BACKPLATES---History

[Sam Miller III]

No Interest





REMEMBER --It is very important to preserve history but preserve it correctly

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Thanks but...It is a lot easier to "remember" that some redneck for Gainesville Florida made the first one from a stop sign.

 

[Sam Miller III]

The visitor from afar- who was probably not born in 1958, will recall the urban legend as fact rather than preserving history as it happened..we are so delighted to have your imput which was totally devoid of facts..

SDM

 

[Akimbo]

It would be interesting to put together a Scubaboard article on the evolution of different pieces of gear including harnesses/back packs/plates, floatation systems, and maybe even regulators. People are always getting stuff like this wrong.

One look at a diver swimming with a single and a webbing-only harness makes the “idea” for a backplate pretty obvious.

 

[Diver0001]

A post from another area by an individual who has been around in the sport for a while and should know the following statement is questionable. At best it is an urban legend that should go no further.


"Never forget, the original backplates were made from Florida and Georgia stop signs. I've always wondered how they got the bullet holes out of them."

I distinctly remember Tom Mount saying that they used to pilfer traffic boards to make back plates with. I don't recall him saying that they had to hammer out the bullet holes. Bullet holes are probably a more recent phenomenon given that people ain't got no r'spect for nuth'n nomore.

R..

 

[boulderjohn]

I distinctly remember Tom Mount saying that they used to pilfer traffic boards to make back plates with. I don't recall him saying that they had to hammer out the bullet holes. Bullet holes are probably a more recent phenomenon given that people ain't got no r'spect for nuth'n nomore.

R..

The bullet hole line was a joking reference to the stereotype of the redneck using signs of all kinds for target practice. I was raised in the rural north, and I can assure you that there was a lot of truth to that stereotype back in those days. I have many memories of bullet-riddled signs from my youth. I suspect it is more rare today than it was then.

I think the error is one that is commonly found in all things related to history and really anything else. When we read or hear a story, we tend to believe it, and then we repeat it, no matter how absurd it may be. Often we embellish the original in our repeating. How else to you explain all the absurd Internet hoaxes filling up our email inboxes?

Sometimes it comes to repeating stories from unreliable people. If historians used my father's stories of his actions in World War II as a part of their research, the story of that war would take on a whole new dimension.

It is even possible that there is an element of truth in this story. Perhaps some people really did make their own backplates out of such materials. It could have happened. That would not mean that they invented the backplate; it would just mean they had a do-it-yourself project that recreated (or adjusted) a known design.

 

[Akimbo]

The bullet hole line was a joking reference to the stereotype of the redneck using signs of all kinds for target practice.
…
It is even possible that there is an element of truth in this story. Perhaps some people really did make their own backplates out of such materials...

Of course it true, that is why there are so many useless holes around the perimeter of backplates today.

 

[gypsyjim]

If what we wanted was the truth, we would get it from the major media....uh, er, well scratch that idea.

Maybe urban legends ARE the way to go. Sure a lot more fun to pass along, and no less likely to be accurate than CNN stories.

 

[captain]

Sometimes it is the homemade item that gets gets made into a product. Automobile racing is a prime example. Racers had ideas and made what they couldn't buy and eventually manufacturers began copying their ideas.

 

[Luis H]

Also in the late 1950s, Seacraft of Wilmington Mass, produced and marketed three models identified as "Backplate" and indeed they were "Back plates." Flat with holes for attachment of cylinders,harnesses etc



FYI: They were listed on page 4 in their 1958 catalog as as follows:



A320 single back plate....................................................$15.95

A321 double, -or single- tank set up............................. $21.95

A322 Triple tank set up for three 40 cuft tanks...............$24.95

Sam,

Thanks for the information.

I am particularly glad to see this information about the Seacraft back plate. A friend at my LDS gave me what must be an A320 a couple of month back. He got it with a tank from the 50’s and I think there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was.

I didn’t know anything about the history or actual fabrication date, but from the design I suspected it was that time period. The straps and buckles also looked form that time period. I am glad to confirm its history.

It is a perfect design for a double hose. It has a cut out for the regulator, but the straps are crossed to provide great control.

I got it just before Portage Quarry and got to try it there. The plate was great but I need to change the straps.

I will try to post some pictures when I get a chance.


I have thought about making a couple of reproductions to use with modern tank bands and maybe adapting it for a small wing BC.