US Divers Mistral Double Hose Scuba Regulator. (Attack of the 1950's Scuba Regulators Part III)

US Divers "Mistral" Single Stage Double Hose Scuba Regulator circa 1959.

Close up of the label.  

    A few years ago when I was in the stages of getting my Open Water Scuba Diving Certification I began immediately to gravitate towards the "cult" of Scuba Divers who love to restore and dive Scuba gear from Scuba Diving's early years.  I began to haunt an online forum called "Vintage Scuba Forum".  Shortly after receiving my Open Water Cert. I was given this regulator by a Diver from Oregon named John R.  

    This regulator was in pieces and needed to be put back together, but it was free!  It was the perfect* beginner regulator for a new Diver who wants to get into the weird world of vintage Scuba Diving to get their feet wet with.  Very simple to get back together and up and running.  This regulator and other regulators made by US Divers and Voit are blessed to have an abundance of reproduction parts and several people who specialise in rebuilding these regulators.  Well, I was able to get this one back to disable shape with zero previous experience.  

    *I would give this one the title of the easiest Double Hose Scuba Regulator to rebuild, but there is a company called Healthways that made a Double Hose Scuba Regulator that I felt is easier to rebuild.  However...as easy as the Healthways SCUBA Regulator is to rebuild, it does not have the abundance of reproduction parts available (which is a shame really, hope that changes in the future) and the exhaust diaphragm needs to be basically hand made, which knocks it off the first place as easiest Scuba Regulator to be rebuilt by a non-experienced person.  This is my opinion only...

   Anyway, about the US Divers Mistral regulator....  This regulator was the end result of a line up of single stage Scuba Regulators made by US Divers Co. in the US.  I think the Mistral came out in 1958, along side the brand new US Divers Aqua-Master (which was featured here on Moon in the Sky a while back).  What made these two regulators special was that they both featured the Venturi feature that increased air flow to the Diver.  To say this was an improvement in an understatement.  I mentioned this earlier in my episode on the US Divers "Navy Approved" regulator.  

    The previous US Divers single stage regulators did not feature the Venturi.  Although one of the predecessors to the Mistral did have a "hose in the hose" that delivered more air the the Diver, I get the impression that the Venturi feature was a lot cheaper to make and dealt the death to the addition of a smaller hose inside the larger intake hose of the earlier regulator.  All of that is from what I can remember hearing, so I am not going say that information is the 100% truth.  What I can say is the Mistral is a very easy regulator to breath from.  It delivers all the air needed and then some.  Compared to my US Divers Navy Approved Regulator, this one is like having a hurricane in a hose, it is that good.

    The US Divers Mistral is a single stage regulator, meaning that it takes the high pressure air in the take down to ambient breathing pressure in one stage.  The first Scuba Regulators and most regulators made today do this in two stages.  My gut reaction is that making a single stage regulator was a bit cheaper?  One advantage that double stage regulators have over the single stage regulator is that some of them can be used with a surface supplied air source.  The Mistral does not have this feature, but for the average beginner Scuba Diver of the late 1950's or 1960's who was on a budget and just wanted to have fun Scuba Diving, the Mistral was perfect and the price did not break the bank.  The French parent company of US Divers also offered the Mistral.  

    The US Mistral was made from circa 1958 (I think mine is circa 1959-ish?) all the way through to 1960's and ended it's time in the US Divers stable around 1970, just when I entered the world.  To say it was a success is an understatement.  It is a good performer and basically foolproof, very few moving parts and not much to go wrong.  Of all three US Divers double hose regulators from the late-50's that I have, the Mistral is the one I can depend on, I have not yet had to "tinker" with it.  

    When I got the box of parts that contained the Mistral in the photos, I was given a passport to the world of vintage Scuba Diving.  I think that the Mistral is the perfect regulator to begin with for a Diver who has an interest in joining us who love diving Scuba gear of the begining years of the sport.  This regulator and a steel low-pressure 72 cubic foot tank are a journey in fun diving.  Right now it is March and I am looking forward to warmer weather so I can take my Mistral diving again soon.

 

US Divers Mistral in a quarry in Ohio.

White Star Quarry, Gibsonburg, Ohio

My three US Divers Double Hose Scuba Regulators from the mid to late 1950's