Do you dive without......

[Wayward Son]

FWIW, I have heard of dive charters demanding octo's. Some old school divers don't have them, they learned to buddy breath & don't see the need.

I'm told it's an insurance thing, the charter boats insurance demands it. I dunno. I'm thinking that they generally won't make an issue out of it unless the diver is problematic & they don't want him/her as a customer.

My wife didn't start until 2004, certified in 2005. She took a PADI course & they did not teach buddy breathing. She refuses to learn how. "If I needed it, they would have taught it." and I haven't been able to get her past that.

A good friend of mine who is also an instructor (NAUI) doesn't have an octo. His attitude is that with an octo you'll breath the tank down twice as fast, so if anyone needs air from him they have to buddy breath. He teaches that. But if he gets someone like my wife in an OOA situation, she's better know or figure out how to buddy breath.

 

[gypsyjim]

despite all the pics me & my dad took back then, there aren't any of me diving.

I didn't even know what a BC was until 1978. Never heard of one. I started out with a steel 72 & J valve, US Divers Aquarius single hose reg / SPG (considered optional then, but increasingly common), plastic back pack, mask fins snorkel & a CO2 powered safety vest.

I out grew clothes so fast I never had a wet suit or even boots. I wore shorts, T shirt & tennis shoes with my mini-rocket fins. Once the water got cold, diving was over until next summer when it warmed up enough. No one had extra 2nd stages. They were in the catalogs, but no one had one. I did have a depth gauge.

I must say I like it better now when I can dive year round.

You just described my gear to the T, except I did have one of those 1/4 thick wetsuits!

Wrist depth gauge, US Divers reg and 72" steel tank w/J valve (tank is still out in the barn somewhat worse for wear, after going threw a barn fire), orange vest w/CO2, the works. Had to buy it all mail order in 69' as there was no LDS round these parts. Except for that vest, every inch of our gear was Black.

And if you look at my first pic above, I have that 12" US Divers hog sticker on my leg. I did not know those pics existed until we were sorting stuff out after my mom died a few years back, and found them along with my original YMCA Scuba certificate.

My first encounter with a BCD was in the early 80's and the dam thing tried to kill me. Rode the express train to pain my first time out! Taught me the wisdom of retraining as gear evolves, cause in spite of what we yung-uns thought back then, we did NOT know everything!

 

[Splitlip]

LOL!

I don't have the 72's, But I do have two J-valves in the garage and one in my office.

I do still have this!

ScubaPro snorkel vest w/co2 and ~opv (kinda). I rigged the parachute harness and used it like a BCD.

 

[gypsyjim]

oh, and a big knife. I had a big honkin' knife. t was a USD knife. Still have it stashed away. Never liked it though, as it wouldn't take an edge. My current knife is small, but at least it's sharp.

12 long, serrated back edge, hammer head on the handle, strong enough to use as a pry bar, built more as a do everything some, but nothing well, combination tool?
That was my knife. Sure looked cool on your leg too, till the first time you got it entangled. Cut with it? Fine cutlery it was not!

Long gone I am afraid.

 

[Splitlip]

My first BC~80 or so.

 

[Wayward Son]

yep, mail order. I was living on a US Air Force base in Turkey at the time. No dive shops. Nearest chamber was in europe somewhere. Back then, JC Penny's & Sears catalogs both had dive hear, but mostly I ordered from New England Divers.

 

[Splitlip]

I have circa 70 Scubapro and Dacor gladius knives. Just looked for the pics, but could not put my hands on them.

In 1973, PBC had two shops. Frank's and the Scuba Club. Frank's was owned and managed by Frank 'the Shark Killer" Hammett. The Scuba Club was owned and managed by Norine Rouse.

Norine was so anti hunting, that by reports, she required distressed divers to drop their guns before boarding her boat.

Frank, invented float/drift diving. When I took his OW class we had movie nights where we saw him in 8 and 16 mm power heading shark and Jewfish. (now, now it was a different time. Frank did not waste his catch.)

So, with 2 philosophies out there. Who do do you think a testosterone laden teen went with.

In any event. Frank, carried Dacor and Scubapro. Norine, Aqualung. Most of my old **** is Scubapro with a smattering of Dacor.

Today, Frank is still giving lectures and such. Although his shop is gone but for the large billboard he leases to the highest bidder. (you see, off premise signs are now illegal.) Norine (rest her soul, the environmentalist) passed some years ago. Her shop is still here. Owned by the Cambells. Welcome to The Scuba Club, America's Only Country Club For Scuba Divers in West Palm Beach, FL Dotty and Sam.

Today, 40 years later, Scuba Club still prohibits spearing from their boats. I don't have a clue why Dotty and Sam have not sold that multi-million dollar piece of property. It is there for all to enjoy.

Today their are a zillion ops in PBC. Most of whom are dry but connected to a boat owner in a remote slip. (Jupiter Dive Center being an exception. They filled Franks void and are a shop on the water.)

Anyway.., I digress.

 

[The Chairman]

Well after diving hard for the last nine years and learning alot along the way, I have a question for everyone. I have meet 3 divers that i have dived with over the years that have been diving since double hoses. All of these people dive simple systems in Florida.......for example, plastic backplate with No B.C., 2" or 2.5" SPG and just a first and second stage, no safe second, no octo. I have asked them about this and most of them responded, we never needed a B.C. nor a second regulator. Hell they only got the SPG because they were tired of second guessing the J valve. So my question to you is..... do you know anyone like this? People who don't use B.C.s or have a safe second or octo or some form of second stage? Just have been wondering this for a while. Is it safe not to use a safe second or octo while diving open water?

I started diving like this in 1969. Except that my tank was held on my back with a harness rigged out of rope. I was using a standard harness within the month. I was skinny, diving without neoprene and using a tank of questionable origin. Thankfully, I have evolved.

 

[Wayward Son]

I guess those of us who started in the early 70's or earlier can be called "vintage divers", regardless of what our gear now is. We started when there just wasn't that much compared to now. We dove air & liked it, LOL

 

[Thalassamania]

USD Sea Hawk?