Mechanic's Stethoscope - replacement tubing

[markhm]

I have an old K-D 835 stethoscope and the vinyl tubing has become hard and unusable. What is the best tubing to use to replace the vinyl? The vinyl is a 1/4" ID thin wall tube. Should I stay with vinyl or go to rubber or silicone or what? Should I stay thin wall or go to a thicker wall to dampen external sounds? Has anyone had experience replacing the tubing on theirs and have you been able to make it an even better tool when you did it? My goal would be to use the best tubing to transmit sound from the tip while dampening external noise. This is a good USA made tool and I don't want to replace it with a new import.

 

[Fedwrench]

i would stick with vinyl tubing. I don't think the tubing really deadens external sounds but, that's just me. if your tubing has worn out what kind of shape is the diaphragm in?

 

[Larryjones]

Try the latex tubing at the hardware or Lowes. What you don't need is handy for other things.