Scuba divers & events that define generations

[David Wilson]

My first thought is that there is a lengthy overlap between two generations before the older generation hands the baton definitively to the younger generation, whether we are talking about human beings, scuba divers or the equipment they use. The process is gradual, evolutionary, rarely revolutionary or marked by distinct cut-off points. As a lifelong snorkeller based in Western Europe, I also tend to see matters somewhat differently from the mainstream American scuba diving community. My markers of change are not the regulator or the dive computer but the switch in materials deployed to forge the basic equipment whose use I share with the rest of the world diving community. And that switch from natural materials to synthetics isn't universal if diving equipment manufacturing in first-world Japan is anything to go by.

When determining stages in the historical development of (scuba) diving (equipment), we need perhaps to factor in cultural and geographical factors as well as technological ones. What happens in the USA doesn't necessarily apply perfectly elsewhere; here in Europe, there are often subtle, nuanced but still important differences that challenge the notion that matters always change in lockstep around the world.

 

[Akimbo]

What happens in the USA doesn't necessarily apply perfectly elsewhere; here in Europe, there are often subtle, nuanced but still important differences that challenge the notion that matters always change in lockstep around the world.

I see European and US development more intertwined than most divers realize today. A great deal of the equipment was imported into the US from France and Italy well into the mid-1960s. Of course it continued long past that but not for the majority of equipment.

The US and Europe had similar costs of manufacturing at that time and the relative cost of shipping was much higher before widespread containerization. It started to make economic sense to move higher volume manufacturing closer to the consumers even though products were identical. Molded rubber goods being a prime example.

Several US-based conventions in single hose regulators that were adopted by early US manufacturers spread to Europe and are still standard today — the SAE J1926 (American Society of Automotive Engineers) straight thread boss connections used on single hose regulator first stages and the small port orifice on the HP port for example.

Spearfishing was the early driver of the sport in the Mediterranean and Southern California. I doubt the evolution of rubber powered pipe guns was independent-invention because they are too similar.

Quite a few of the early manufacturers in the US were spear-headed by Europeans.

• US Divers, now Aqua Lung, by René Bussoz
• Sportsways, now defunct, was a leading factor in single hose regulators and SPGs. Sam Lecocq was the chief engineer.
• ScubaPro, evolved from Healthways, co-founded by Gustav Dalla Valle.
• Nemrod, imported from Spain.

It is interesting that the Royal and US Navies were never significant drivers in the development of Scuba equipment even though they lead in diving physiology research.

 

[Still Kicking]

@Akimbo 'poke' received but not very high on my todo list. I was a fourth classman during that year, the lowest form of life on the local planet. I saw the Admiral hanging around the pool a few times during classes, and the upper classmen even talked to him, but if he had spoken to me I would probably have just had a cardiac arrest and ended up on the bottom of the pool. My entire survival strategy for that year was to keep my head down and never get noticed. Our classes in 1966 and 1967 were some combination of Navy underwater swimmer's school adapted from Florida to Maryland and whatever had to be added if anything for the YMCA to include our club in their certification program. I remember when they handed out the (U.S. Divers) catalog there were single hose regulators in it, but the very heavy emphasis from the leadership was that the tried and true regulators were double hose.

I am reading "Into Enemy Waters," which is based on the recollections of original NCDU member and D-Day veteran George Morgan and it focuses extensively on then-Lt Cdr Draper Kauffman's leadership. Highly recommended.

 

[RVBldr]

RE: Computers, as I recall, the US Divers Matrix came out sometime around '97 or so as one of the first reasonably priced dive computers for the masses.

 

[AsherN]

I've always thought of my self as 2nd generation. I was certified by LA County in 1970. Single 2nd stage, buddy breathing. No BC, separate vest, inflated orally, or by the scary CO2 cartridge, never tried it. No SPG, just the J-valve. Capillary depth gauge, watch, and Navy tables. What a blast it was to dive in Southern California and out at Catalina

I'm there. certified in 1979. I remember getting drilled on the order to don the gear. Vest, tank, weight belt. In that order because in an emergency, you jettison in the reverse order and you don't want your belt under your tank strap or your tank strap under your vest. Also oval single lens mask.

 

[tursiops]

The "theory of generations" is a well-developed scholarly field, with its own self-consistent rule-set. The dividing line between the generations is based on political/technological/cultural influences while you are growing up, especially during ages 10-20 when you are beginning to set your life approaches and patterns. Thus, although details vary depending on the scholar, we get patterns like this:

The demarcation lines since WWII roughly correspond to growing up with radio (Silent), versus TV (Boomer), then computers (X), then personal computers (Y), then smartphones/internet (Z), then AI (Alpha). Note that the length of a "generation": is getting shorter, corresponding to the world changing more quickly. A characteristic of a generation is that it tends to reject the mores and approaches of the previous generation.

The value of looking at the generational cohorts is to get some idea of changing attitudes and values. For example:

So, let's look at scuba generations.
What are the major political/technological/cultural inflections points? Not may political, some major technological, and perhaps a few cultural (doing things alone or in groups, for example).
The previous posts have identified some good/possible technological inflections points. The Cousteau-Gagnan regulator was surely the first one that has any major influence. Wetsuits, yes. TV/Silent World/Sea Hunt was clearly a major influence. BCD. Single-hose reg. SPG. Depth gauge. Dive computers. Maybe Nitrox.
I have a little trouble identifying any major changes in the last 20 years...

 

[lowwall]

The "theory of generations" is a well-developed scholarly field, with its own self-consistent rule-set. The dividing line between the generations is based on political/technological/cultural influences while you are growing up, especially during ages 10-20 when you are beginning to set your life approaches and patterns. Thus, although details vary depending on the scholar, we get patterns like this:...

"Generations" in any given field don't have to coincide with human demographic generations. For example, jet fighter aircraft are generally regarded as being on their 5th generation, see Jet fighter generations - Wikipedia

So, let's look at scuba generations.
What are the major political/technological/cultural inflections points? Not may political, some major technological, and perhaps a few cultural (doing things alone or in groups, for example).
The previous posts have identified some good/possible technological inflections points. The Cousteau-Gagnan regulator was surely the first one that has any major influence. Wetsuits, yes. TV/Silent World/Sea Hunt was clearly a major influence. BCD. Single-hose reg. SPG. Depth gauge. Dive computers. Maybe Nitrox.
I have a little trouble identifying any major changes in the last 20 years...

I agree with you that we've been stuck in a single generation for the past 20 years. Furthermore the only major equipment change from the previous generation was the near complete adoption of and reliance on dive computers. Secondary characteristics of the current generation are the acceptance and use of nitrox in recreational scuba, shorter OW courses that have mostly replaced the physical classroom with online learning, an increase in operator requirements for an AOW cert for may dives (perhaps driven by the results of the previous characteristic), and a convergence of training standards and gear configuration between technical training organizations.

 

[tursiops]

"Generations" in any given field don't have to coincide with human demographic generations. For example, jet fighter aircraft are generally regarded as being on their 5th generation, see Jet fighter generations - Wikipedia

This is a different use and meaning. We are not talking about the "generation" of the equipment (like a 3rd generation iPhone or your 5th generation jet fighter engine), but rather the people and their response to change. There is a timeline to the tedhnological/political/cultureal/socila change; how to the people respond to the changes on that timeline? Specifically, are there "cohorts" as seems to be the case with those that grew up with Silent World or Sea Hunt?

 

[lowwall]

This is a different use and meaning. We are not talking about the "generation" of the equipment (like a 3rd generation iPhone or your 5th generation jet fighter engine), but rather the people and their response to change. There is a timeline to the tedhnological/political/cultureal/socila change; how to the people respond to the changes on that timeline? Specifically, are there "cohorts" as seems to be the case with those that grew up with Silent World or Sea Hunt?

It is a different meaning, but I think it's closer to the reality of what we are trying to define. Scuba generations generally follow equipment changes rather than population demographics. The only things other than equipment changes which could be seen as generational markers are the two mass media exposures from Cousteau and Sea Hunt, and interest that came out of those cur across demographic generational lines.

Although on the world scale you could possibly argue for a new "Instagram" or "Selfie Stick" scuba generation that does follow Generation Alpha. This is characterized by young divers, mainly in Asia by the numbers, that are interested in collecting scuba as a one time or very occasional experience with an emphasis on documenting the dive for sharing across social media.

 

[scubadada]

...The previous posts have identified some good/possible technological inflections points. The Cousteau-Gagnan regulator was surely the first one that has any major influence. Wetsuits, yes. TV/Silent World/Sea Hunt was clearly a major influence. BCD. Single-hose reg. SPG. Depth gauge. Dive computers. Maybe Nitrox.
I have a little trouble identifying any major changes in the last 20 years...

The Avelo system