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Post by admin on Sept 22, 2004 18:15:03 GMT -8
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Post by SDM on Sept 23, 2004 16:33:46 GMT -8
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Post by admin on Sept 27, 2004 15:46:29 GMT -8
Thanks Sam! I appreciate your comments. Unfortunately, the person who sent the photos years ago (I don't have the reg) didn't know anything about it and it didn't seen like they had owned it for long. The boxes do look like Overpressure Breathing ones because of the long horns. The hoses look like gray Voits. Thanks also for the information on the J.C. Higgins regs sold by Sears. These must have been sold in very low numbers- I've only seen 2 in my years of collecting. But I hope to have one someday...... Dan
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 2, 2004 22:33:31 GMT -8
It's really too bad that we cannot look inside the regulator to see which model it really is. I have a feeling that it is not a "Mistral" as such, but is really the same mechanism as the Voit VRC-2 50 Fathom regulator. If so, it would be rare indeed.
Let me say why I think this may be true:
--First, the "Mistral" did not come out in the time period that included the type of top and bottom box used on this regulator. These, as mentioned by both SDM and Dan, are the "Overpressure Breathing" boxes, and would be the DX regulator. But it obviously does not have the venturi hose within the inhalation hose that pumped venturi air to the mouthpiece. That model required a metal mouthpiece, and this regulator obviously does not.
--Second, Emile Gagnan had patented the downstream single stage regulator in connection with a reserve device for a single stage regulator. The VRC-2 50 Fathom came out in 1959. I think it is possible that this one came out prior, and was manufactured in limited quantity to prove the concept.
--Third, the name "Mistral" was not put on USD regulators until after the DW "Stream Air" model. It was an improvement on the oriface of that regulator, which they subsequently named the "Mistral." But I've shown that with the oriface on the VRC-2 50 Fathom regulator oriented down the intake hose (large hole), this regulator would fit the description of the "Mistral," as that is what it sounds like coming down the intake hose.
'Just some late night speculation. 'Wish we could see inside that regulator.
John
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