buddy breathing off one supply, how to clear the hoses, how are you going to keep up with your gas supply and lost hose recovery are few things that come to mind off hand.

Fair enough.

Ron has me all figured out already. I know all the girls will be going wild over my big black hoses. But Padi doesn't have a course in underwater butt-kicking so I think I need to learn that skill somewhere else.

More seriously, a friend gave me his 5 old tanks; he hasn't been diving in like 12 years. I am getting them hydro tested now, except for the vintage Sportways tank that still has some air in it so I can test my rebuilt regulator. Two of them are matched 72s, one is an older aqualung 72 with a J valve and the other is a what seems to be a 50. I know I am getting ahead of myself but I was thinking that making that pair of 72s into doubles would be a fun project. I've seen a few manifolds on ebay, but I have no idea what any of this stuff is worth, so I am a bit reluctant to start gathering up stuff.

[Bryan]

I've seen a few manifolds on ebay, but I have no idea what any of this stuff is worth, so I am a bit reluctant to start gathering up stuff.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to close your wallet, ignore your PayPal account, and open your eyes and ears. Take plenty of time to read and research vintage equipment diving. It is very easy to jump neck deep in the swamp of E-bay and get caught up in the frenzy of bidding

From the VDH beginners guide on the main page.

Best of luck on your search.

[Aileron]

There's also the fact that a double hose is far superior in cool points to a single hose. Also, women tend to like the larger, longer hoses of a double hose to the thinner, less gerthy variety found on modern regulators. Lastly, underwater combat with enemy divers is far superior with a double hose.

Fred Roberts is also an ME. You should buy Basic Scuba, it would interest you. Welcome aboard, you have just found one of the best kept secrets in diving. You get all the information here AND you get to keep most of the money in your wallet.

I can vouch for everything said here......

Lisa

[Aileron]

And Welcome to VDH! We're glad to have you here.

Lisa

[Drado]

The best piece of advice I can give you is to close your wallet, ignore your PayPal account, and open your eyes and ears. Take plenty of time to read and research vintage equipment diving. It is very easy to jump neck deep in the swamp of E-bay and get caught up in the frenzy of bidding

From the VDH beginners guide on the main page.

Best of luck on your search.

...or you could just get most of your stuff from Bryan's store.

Guaranteed quality stuff!

[jiguad]

Welcome aboard! This his one of the best place to read and learn about vintage diving and probably the best place to receive advises from experiment's divers!