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YankDownUnder
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Fri Jul 10, 2015 3:59 am

When we were young (early 1960s), we thought that colors attracted sharks and most of my friends here in Australia, wore black. Now, I realize that it only made us look like seals, some sharks' diet. Many shark bites are just that, a bite. It is mostly to see if you taste good.

In Jean Michele Cousteau's video on the Great White Sharks in South Australia, he points out that white sharks are not indiscriminate eaters and shows them spitting out things like, card board boxes. What worries me is that they bit the boxes in the first place.

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Sat Aug 01, 2015 2:49 pm

Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

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rhwestfall
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:33 pm

Kraken helped me find/retrieve what appears to be a 1938 vintage bottle while drifting the Niagara River last night.... a little old, and a little new combined for a very nice evening in the water...


UPDATE: A little further scrubbing and research establishes 1946 as its date of birth.
Bob

No Longer Awaiting my Kraken.....

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:58 am

From Paul "Shark in a Bus" Sharp in Australia.......Argonaut with Standard Dress gear.
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Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:04 am

Christian diving one of the first Argonaut Kraken's somewhere in Europe in combination with his amazing Cousteau equipment!
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Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

uwstlth
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:48 pm

I think that's your winner for the photo contest, hands-down. Lookin' really sharp!!!!

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Bronze06
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Fri Sep 25, 2015 6:27 am

Hey Folks,

Doing annual checks and maintenance on my sweet breathing Kraken. I never adjusted the IP since I bought it last year and took it direct to the Caymans to 110 feet on its first dive.. What is optimal IP setting for it? I think I read something on the forum that said it was 135 +/_ 5 psi sort of like a RAM, though a RAM in original configuration is to be set at 115 +/- 5. Mine was set for 120psi when I cracked it open finally after a year of diving with it. I've since readjusted it to 135psi for better air flow. I'm guessing that the setting dropped down to 120psi due to break in periodicity and since it breathed just fine I didn't bother checking the IP until a year went by. By the way, it is in wonderful shape after 60+ salt dives in the Red Sea. Is 135 too high for the Kraken?

Thanks, Russ
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"Where'd ya get that ol' thang, don't cha' know them thare things ill kill ya!"

Live From the Red Sea,

Russ

Pedro
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Sun Sep 27, 2015 1:47 am

So, after about 2 weeks with a dry Kraken staring at me from the garage (or was it the other way around?), finally got a chance to try it out earlier today. Not a double hose virgin anymore!

Thought of posting first impressions here.
*A quick disclaimer: I'm not a vintage enthusiast and just want the right tools for the job. In my case that means taking pictures with no bubbles in my face and no cracking piece of plastic hanging from my mouth. That's what I was expecting from the reg, although I do appreciate it's charm and beauty. Oh and it did attract a lot of attention at the dive centre.


a) My impression at the very first breath, still at the surface: wow.
That thing is smooth! Not exactly "easier" to breathe in the sense that every regulator I tried to date pretty much delivers as much air as I request. It just delivers it in a pleasant, soft way. I couldn't really feel when cracking pressure opened air supply as I do with single hoses. Very nice start.

b) In the water, it behaved pretty much as Herman described: I could notice some difference in breathing effort depending on body position underwater, but nothing dramatic. In my case this was compounded by what comes next, so I'm pretty sure these differences will be even smaller once I get it right.

c) I ran into a number of issues that should be fairly easy to avoid:
- I tried to install the hoses as described in the forums, but in the end the right hose had a different "twist" than the left one and I couldn't tell until I was underwater. This caused the mouthpiece to be in a diagonal orientation in my mouth. Pretty annoying, I had to bite it to keep it in place. User error, easy to fix hopefully;
- I had my VDH plate routed in an unorthodox way, so to speak, which just didn't work for me. Eventually the whole thing slid up, which caused two problems: the harness became loose and the can was way up, banging at my head. This compromised reg performance (noticeably but nothing dramatic really). Will revert to exactly as described by Luis in the forums and it shouldn't happen next time.
- the Dive Rite Travel XT wing has a really short inflation hose. Will need to replace it with a longer one.

All easy to fix mistakes, just pointing them out so other beginners out there can try to avoid them.

d) The wing did provide more than enough buoyancy at both surface and bottom with an 8/7mm wetsuit and 13kgs of lead. Still need to check if it will be enough for deeper dives as suit compression increases. I'll admit I was worried it wouldn't pass even the shallow test but having seen and felt it in action, now it's hard to get why many people begin with much bigger wings (unless one is diving overweighted, why opt for 30+ lbs of extra buoyancy that will not be used?)
Everyone talks about how BP/W makes achieving proper trim MUCH easier but I honestly didn't feel any difference from jacket BCDs. Besides I don't really want to "be trimmed" by my BCD as I feel the "wrong" position is better for photography. In this regard the Travel XT was very unobtrusive.

e) as expected, the reg did free flow immediately when I had my belly facing up, as well as at the surface when out of the mouth. In this sense my impression is that a conventional single hose does provide more freedom of movement, if that's important to one's diving requirements.

f) after the plate slid up and the can got really close to my head, I was utterly impressed at how noisy our breathing sounds down there. The reg [edit: all regs but rebreathers I mean] does produce a loud, weird sound. No wonder so many critters hate it when we breathe from a single hose reg right next to them. I do expect the Kraken will help me get a bit closer without spooking everything away.

All in all, very happy with the Kraken so far. Thanks again Bryan, Luis and Herman, well done!

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Sun Sep 27, 2015 12:31 pm

Thanks for the great write up Pedro

I'm sure after a few dives you will have it all sorted out to your liking. First dives with 100% new gear rarely go perfect.
Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

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BigMike
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:30 am

If you haven't done so already, I suggest using a crotch strap. I have use them on both my VDH plate/wing and my Transpac and find that they help keep the rig in place. Before adding the strap, everything felt great but once in the water, the rig always seemed to slide up. Just like everything else, it takes some adjustments but you should be fine. Thanks for the great dive, re-cap too. Mike
You are never too old to start a new hobby.

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rhwestfall
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Mon Sep 28, 2015 6:05 pm

Eastern Great Lakes Representing -


Niagara River - 9/27/2015 - End of Summer drift Dive with Discover Diving, Depew, NY
(wish I had put the red hoses on it this day)
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Bob

No Longer Awaiting my Kraken.....

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:09 pm

Looks great! I really like divers sharing photos wherever they may be. Keep em coming.
Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

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simonbeans
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Wed Sep 30, 2015 4:26 pm

Red Sea Aggressor, Sept. 20, 2015. Worked flawlessly.

Image
Check out my website: www.vintagescubastuff.com

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Bryan
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Wed Sep 30, 2015 6:17 pm

Argonaut Kraken Worldwide!

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Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

Pedro
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Re: New Argonaut Kraken Owners Post

Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:07 am

BigMike wrote:If you haven't done so already, I suggest using a crotch strap. I have use them on both my VDH plate/wing and my Transpac and find that they help keep the rig in place. Before adding the strap, everything felt great but once in the water, the rig always seemed to slide up. Just like everything else, it takes some adjustments but you should be fine. Thanks for the great dive, re-cap too. Mike
You're right Mike, I forgot to mention but I did mess it up with the crotch strap as well :roll:

It looked good out of the water and I thought any shorter it could cause the dreaded nut squeeze. As soon as I hit the water the suit moved quite a bit and the crotch strap turned out to be too loose.

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