Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Spain: Other manufacturers

[David Wilson]

I am reproducing the opening post of my Nemrod thread here:

Six decades ago, Spain had numerous basic diving equipment manufacturers, many more indeed than the country has now, thanks not least to its Mediterranean coastline famous for its underwater fishing grounds attracting water sports enthusiasts everywhere.
A while ago I attempted to compile a list of Spanish diving mask, breathing tube and swim fin makers from the second half of the twentieth century, coming up with the following names and, where known, their addresses:
- NEMROD (Catalunya). C/. Coll 59 a 61 (La Sagrera). BARCELONA-13. TEL. 394 03 58.
- COPINO (Illes balears)
- SAFARI SUB (Comunitat Valenciana). Calle del Cartón, 11, 03690 Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain. 34 965 66 06 58.
- BELTRAN (Illes Balears). Vendaval, 4 - Molinar.
- INDUSTRIAS RIVER (Illes Balears). Palma de Mallorca.
- BARRAGAN (Catalunya)
- DUARRY (Catalunya)
- LLUCH
- TARRACO
- NAUTI SUB
- INDUSTRIAS CLASAL (Illes Balears). Padre Vives, 59. Teléfono 23129. Palma de Mallorca.
- CARBONELL GIMENO (Catalunya). 2 de Mayo, 236. Barcelona. Teléfono 258343
- PRACTISUB (Catalunya)
- ELECTRONICA ROS (Catalunya)
- BCN SCUBA (Catalunya)
- METALSUB (Catalunya)
- TECNOMAR (Comunitat Valenciana)
- MASTER
- INO SUB?
- TRIDACNA (Catalunya)
I would welcome any input in the way of corrections or additions. I am certain that the list is incomplete. For a number of these companies I have little or no information, so please do not expect me to cover them all in these threads dedicated to Spanish basic diving gear. You can help fill the gaps here too. I should also mention that my foreign languages are French and German, not Spanish, so I will be relying heavily on Google Translate as well as my Romance-language "intercomprehension" skills based on my knowledge of French and Latin.

 

[David Wilson]

Please bear with me as I embark on this new thread, I do not intend to produce examples of masks, snorkel-masks, snorkels and fins for every Spanish diving equipment manufacturer listed in the previous post, simply because in certain cases I have only the company name and no data about its range of products.

Let us begin with the Spanish diving equipment manufacturer Nauti sub. Sorry no history or address details, no information about the firm's founder or indeed when the enterprise was established. If any of my readers have further information to share, please do so. The name "Nauti sub" may be related to "Nautilino", Spanish for "Nautilus" (above), a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.

Up for review today is the Nauti sub Alitan diving mask, named after "Alitán", called a "nursehound" in English and also known as the large-spotted dogfish, greater spotted dogfish or bull huss. It is a species of catshark, belonging to the family Scyliorhinidae, found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is generally found among rocks or algae at a depth of 20–60 m (66–197 ft). Growing up to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long, the nursehound has a robust body with a broad, rounded head and two dorsal fins placed far back. As for the Nauti sub Alitan diving mask:

So an oval mask with a yellow plastic lens-retaining band on the front and twin buckles on the sides. This model has a black rubber skirt and strap. Concertina-style compensator bosses inside the mask with finger wells on the outside enable the user to pinch their nostrils and clear their ears during descent into the water. Clearly an entry-level product, but one fitted with a means of equalisation.

 

[David Wilson]

Today's second Nauti sub mask is simply labelled "equipos acuaticos", Spanish for "aquatic equipment". These are the only images I have of this model:

So a rounded rectangular diving mask, top wider than bottom, once again with a yellow plastic lens-retaining band on the front and a black rubber skirt and head strap at the rear.

Some time midweek we shall review another one or two Nauti sub underwater masks. If you can't wait until then, I do have an album listing and illustrating the basic Nauti sub gear I know on my Google drive at Nauti sub Masks, Fins, Snorkels and Spearguns. Keep warm, safe and well.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, Luis.

​

Today we take a look at Nauti sub's Flipper and Galaxia diving masks. The Flipper mask:

So a model with a round lens retained by a thick plastic rim at the front and a rubber skirt and strap with twin plastic buckles at the rear. The Nauti sub Flipper mask was available in black or yellow.

 

[David Wilson]

Our second Nauti sub diving mask today is the Galaxia. "Galaxia", as I am sure you will have already guessed, is Spanish for "galaxy", a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The Nauti sub Galaxia diving mask:

So a model with specifications very similar to the Flipper with its round lens, thick plastic rim at the front and rubber skirt, strap and plastic buckles at the rear. The Galaxia was available in yellow or orange, however.

At the weekend we shall review the Nauti sub Panoramic masks. Keep safe, well and warm, Spring seems to be on its way.

 

[David Wilson]

Today's diving masks for review are both Nauti sub Panoramic models. As the name suggests, these masks claimed to provide the wearer with a broad field of vision. This was achieved via the rounded pentagonal shape of the window at the front. First, the basic model:

So a five-sided lens with rounded corners at the front retained by a thick red plastic rim clamp. At the rear, a soft black rubber skirt with the product name "Panoramic" embossed on the top and finger wells on the bottom for internal compensator bosses to enable the nostrils to be pinched for ear clearing. The black rubber strap attached to twin buckles was wider at the centre to form a cradle at the back of the head.

This Nauti sub Panoramic model came in all black too:

 

[David Wilson]

Our second Nauti sub Panoramic mask today has a single built-in breathing tube:

This model is a replica of the Nauti sub Panoramic model with the additional component of a snorkel socket top right moulded into the thick red plastic rim clamp to receive a single breathing tube. The latter has a red plastic barrel with a bend in the middle to follow the contour of the wearer's head and with a stemmed black rubber ball-valve cage at the supply end to shut off the air and to exclude the water when submerged. As the pictures show, the snorkel can be detached from its socket, enabling it to be replaced by a suitably sized stopper and the snorkel-mask to be converted into a standard mask.

Unusually, the snorkel socket on the top of the mask is on the user's right rather than in its more normal position at the centre or on the left. What is unique about this combined mask and tube, however, is the presence of a compensator for ear clearing via nostril pinching. Of the almost 200 mid-twentieth-century snorkel-masks I have come across so far, none other than the Nauti sub has compensator bosses. Most manufacturers back then eventually stipulated that their snorkel-masks were designed for surface use only, so compensator bosses would have been superfluous. The Nauti sub Panoramic model may have come with a compensator simply because the basic model without the built-in tube was fitted with one. It made economic sense.

More midweek, when we shall review the Nauti sub Spider and Tecnic diving masks. Until then, keep warm, safe and well. The temperatures remain quite cold here in the UK despite the arrival of British Summer Time.

 

[Popgun Pete]

I would think the compensator feature in these masks is due to them being of later manufacture than many others. The plastics used and relatively large mouldings that provide the clamping action on the lens only became a possibility when the injection moulding equipment was developed to make them. At that time you also see the transition of spearguns made with mainly metal parts to plastic versions, initially in the economy models and then moving in to take over completely. This is because the plastics used were improved, the initial material was badly affected by sunlight and grew brittle with use, and was something that had to be overcome to make plastic parts acceptable and not seen as a cheap substitute.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the post, Pete.

The Nauti sub Spider and Tecnic diving masks. First the Spider:

So a rounded rectangular window at the front with the thick black plastic rim clamp at the front and the black rubber skirt at the rear. Note the proprietary Nauti sub plastic buckles at the sides for the rubber strap, moulded on to the rim clamp. This model also comes with compensator finger wells and internal bosses for nostril pinching to clear the ears at depth.

 

[David Wilson]

The Nauti sub Tecnic diving mask was an altogether more colourful affair:

An oval lens surrounded by the now familiar thick black plastic frame at the front, with a yellow rubber skirt and contrasting black strap at the rear. Note the concertina-style internal compensator bosses and particularly the double flange on the inside of the skirt to provide a softer and more leakproof contact with the face. The overall impression is of a more luxurious mask to grace the Nauti sub range.

At the weekend we shall proceed to the Nauti sub Flipper snorkel and Sprint fins. Keep warm, safe and well.