Vintage divers... no BC?

[jimclarke]

In 1973 Fenzy (toilet seats) were replacing surface inflatable life jackets because in emergency they could bring you up from depth, the bottle being able to fill it at 90ft.

The surface type life jackets were being orally inflated underwater to give bouyancy compensation. (This risked bursting at the surace if the cartridge was used and half size CO2 cartridges appeared on the market) There then appeared relief valve kits to avoid that problem.

Fenzies were used to compensate for bouyancy using the bottle. The primary function as life jacket was not threatend by using up the bottle because most dives were square profile.

Although this is off subject

The Fenzy also provided a pony bottle (emergency air) function. Pillar valve in right hand and oral inflator vale in left. The next develpoment was the AP mouthpiece, a mini plastic demand valve on oral inflator made this even easier.​

With the adition of a direct HP air feed to the Fenzy drain plug and the BC was very close.
Soon we had LP direct feeds and later these migrated to the oral inflator tube.

We had it all ...pony bottle ...an octopus substitute and BC in one..[/INDENT]

Back to the point beginners were not allowed to use Fenzies due to the danger of uncontrolled ascents! We managed with thin suits, rocks and weightd lines for deco stops.

 

[JohnW]

Vintage is amazing. Here is a picture of my Vintage Dive.

(I get a kick out of posting this picture any chance I get)

Roger Miller, My Vintage Instructor(refering to the equiptment, not him) took this picture. Neutral Bouyancy was very easy, I think Roger weighted me to 6lbs. After a briefing on shore Roger and I took to the water. I highly recommend anyone that is interested in vintage diving to give it a try, probably best to do you first dives with an Instructor like Roger. He was very informative on the equiptment setup, proper use and saftey. If I lived anywhere tropical, I'd have a full set of vintage gear already .

There is lots of great info here on vintage for those interested. http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=304 I think you will find Roger luring around there as well.

 

[gregorio]

Cool! Even your speedo is vintage!

 

[Gary D.]

My first dive was in 1964..First lessson was on his Healtthways single staged double hose QUOTE]

We got a NavShips directive that clearly stated, Anyone (Navy Diver) using ANY Healthways equipment at any time would be discharged from the Navy. That was about as stern of an order as you could get. :no

The one exception to it was a tank with their name stamped on it. The Navy, during their research on dive gear found the early Healthways gear failed testing more than all the other equipment combined. And that was around 1966.

Hey Cuda Chaser, sounds like you survived the attack of the rogue regs.

Gary D.

 

[fishb0y]

How did the old timers dive with out a BC? I don't see how this was done.

I don't consider myself an old timer (heck, I turn 33 on Sunday), but I dive with out a BC all the time. In fact, one of my last dives was to 105ft with twin 72s and my single stage mistral. I happened to meet up with my Tech instructor while I was there (he was on a different boat at the same wreck). Needless to say, we wasn't impressed... not enough D-rings on my harness for him.

No BC is my favorite way to dive now. Luckily here in Hawaii I have the luxury of only needing a 3mil (needed to compensate for my double 72's). With 4# and a single 72, my buoyancy is perfect. In fact, I have a more difficult time now diving with my BP/W, I kinda feel as if I loss some freedom when I wear it. Diving a double-hose regulator and no BC helps me understand the description of a "frogman".

As was said earlier, a BC is more of a crutch now. It seems as if divers don't really need swimming skills now, and that most now use a BC as an "elevator". Its a shame that more divers learn to become neutral without the use of their BC.

 

[cudachaser]

Yeah...my nrxt reg was a Royal Aquamaster...still have the Royal...one of these days I'm going to get overhauled and use it on a Keys Charter

 

[drbill]

Wow! When did they invent these BCD thingies? I guess I should "keep up with the times."

I dove from 1961 to 1989 without a BCD although my diving back then was usually far less frequent than it is today. In 1989 I was diving with a Cousteau team in the northern Channel Islands. For the first time I wsas required to wear a BCD. After putting it on, I found every time I descended it popped me right back to the surface.

I told the Cousteau DM, who was my buddy, that I thought the BCD was auto-inflating. She said "no way." I showed her by descending again. When I surfaced, she asked "Now what are we going to do?" I responded "I'll just disconnect it and dive without it."

She was surprised that I could dive without a BCD. I didn't get my first one until about 1996. Now that I've found one I really like (the SP X-Tek), I probably wouldn't dive without one. See... you can teach an old dog new tricks.

 

[ZzzKing]

My first dive was in 1964...I was a jr lifeguard at a quarry lake in New Jersey. Head life guard had a scuba rig and I came across depth gage he really liked...Traded me lessons for the gage. First lessson was on his Healtthways single staged double hose with a dacor "D Pack" harness (Rememner how to do the quick release buckles?) He had his 2nd in command lifeguard row me out to the middle of the lake...for safety, Andy tied a rope around my waist...told me that he would pull me up he didn't see any bubbles!

Anyway, 42 years later I'm still just as excited diving...certfied 100's of new divers since that time!

Hopefully you are using different teaching methods.

 

[Thalassamania]

I started at 14 in 1962 ... Did you ever blow some bubbles into the Farmer John for a bit better control?

Thanks, I'd almost forgotten that one. Training that is very similar is still done today, as far as I know only in research diving programs that have a course modeled after the old Scripps Program or from individuals who have come out of such programs and want to teach the old stuff: doff and don buddy breathe, bail out, breathing off the valve, etc.

 

[jimclarke]

What is a Farmer John?