Vintage Double Hose

Hey

Genuinely interested in the kraken but not totally ready yet.. Then I suddenly see that it is out for at least a half year? Seems to be pretty extreme production time, can not be good for business?

Best wishes Jakob

Hang on a second, I have to go get my popcorn and a scotch.

DON'T POKE THE BEAR !

ScubaLawyer wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 16, 2018 5:13 pm

DON'T POKE THE BEAR !

LOL...A fair question.....I'll be glad to tell you exactly why.

1. The Argonaut Kraken sold out faster this year than in the first 4 years. Previous years they have still been available into October/November, this year they sold out in August.
2. Being sold out of something heightens interest and makes buyers more likely to buy as soon as something becomes available again rather than thinking about it forever.
3. The Argonaut Kraken is very VERY expensive to produce. None of the parts that go into it are off the shelf parts. Other than a few misc screws each part is custom made. So I can't go to XYZ scuba parts and buy just what I need to assemble X amount of regulators. Most small parts must be ordered in quantities of 250 to 500 pieces. We learned early on that letting one machine shop make all the parts is a bad idea as they have you over a barrel and can kick it out from under you at any moment. Long story short on this, custom machine parts are CASH ONLY. So I have to accumulate a large sum of cash and have it tied up in parts that won't be sold for months.
4. Many of you probably think that playing with scuba gear all day is the ultimate job.....The key word is ...JOB.....as it is still a job. I am very passionate about what I do and I want to remain that way. I work in a small space and I can't do service and repair on double and some single hose regulators and have the assembly process of the Argonaut Kraken going at the same time. At the same time filling orders, answering the phones, following up on complaints, updating the website and website store, keeping up with E-mail and FB and SB etc etc.
A lot of the new Argonaut Kraken divers are not double hose divers to begin with.....Many are just certified and even more have little or no knowledge of how scuba gear works and a specialty item like the Argonaut Kraken really complicates things for them. So lately I have spent an incredible amount of time on the phone and by E-mail explaining how a DSV works, how to put on hoses, why it breathes so bad, why is there a little water in the mouthpiece. I have had TWO different divers go diving and come back complaining of no air coming out....After talking them through it both of them had failed to open their DSV....
5. The economy is so good right now I have decided to go back to my former line of work for at least 50 hours a week as the money I make there is easily 3 times what I make doing VDH as a full time job. I did this for many years before but you gotta make hay while the sun shines and the sun is very bright in Florida right now.

The Argonaut Kraken will be back in stock as I have said. I'm just not going to bust my ass and rush things as I have done in previous years. As many of you have noticed the Argonaut wings have taken off rapidly so I have those and all the accessories that go with them to keep up with now.

Customers and crowdfunding made the Argonaut Kraken a success so I feel an obligation to be as open and honest about what's going on around here as I can.

Bryan, your efforts are greatly appreciated! It's just kinda fun to poke a little at people that you like and also admire for their accomplishments.
Where would we all be without you?

If it is any indicator how much trust most of us place in Bryan, all of the Kickstarter people backed the project when there were like 1 or 2 3d printed Krakens. I think the one I dove was literally #2 or #3 and it didn't even have a label. We did that because we all knew Bryan is a good dude and he would pull it off.

Be patient and have a little faith. Anything worth having you earn. Read about the Kraken. Look through those drawings, diagrams, etc that Luis created. It's not everyday that a engineer like Luis shares stuff like that for the common folks. Try to get a big name scuba manufacturer to give you blueprints or test data.

Heck, the engineer that made the brass labels for the Kraken has a bill rate more than most corporate tax attorneys.

This project has a lot of real world test dives in it. It has a lot of hard work in it from a lot of people on here that will actually talk to you and answer your questions. Machinists, engineers, divers, IT guys, financial backers, etc.

Some things in life are worth the wait and the effort. Jump wings, single malt scotch, and Argonaut Krakens all being some of those things.

hey, thx for the reply apreciate it . I see its a project very much run on dedication, I will follow the development

So lately I have spent an incredible amount of time on the phone and by E-mail explaining how a DSV works, how to put on hoses, why it breathes so bad, why is there a little water in the mouthpiece. I have had TWO different divers go diving and come back complaining of no air coming out....After talking them through it both of them had failed to open their DSV....

After using my Kraken/DSV a number of times on a PNG LOB vessel, the deckhands would regularly twist the mouthpiece a little during handling my gear.

The DSV valve could be partially closed and go unnoticed as there are no easily identifiable OPEN/CLOSED levers or coloured indicator windows... and not easy to see a black valve looking down the black mouthpiece!
Maybe a simple colour change of the inner rotating moulding to RED would suffice?

I very soon got into the habit of checking the DSV every time I donned my gear, but from a Design Failure Mode Effects Analysis (DFMEA) point of view I would like to see any new DSV Mk II with this feature.

Many of us who regularly dive double hose ( vintage or modern), when on a commercial dive boat, politely tell the “helping” deck hands that we prefer to take care of our own gear. Few, I imagine, have never seen a double hose let alone know how to set one up. Saves issues like you have noted.

I guess if checking the open/closed position of your DSV on your pre dive checklist is too much then there is always golf......

Hah... oh I checked it plenty of times prior to donning gear, its just when third parties change things unexpectedly that things go awry
When 'helping me' by putting the loop over my head they would often twist the DSV a little, until I caught it.

If task-loaded newbie DH divers are also having trouble noticing the valve condition then maybe the DSV design needs a tweak?

Today I had a diver who had sent me two very nice MK 5 / 109's ask me to replace the metal wing nuts on the first stages because crew members on liveaboards complained that it hurt their hands when lifting them in and out of the water. I told him to tell them to shut up and do their jobs ....he replied that he couldn't do that as it might put the people who handled life support equipment in a bad frame of mind.

Somedays I wonder why I even do this.....

Dive boat crew members lifting tanks by the first stage reg seems about right for the level of competence I've often observed...

Yup, which is why so many divers put their expensive AI transmitter on a 6" hose