Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:03 am
I agree with Bryan regarding having some criteria for acquiring the beautiful card he offers. 75 seems like a reasonable year as a cutoff to qualify as vintage. I believe the RAM was discontinued that year.
Not to discredit vintage single hosers, I think double hose is the way to go.
The folks with whom I dive aren't vintage divers. So it's important to be understanding when people are skeptical to see one dive with a 30+ year old regulator. I've gotten comments like, "You're not diving with us with that!" Display a little knowledge as to the contents of your reg, (I always say, "Did you know that the 1st stage in this reg (RAM) is basically the Conshelf and hasn't really changed over the years?). This goes a long way to winning people over. I gotten quite a few to try it.
As for vintage diving being cheap, well I don't think so. I can't stop buying and overhauling double hose regs! The Mistral, DA, RAM -- I think they're beautiful.
A 50m underwater swim and 9 feet don and doff qual wouldn't be too bad either. LOL
Jerry
Diving like back when toilets used to really flush, styrofoam was non-existant in a car, and seltzer water wasn't so damn expensive.