Almost low-mu.

[fishpie]

Here's another reg that has been bugging me for a bit.



It looks to be a halfway non mag.....probably halfway too rather than halfway from as I would expect to see some paint remains if it had been stripped. As far as I can tell it has never been painted.
It does have a crimped hookah port.
The filter doesn't appear to be right for a non mag.



But the guts do.





I don't see any typical non mag stampings.
Is this one that didn't make it all the way to non mag?

[21]

I have several military regs without Mu markings.
They were used for training and operations that did not require none mag regulators.

Most of mine do not have labels but are black in color.
SDM

[crimediver]

I have a similar regulator with the snubbed off hooka port. It appears that it was never painted originally, but someone later on spray painted it. It was an obvious quick spray job that was done to subdue it but was done in a sloppy fashion. It was done in an olive drab colored paint that also covered the label. I was able to determine that there was no chrome under the paint. I found no low mu proof marks and it has the same regular sintered screen as yours. It was one of a pair of old decrepit regs I purchased.

The second reg I bought had a plastic stamped label on it that had been put on it by the owner to identify it. The label had the owners name on it and his command on it. It said E.O.D. Rosey Roads P. R.

This reg was a normal chrome plated DAM and was not a non mag reg even though it had that sticker on it. Both came from an EOD diver. I have heard that a number of regs started life heading for a bright future as a non-mag regulator but they did not pass inspection so they were not stamped and used as just a normal reg would be and not used for explosive disposal.

I do not suspect the reg was painted up to make it appear to be a non-mag to get the purchase price up as I picked them both up for a pittance. The regs were likely used for regular diving and how the one non mag look a like came into existence is still a mystery to me.

I have noticed that there are a lot of non-mag regs out there that have had a lot of replacement parts put in them over the years that are not low mu parts. The normal scintered screen is a good example that immediately comes to mind.

[Bryan]

A few sources report that USD had a great deal of difficulty getting the regulators to meet the requirements of the Navy. So much so that they quit trying all together. Which is where Biosystems picked up the ball but didn't stay in the game long for the same reasons.

As the others have said there is a good chance it's a training or parts regulator that never passed the test to be stamped with the low magnetic MU style stamp. Not saying I'm an expert on it just going off the info I have gathered over the years.

[21]

Interesting!
Some where in VDH files or possibly VSS historical archives (good luck!) this was discussed in great detail.

For a number of years I was a consultant to US diver as well as the official company SCUBA instructor. It was during this period that US Divers obtained the contract for the low MU military regs

They were a headache from the day the contract was let to the day the final delivery of the last regulator. The problem was not producing and plating the regulator but reducing the mu to meet contract specifications. I recall a number of conversations with the chief engineer, Sam Gupta about the regs. Sam was a brilliant engineer who had just migrated from India and this was his first American engineering position- Pardon the pun but he was "in over his head"

Many or possibly all the key employees of US Divers at that point in time are all now retired and I suspect many or possibly all the employees of US Dives are all diving on that big reef in the sky . Therefore it is up to the vintage collector to piece together the non mag's history. Vintage diving is so fortunate to have VDH for an exchange of knowledge, even though much will be void of documentation and must rely on I suppose, I think, I was told... or I have and what is it?


When the contract came up for renewal US Divers passed and it was accepted by and upstart company in the eastern US called Bio Marine. I have a 20 or more year old letter to me from the Bio marine president Mr. Burt (?) They also had difficulty with meeting the mu requirements and would never ever bid on producing non mags again.

Re Silver stick on labels

I suspect these are the rarest of the military regulators. I have only seen one of two. My reg serial number stick on labels is "2018." Below the serial number a one inch high number "50" appears to be etched into the metal.
The edges of the regulator are worn and it appear there is no plating.

What about yours?

SDM