Where'd you gettum'

[Mike Nelson]

Anyone else interested in how vintage regs(or other equiptment) came into ownership?

My Mistral (old, not new) was picked up at a yard sale for 2 bucks...I left the sticker on it....
My Royal Aquamaster was bought for $75.00 from an ad I ran in a newspaper looking for old scuba items...
Would you believe I don't remember where my DA came from?....No, it's not an age thing either....... ;D

Keith

[Creed]

ebay.

[Captain]

One of my Aqua Masters I bought new in 1967.

[SeaRat]

I was at a guy's house, and he told me he had an old scuba regulator he was willing to part with. It was my Sportsways Hydro-Twin, and I got it for $25 in the 1980s. My Trieste II I had to save up for, and bought new in about 1973 for $90 or so. My Mistral I got from a mail order catelog for about $45 in 1970, I think. Its first dives were is several springs, including Alexander Springs, in Florida when I was stationed there (Orlando AFB) in 1970.

John

[JES]

creed said:

ebay.

Ditto.

Started diving in 1978 (when I was 16) and double hose regulators were already a thing of the past.

[pearldiver]

I was lucky. I started diving in 1969 but borrowed gear then. I learned with a single hose and my dad bought me an Aquarius single hose brand new for me in 1970 if I remember correctly. That regulator served me well for 35 years until all the chrome was off and I literally wore it out. Well, the single hoses were selling well, so the dive shop owner back then gave me a Healthways double hose with a brown sticker for treasure hunting so I didn't have to contend with bubbles around my ears. Then....He gave me my DA a bit later. What a swell guy. He passed away almost 20 years ago, and I'll keep that regulator till I pass away. I sure hope you guys stick around to fix it for me. He is the guy that when I was 12 made me promise never to take my regulator apart ever again. He hee... I was 12 and brought my Aquarius to him in pieces in a bag. He put it together for me and made me promise before giving it back to me. Bless his heart.

[cstmwrks]

Got my first USD double hose in 1970, 20.00 bucks used from a guy who worked at a sporting goods store in Fairbanks Alaska. Second one was free, around 1974 I think. A fisherman in Homer Alaska who used to dive but gave it up. The second one was a DA.

[nemrod]

I have told the story of my lost and then found again Mistral so I will skip that.

Bought three DAs, one locally and two from ebay. One came with the wrong insides and naturally that is the one I kept, Bryan fixed it up perfect. The other two I put new parts in and tuned and they went away to new owners, one in Canada and the other England. I bought another Mistral for parts from ebay but it was so nice I could not part it out so it to got some new bits and it went away to England also. Then, somehow, the God's smiled upon me as I found a virtually mint, fresh water, maybe used once, round label Royal AquaMaster on ebay listed as a valve or somesuch in the wrong catagory wih no pictures up front. I got it really, really cheap and it is top notch and by far my best unit. I got another Royal, square label, from ebay and it too was clean and I sent it off to Bryan and it is a nice unit as well. All and all it was total price including rebuild under about 300. OK, recently I became inflicted with the need for another round label Royal and while it is a super clean unit it was not cheap. Royal AquaMaster prices for really clean primo units continues to climb. Sure, there are a lot of old regulators out there but that is just it--they are old and used and worn and bent. Really prime Royals are somewhat rare and rare or not demand a high price. I am not in the market for anymore at this time. My DA is for sale of course to a diver. The only thing I might want now is a Trieste but I want a clean one so I will wait until the right time and pounce on one.
James