Bryan L. Pennington started Vintage Double Hose was started in 2004 in a fit of frustration from trying to obtain enough parts and information to get a DA Aqua-Master working correctly without doing a jury-rigged job.
He started slowly asking question after question of anyone who would listen and had 1st hand knowledge of double hose regulators. Then, by buying up a few of the common double hose regulators, stripping out all the parts, and sending out the dimensions and specifications he managed to obtain bids on replacement service parts for the most popular regulators.
He strived to expand his product line and to become the #1 source for information, parts, and service for double hose regulators. At the same time, he developed a community of divers with similar interests who would help him grow his products to expand his little section of the diving community. Without the support of his friends and customers, he would have been trying to fix that 1st DA Aqua-Master with a crappy photocopy of a manual and recycled parts.
For as long as he could remember, Bryan was a scuba diver, if not in actual practice, then at least in his mind. He spent every moment he could in front of the TV wearing his dime store mask and fins waiting for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau to come on just to get a glimpse of the divers in action. He used to lie on the floor kicking his fins and in his mind, he was swimming along with Captain Cousteau, Falco, Phillipe, and the other Calypso divers searching for lost treasure or exploring the ruins of an ancient underwater city.
Bryan actually started scuba diving outside of his living room floor at the age of 10 in 1975 with a steel 72”, Jet Air double hose, mask from K-mart (or Kats drug store), and a pair of rocket fins that he wore tennis shoes with so they would fit. After that the only thing he ever really wanted to do was be a scuba diver like Jacques Cousteau! In 1983 he enrolled in the NASDS diving Instructors College, located in San Diego, California. Part of the curriculum included factory training on regulator service and repair for several major manufacturers. Unfortunately, the double hose part was skipped during the US Divers portion. Many of the principals and a lot of the mechanics apply to single and double hose regulators alike, and the training has been invaluable when getting VDH off the ground.
Bryan L. Pennington, Founder and Original Owner, VDH
After a few years, several hundred students, repairing countless pieces of scuba equipment, and working every weekend it became more of a job than the adventure he loved in his youth. Sadly, he hung up his wet suit for a few years to attend college full time and get a real job (as Bryan’s Father would say).
In 2002, while searching E-bay for a deal on a modern piece of scuba gear, Bryan stumbled on double hose regulators and it immediately brought back memories of what made him a frogman like Jacques Cousteau. Bryan fully immersed himself in vintage diving, and created Vintage Double Hose.
Vintage Double Hose was Bryan’s fulltime job for over 15 years. It was an uphill battle for the most part, but the end results have been worth it. With the help and support of the community, VDH has taken the double hose regulator from obsolete conversation pieces and moved them towards the mainstream of acceptable equipment choices for the modern diver.
In 2014 Luis Heros P.E., and Bryan debuted the first modern double hose regulator. They named it the Argonaut Kraken. Designed with the modern diver in mind, it carries the rich tradition started by Cousteau and Gagnan while allowing use of accessories today’s divers can’t live without.
Bryan Lynn Pennington passed away in 2022. He was 57 years old. He was a larger-than-life man. A diver. An unabashed fan of 80’s rock. He was direct, but kind. He was a true adventurer in a world where most people nowadays don’t leave their couch.
In 2024, Rob Studnicka, a longtime friend of Bryan and owner of The Scuba Museum, took over Vintage Double Hose at the direction of the Pennington Family.
Ron Sivonda remains the one and only Vintage Double Hose Administrator. Bryan was kind enough to let Ron work for scuba parts when he was a broke veteran going through college almost 20 years ago.
Rob and Ron are honored to continue Bryan’s legacy. VDH, in its present form, is no longer an online store from which to buy supplies. It is now a forum and a repository of vintage diving catalogs.
Ron Sivonda, VDH Administrator
