I was thinking about how much diving equipment has changed since I was certified in 1965. My first mask really didn't fit (or clear) very well, due to it's large internal volume. Fins didn't provide much propulsion and my first regulator (a Healthway's Double Hose, Single Stage) had me working to hard breath at 60 feet. LOL
I remember really thinking that diving technology was getting there when I purchased a Nemrod Vest. No longer did I have a 12 gram CO2 cartridge in my flotation vest, (which provided approx. 12 pounds of buoyancy at the surface). I now had a small volume of air and could now actually add buoyancy when I was underwater!!! The next step was to eventually hook this up to cylinder air. Wow! What will they think up next?
Other innovations like a SPG which allowed the diver to be able to check cylinder pressure underwater really helped with confidence (every breath I tool with the "J-Valve" always made me wonder how many breaths I had left). When I first started diving, I think I checked to make sure that my ''J was in the up (reserve Air) position every 2 minutes of the dive...
The equipment became better quality as well. When I purchased my first two-stage reg., I could breath easily even though the tank pressure was low. This did frightened me somewhat because when you were OOA, you had no warning (best to check the SPG occasionally). I went OOA on one dive (my J was down) and my SPG read 800 PSI (Buddy appreciation was really big back then)...
Now recreational divers have dive computers, mixed gas and CCRs. What has been the largest improvement in diving equipment/technology since you started diving? What would you like to be your next piece of diving equipment? What would you like to see in the future?
I remember really thinking that diving technology was getting there when I purchased a Nemrod Vest. No longer did I have a 12 gram CO2 cartridge in my flotation vest, (which provided approx. 12 pounds of buoyancy at the surface). I now had a small volume of air and could now actually add buoyancy when I was underwater!!! The next step was to eventually hook this up to cylinder air. Wow! What will they think up next?
Other innovations like a SPG which allowed the diver to be able to check cylinder pressure underwater really helped with confidence (every breath I tool with the "J-Valve" always made me wonder how many breaths I had left). When I first started diving, I think I checked to make sure that my ''J was in the up (reserve Air) position every 2 minutes of the dive...
The equipment became better quality as well. When I purchased my first two-stage reg., I could breath easily even though the tank pressure was low. This did frightened me somewhat because when you were OOA, you had no warning (best to check the SPG occasionally). I went OOA on one dive (my J was down) and my SPG read 800 PSI (Buddy appreciation was really big back then)...
Now recreational divers have dive computers, mixed gas and CCRs. What has been the largest improvement in diving equipment/technology since you started diving? What would you like to be your next piece of diving equipment? What would you like to see in the future?