LeadTurn_SD
Contributor
Everything taken from early diving has to be seen in the context that most divers had previous skin diving experience. Every vintage training book I have is filled with skin diving information. From that perspective, things like J valves and even K valves without spg's weren't the boogeyman they are today.
Yes.
At least that was my experience as a teenager growing up in Hawaii. In the 1970's a group of us were "skin divers" first (spear fishing), then transitioned to scuba.
Most of us did use K valves and SPG's. I used a J-valve 1st stage (US Divers Calypso "J") along with an SPG, so I was the "high tech" diver in our group.
Depths generally were fairly shallow, 30 - 50' was common... but not always. We did dive deeper on occasion, sometimes much deeper. Combine excess testosterone and thrill-seeking behavior, the invincibility of youth, free diving experience, and even with our single steel '72's significant depths could be reached (very briefly) followed by brief deco following US Navy Tables, using a couple tanks we suspended from an inner tube to complete our deco time if needed... today's "tech" divers would cringe. Heck, I cringe thinking back on it, although it was not as "bad" as it sounds... well ok, maybe it was as bad as it sounds.
Best wishes.
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