Vintage diving...what was it like?

[gypsyjim]

I recall buying my first set up in 1973, I couldn't afford the extra $5 or $10 the J valve cost and my instructor always told us the extra bucks were better spent on a SPG than on a J valve. Our instuctor also had an power inflator hose for his BC and an octo rig, at the time we students couldn't understand the purpose of the octo rig since he made us practice buddy breathing every time we hit the pool.
Thank you Mr. Martinez, taking your diving class was the best $35 I ever spent.

Wow! A BC in 73? Not even a wet dream in my 70 experience. SPG and Octo rigs were also nothing we heard about till later. J valves, those we knew. Up close and personal.

 

[Phossilman]

Wow! A BC in 73? Not even a wet dream in my 70 experience. SPG and Octo rigs were also nothing we heard about till later. J valves, those we knew. Up close and personal.

Yep, a BC in '73. A must have item per our NAUI instuctor. I can't recall what make it was, probably USD or Seaquest, but I do remember the old horse collar had one 16 gram co2 cartridge, a thin hose oral inflator (which really didn't have a mouth piece as such), a pocket, and a over pressure valve. The over pressure valve didn't have a manual way (the pull string) to release air from the BC, you just had to hold the oral inflator over your head to dump air.

 

[Luis H]

Yep, a BC in '73. A must have item per our NAUI instuctor. I can't recall what make it was, probably USD or Seaquest, but I do remember the old horse collar had one 16 gram co2 cartridge, a thin hose oral inflator (which really didn't have a mouth piece as such), a pocket, and a over pressure valve. The over pressure valve didn't have a manual way (the pull string) to release air from the BC, you just had to hold the oral inflator over your head to dump air.

IMO, that wasn’t really a BC. That was better known as a surface floatation device. They were very common by 1973 and they were around in the 60’s, but were not universally popular.

Horse collar BC (with 1 inch inflation hose) were showing up in the very early 70’s but didn’t get accepted immediately by everyone. I remember debates about the danger of having an uncontrolled accent with a malfunctioning horse collar if it was used as a BC. Some divers considered that the concept of using a BC was supposed to be for advanced divers only.

Since 1972 I was using a Fenzy with its own rechargeable air bottle. Some considered it the first BC, but we used it mostly as a surface floatation device. At the time, I dove in the Caribbean with minimal thermal protection.


On the other hand the SPG was very common by 1971 to 73. IMHO the lack of a HP port on most double hose regulators was what killed most of them by 1973.

 

[Thalassamania]

This says it all:

 

[Thalassamania]

And now:

 

[spectrum]

Most of the true horse collars that I acquired did come with the CO2 cartridge as did many snorkeling or surface flotation vests. You need to remember that the concept of diving with a bag of air tied to you was very new indeed.

Picture the current debates of using a BC and drysuit for buoyancy control. We can't agree to use one, the other or both due to the complexities of managing 2 bubbles. Managing a bubble was for most an entirely new concept in the 60's. The notion of an unintended CO2 release just added fuel to the fire.

I dove an older Sherwood BC jacket (80s?) for the first time earlier this summer. It was not until after the dive that I found the little knob that led to a CO2 cartridge tucked up inside! What a surprise that would have been at depth!

Pete

 

[Nemrod]

Those are great pictures with the proper orange weight belt with wire buckle and the horsecollar BCs and the inflatable rubber boat with landing gear and the inflatable heavy duty rubber 3/4 air mattress (body board). Those are rare I should think now. My inflatable air mattress, 3/4 length, is orange Hypalon and it makes a wonderful surface float for beach dives, don't remember when or where I bought it. N

 

[Phossilman]

Thalassamania, you have the same haircut and the same smile in the last piture that you have in the first picture, too cool, thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[Luis H]

Thal thanks for the pictures. Those are great.

I remember most of the equipment in the color pictures... except for all that neoprene… we didn’t need all that neoprene in Puerto Rico. All I ever used was a beaver tail shorty.

It looks to me as at least the color pictures are from the 70’s.

I like the next to last picture with the matching color on the blue horse collar and the wet suit… and the yellow weight belt matching the trim on the horse collar. Some colorful visible gear always made sense to me, but having matching color gear… now that is special.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Wow, those are great photos!!
I love looking at stuff like that.

And they say it can't be done; nobody can dive that way like they used to. Oh yeah, watch me!

Hey, was that Monterey penninsula? The shoreline looks very familiar like Monestary and Lobos.

I also love the skin outside beaver tail suits. I had a guy make me a suit that looks exactly like those beaver tail suits in your photos. The only difference is it's lycra on the outside. I got a lead on getting skin both sides material and I'm going to make an old school suit just like those. They were the best.