is there anything missing from the dive industry?
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I have been following this thread about what is needed since the first post.
So many suggestions have be previously realized and have been discarded many years ago, long before most of your were divers and even before many were born. A short synopsis of a few thoughts follows;
1) Filling a SCUBA tank requires time & effort, and that is $$$$$$$$
2) External drive in self serve 24 hour SCUBA tank fill station was installed in Pacific Divers Soppy in Seal Beach California in 1969. Full fill was $1.00 ..Was abandoned after about 6 months -- too many problems
3) SCUBA streamlining was introduced by California based Sea Pro = Watergill's company "At Pac" which was duplicated in form and concept by most of the major companies of that era - All were discarded as too bulky. All these units are now highly prized collectors items.
A diving helmet was also introduced around the same time as a platform for lights instrumentation etc which had a very short life
4) Spray on wet suit was discussed at the 1972 Scripps Underwater Physiological Conference conducted at SIO in La Jolla California. Good idea but never materialized after the conference.
5) Wet suit was serendipitously discovered by Bradner and Bascom in 1951 in San Diego California, Did not enter civilian market until 1953 do to national security concerns of the Korean war.
Many SoCal divers of that era purchased sheets of rubber for $1.00 from Kirkhill rubber company in Brea California and made their own wet suits from crude patterns. For a ten year period to almost the mid 1960s divers cut out, glued and tailored their own wet suits.
The sewing of the seams was developed out of the California Commercial Abalone industry in Newport Beach California. There was a local seamstress who whip stitched the then Nylon lining of the suits to form a stronger seam. A year or so later US Divers developed (discovered?) an industrial machine that would whip stitch seams on a commercial basis and the sewn seam wet suit was created.
Bill Barada developed the first dry suit in 1940s using a gorilla suit as a pattern= company became Aquala
6) Small compressors were fist introduced in the 50s. They were modified US Government WW11 surplus Cornelius compressors formerly used in a WW11 air craft. They were in use well into the 1970s
7) In 1974 LA County UW Instructor's Association was concerned with the influx of poorly trained or not trained diving instructors claiming a national affiliation which had created an increase in dive accidents, so LA Co UIA proposed a California SCUBA Instructor's State licensing organization to test and license and relicense all dive instructors periodically along with a czar to administer the program. After many public meeting and much heated debates it was shelved never to be proposed again...But diving certainly needs it now!
8) In the 1935 an almost forgotten Frenchman, Georges Commeinhes developed a SCUBA unit that had two tanks of air, a SPG, a streamlining cover and a back plate. He applied and received a patent # 976,590 on 29 April 1942 and an improvement patent on February 1944. In 1943 he dove his units to 175 feet. A unique feature was the ability to change tanks underwater.
While other French divers were frocking at the beaches this Frenchman was fighting to liberate his beloved county from the NAZIs and was KIA in 1944 in Strasberg. Ask you shop owner or SCUBA Instructor about him....
Then Jimmy Dugan wrote that 1948 article introducing the US to the Aqua Lung.....And the rest is history
9) Credit for the first dive log must be given to Dick Bonin and SCUBA Master who published Dick's log in the mid 1950s. (FYI Dick was the co-founder of SCUBA Pro and is alive and well)
The second dive log was developed by LA County in 1966 for use in their very prestigious and certainly demanding and challenging ADP & Instructors program the UICC The logs are still in use today and are required for the completion of the program....
We learn from the past.....
Now go to you LDS or fuzzy faced instructor and ask them about the above points
SDM
So many suggestions have be previously realized and have been discarded many years ago, long before most of your were divers and even before many were born. A short synopsis of a few thoughts follows;
1) Filling a SCUBA tank requires time & effort, and that is $$$$$$$$
2) External drive in self serve 24 hour SCUBA tank fill station was installed in Pacific Divers Soppy in Seal Beach California in 1969. Full fill was $1.00 ..Was abandoned after about 6 months -- too many problems
3) SCUBA streamlining was introduced by California based Sea Pro = Watergill's company "At Pac" which was duplicated in form and concept by most of the major companies of that era - All were discarded as too bulky. All these units are now highly prized collectors items.
A diving helmet was also introduced around the same time as a platform for lights instrumentation etc which had a very short life
4) Spray on wet suit was discussed at the 1972 Scripps Underwater Physiological Conference conducted at SIO in La Jolla California. Good idea but never materialized after the conference.
5) Wet suit was serendipitously discovered by Bradner and Bascom in 1951 in San Diego California, Did not enter civilian market until 1953 do to national security concerns of the Korean war.
Many SoCal divers of that era purchased sheets of rubber for $1.00 from Kirkhill rubber company in Brea California and made their own wet suits from crude patterns. For a ten year period to almost the mid 1960s divers cut out, glued and tailored their own wet suits.
The sewing of the seams was developed out of the California Commercial Abalone industry in Newport Beach California. There was a local seamstress who whip stitched the then Nylon lining of the suits to form a stronger seam. A year or so later US Divers developed (discovered?) an industrial machine that would whip stitch seams on a commercial basis and the sewn seam wet suit was created.
Bill Barada developed the first dry suit in 1940s using a gorilla suit as a pattern= company became Aquala
6) Small compressors were fist introduced in the 50s. They were modified US Government WW11 surplus Cornelius compressors formerly used in a WW11 air craft. They were in use well into the 1970s
7) In 1974 LA County UW Instructor's Association was concerned with the influx of poorly trained or not trained diving instructors claiming a national affiliation which had created an increase in dive accidents, so LA Co UIA proposed a California SCUBA Instructor's State licensing organization to test and license and relicense all dive instructors periodically along with a czar to administer the program. After many public meeting and much heated debates it was shelved never to be proposed again...But diving certainly needs it now!
8) In the 1935 an almost forgotten Frenchman, Georges Commeinhes developed a SCUBA unit that had two tanks of air, a SPG, a streamlining cover and a back plate. He applied and received a patent # 976,590 on 29 April 1942 and an improvement patent on February 1944. In 1943 he dove his units to 175 feet. A unique feature was the ability to change tanks underwater.
While other French divers were frocking at the beaches this Frenchman was fighting to liberate his beloved county from the NAZIs and was KIA in 1944 in Strasberg. Ask you shop owner or SCUBA Instructor about him....
Then Jimmy Dugan wrote that 1948 article introducing the US to the Aqua Lung.....And the rest is history
9) Credit for the first dive log must be given to Dick Bonin and SCUBA Master who published Dick's log in the mid 1950s. (FYI Dick was the co-founder of SCUBA Pro and is alive and well)
The second dive log was developed by LA County in 1966 for use in their very prestigious and certainly demanding and challenging ADP & Instructors program the UICC The logs are still in use today and are required for the completion of the program....
We learn from the past.....
Now go to you LDS or fuzzy faced instructor and ask them about the above points
SDM
Nitrox?
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Sam Miller, Interesting info. - thanks. Minor point--I assume pretty much all fills are done by shop personel who are on the clock. So unless the work occurs after hours and there is no overtime, what's the difference other than the patron will get less air for a smaller tank? If a grocery store is full rather than empty, the busy checkout person gets the same pay either way, no?
Well a short fill is not trivial to many, Often it's a full day commitment to hopefully get 1 or 2 hours underwater. Shaving 10% off of that time is not attractive.
Charles law makes good and fast fills mutually exclusive. Providing a good economical fill on the spot requires some hans on attention to manage banks and flows.
I think there is a real opportunity out there for an automated bank system that would allow an accurate progression through the banks at optimal flows. This could save a lot of energy and let the diver walk away with an acceptable over without consuming overly compressed gas. It wouldn't be much more than a collection of pressure switches, controlled valves, a PLC/HMI and a little software. A fun weekend project!
Pete
3D diver
Contributor
Thanks Jim, I'll consider it if the Riffe doesn't work out.
I see corrugations on the outside of the J curve, is it rigid or floppy? Also, what is the orange bit at the top?
drrich2
Contributor
I am not enthused with paid celebrity endorsements. I imagine they'd be for specific gear. If a celebrity (or anyone else) wants to hawk a piece of gear based on positive personal experience, fine. But paid athletes endorsing NIKE over Reebok, for example, because NIKE offered more money (I'm making up the example) is offensive to me.
Imagine Justin Bieber hawking a gear line, split fins, a particular snorkel...
Richard.
P.S.:
Not exacting what you described, but I suppose PADI eCards (or photo files of your cert. cards, front & back) and an exported PDF of your dive log from a computer dive log program, all put on a USB thumb drive on your key ring, could serve that function. Not as elegantly, yes, but it's a thought.
Imagine Justin Bieber hawking a gear line, split fins, a particular snorkel...
Richard.
P.S.:
Not exacting what you described, but I suppose PADI eCards (or photo files of your cert. cards, front & back) and an exported PDF of your dive log from a computer dive log program, all put on a USB thumb drive on your key ring, could serve that function. Not as elegantly, yes, but it's a thought.
I read an article in "Alert Diver" magazine about new synthetic solutions that were being worked on to help treat decompression sickness. I don't recall all the correct scientific terminology, but basically the fluid is introduced to the bloodstream, and has a really good oxygen carrying capacity. I think it's similar to the "breathable water" which was experimented with, except this stuff is introduced via an IV.
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