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Post by mahlon on Feb 8, 2005 19:02:35 GMT -8
Ok, I finally registered! Hopefully these links will bring something new to this thread I am a huge fan of the classic but this is pretty cool. I'm getting one! BTW, thanks Dan for the great regulator! Do you keep track of what ser#'s you sell to people? Mine was 107564, it worked perfect but I had to sell it unfortunatly. Some day I'd like the all black UDT. Regards, Cronk
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2005 20:09:06 GMT -8
Mahlon Thanks for the new photos.........but it still looks like parts from under my wifes kitchen sink and the radiator hose connection on my truck........kinda resembles Japanies auto airconditioner too...........wonder where that engineer who designed it went to school at? Texas
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Post by VintageDiverMN on Feb 9, 2005 8:36:22 GMT -8
I'll barbecue the Kemp's Cow if I see him diving with a new Mistral.
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Post by randallgray on Feb 14, 2005 9:16:55 GMT -8
FYI...the new Mistral is being offered for sale at Poisiden online (www.scubastore.com) in Spain for $621 US plus shipping. That's not too bad.
Randy
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Post by JES on Feb 25, 2005 17:57:27 GMT -8
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Post by Michael on Feb 26, 2005 7:15:47 GMT -8
The advantage to this thing I see right now is exposure to the public, resistance to double hoses should be softened if some of the gear freaks, techie's start using these on the boats and at various event sites. Might make it easier for our "old model" double hosers to be exposed to the ravages of divemasters and boat captains who think they have all the answers.........
Texas
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Feb 26, 2005 11:01:51 GMT -8
This is what they are saying here, not a vintage site but the UK divers bible (apparently).
Any of you guys seen or used anything like this?<http://www.zerovisibility.co.uk/New%20products/AqualungMistral.htm> Can't believe it can be as good as the normal regulator style and it looks cumbersome. Any comments? ____________________________________________-i used twin hoses up to 82/83 untill i blew the last diaphram i had, and then went like everyone else to single hose. i never really liked the minstral original due to the hoses pointing back. my pref was the merlin as the hoses pointed forward, slightly more noisey but the performance was good with slight tuning. i might go for one of the new one's. a walk down memory lane. eerr maybe not i have just seen the cost ouch!!!?? but that said i bet its good. _____________________________________________What is the reason for using twin hoses. Apart from the bubbles behind you? Is the general performance better? and why is the RRP price so high? _____________________________________________ i will be honest i don't see a practical application (other than photo's)in this day and age with single hoses being what they are. yes you sum it up the bubbles are behind you, that is one of the reasons i stayed on on my own twin for so long. as i remember there were only 2 of us who continued on twin hoses till we ran out of spares in the 80's. Is the general performance better? in their day they were better than single hose or at least to me, the volume of gas when set up properly, fining your guts out in a current or what ever and roll over on your back and it delivered big style. get your breath back and you were off again. but while i assume they will have none return valves in the hoses, you have to do some mods to you training i.e. back to the days of old. and why is the RRP price so high? well they are not going to make many thats for sure, so it will be a limited appeal market. unless, it becomes a fad over night. and as i said a lot of money but i still think i would like one as they are pretty basic in the new mode, and having looked closer at the photo it looks as if they have canted the hoses back a little from the mouth. it could be good _____________________________________________ The people who are that desperate to have no bubbles probably don't want them blurping out behind their head either. There are too many SCRs out there now that do the job better at not much more money _____________________________________________ There are too many SCRs out there now that do the job better at not much more money. err what Nigel?? How much is an SCR then? and I don't want to re-build an ex USSR wonder oxy-acetylene model either!! _____________________________________________ says it goes to 20m in the book. What more do you want? I guess if you're finger searching the bottom of your boat for mines an oxygen hit is the least of your worries in a FFM. You can just hear the rope handler "Sent anofer difer. Dis vun haf toxed" as he hauls him back up. I have a twin hose reg here. I'm not sure I'd use it as the rubber is looking a bit tired but I'm not sure that I can see any advantages that couldn't be better served with an extention on the exhale ports on a normal reg. This would avoid all the hose clearing trick and only cost another ten quid. _____________________________________________ i think that the retro mistral is exactly what you have just said! I'm looking for a yellow box to house my cylinders in, a smoothskin black wetsuit with yellow stripes, a weightbelt and nothing else!! hey presto a Calypso diver! _____________________________________________ you are taking p*** a little here. but i can asure you all it was a great way to dive no clutter. no divers looked like xmas tree's in those days. all new were there kit was as there was very little of it over basic kit other than a torch and goody bag. _____________________________________________ LoL! I'm not taking the urine at all! I'm just curious to know how the divers from Calypso seemingly managed with no form of ABLJ/BCD! I guess that they hit the bottom overweighted, breathed out their gas and managed to ascend again? Perfect weighting! _____________________________________________ Correct weighting for the depth. Duck dive and swim down then breathing control near the target depth. Actually if you have very little neoprine or compressable kit once the weight is right almost any depth works _____________________________________________ the rules applied were the same as you have to this day. we did not hold our breath as you put it. we were not on your free diving course. even though 15mtrs a min ascent rate was the norm you could not just cast off all the lead for a given depth unless you were returning to a shot _____________________________________________ when we dived most dives were square profiles at the time, so i for instance in my state of the art kit. 9ltr 175bar and 6mm suit dive to 30mtrs 20mins bottom time (leaving bottom )i would carry 10lbs having dropped 4 for that dive. and we did not crash around, well ok some times you got wrong, or forgot, it just made to dive shorter and harder. i have not done a dive like that in a while i might go and NAH NAH! _____________________________________________ Suits were thinner in those days and you didn't get so much bouyancy change as your suit compressed. That having been said, if you planned to do any deco (sometimes 5 minutes on the old RNPL tables), you had to be prepared for a hard swim up. 9l 175 bar - was that a Spartan 75. Didn't need a lot of lead with those - they were blooming heavy. I had one for 25 years until it was stolen, and in spite of being whopped to to 232 bar goodness knows how many times by unobservant compressor operators, it still sailed through regular tests. _____________________________________________ In europe you can pick up a Drager Ray for about 700 euros. Once I figured out the discounts and so on I got with mine, it worked out about £450. _____________________________________________
Kim
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Post by dogsbodydiving on Feb 26, 2005 11:03:57 GMT -8
Oooppps!!! my lines didnt go right, but you'll get the drift..... ;D
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Post by Willian Claude on Feb 27, 2005 4:56:57 GMT -8
As to the new overpriced double hose comic book about to be released I say again "never give a SUCKER an even break"
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Post by fredrik on Feb 27, 2005 14:32:09 GMT -8
Why name it Mistral??? It´s not a one stage non balanced regulator. Maybe call it Royal Aquamaster but I think it should have a own name like Titan Double or simular.
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Post by To all on Mar 7, 2005 13:42:59 GMT -8
Well I guess if you make enough noise you will finally be heard! However I am disappointed, this version as opposed to the beautifull Mentor is absolutely 'butt' ugly except for the hoses and mouthpiece. The designers at USD must have come over from the team at GM who designed the 'AZTEC'!!!! God what were they thinking? I will definetly pursue my plans to buy a brand new Mentor, you just can't go diving looking like that! Regards, MIchel A.
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Turtleguy9
Pro Diver
Padi MSDT, IDEA INST TRAINER, SDI OWSI, NASE
Posts: 136
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Post by Turtleguy9 on Mar 7, 2005 21:05:47 GMT -8
Aloha Well I finally priced the Mistral from a local dive shop. I sure wish we carried USD. No discounts for me, and they quoted me $990.00..... Any better prices around the US? Turtleguy9
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Post by John Lundy on Mar 8, 2005 6:49:10 GMT -8
I was told by a local dive shop in Portland that the retail price is $899. Mar-Vel has a listing for the Mistral (Yoke) for $675 but when I phoned they said they could'nt tell me anything until late March. I agree that it doesn't look as good as the original USD double hose regs, and I guess we have to wait and see if it lives up to the claims in the ads.
John
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Post by Mr L on Mar 9, 2005 6:01:17 GMT -8
My local dive shop, Dolphin in Sacramento, has received a Mistral. www.dolphinscuba.com/I played with it in their pool last Saturday, and had a WONDERFUL time! I had never used a "regulator with the hoses" as the rental shop clerk called it. I placed my order, and expect delivery by the end of the month.
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Post by John Lundy on Mar 15, 2005 10:49:47 GMT -8
I talked to one of the owners of the diveshop where I trade and he (he and I both have a Mistral on order) said the the Aqua Lung rep stopped in and had just returned from a dive trip using the new regulator and said it breathed like a dream. Don't know the conditions of the dives, but it sounds like a great regulator whether you like the way it looks or not.
John
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