Why do you dive .... vintage?

[7millimeter]

Greetings,

There was a post on another part of the board recently asking for people to comment on why they dive. There were some interesting replies.

I thought I'd take that thread and apply it specifically to the smaller community of divers on the board that make an effort to use vintage gear. I'm interested in the old stuff; I'm not asking anyone to defend their use of antique technology!

 

[captain]

For me it was the equiptment I learned with many years ago. I had put it aside many years ago. About three years ago I found that there were divers who were interested in using the old gear and it rekindled my interest in using it.

 

[Nemrod]

I dive vintage gear for one because I learned with double hose regulators. I was a 12yo or such in my first class and the instructor had several double hose regulators. He specifically stated that single hose regulators were for beginners, children and women. He was and still is an inspiration to me, a real Mike Nelson sort.
I like the simplicity, the anti-tech, anti-plastic. I also like the performance and streamlining. The ultimate vintage diving is done with no BC. The feeling of flying through the water and swimming 3 dimesionally cannot be achieved with modern gear.
Sure, there are times when modern gear has it's uses but I never feel at one with the underwater world like I do when diving vintage. Vintage is not just about regulators, it is a philosophy, a simplier and more self reliant, non equipment dependent style of diving. Over and over you hear on scubaboard how scuba equipment is "life support" equipment and so mysterious that mere mortals should never delve into it. Yep, that says it all concerning the different philosophy, vintage gear is life support equipment but that is not how I think of it. Rather than supporting me--force fitting me-- into a hostile world vintage gear instead allows me to become one with that world, to become part of it. N

 

[Luis H]

I like and agree with what Nemrod just wrote.

Personally for my every day dives I pick what I consider the best equipment of any era. I always liked my double hose; I did use a BC and pressure gauge in the early 70’s.

In general I like to keep it simple and streamlined. I use my double hose (Royal AM with a SPG and LP hookah port adapter), a simple BC, and weights on a weight belt (so I am independently neutral without my tank).



A point of correction: the term “antique technology” is basically incorrect if you are referring to regulators. Aside from the geometry difference from a single hose to a double hose regulator, the mechanism inside the regulator has not change much in the last 35 years (I have been repairing regulators since 1971). As a matter of fact, the mechanism in today’s Aqua Lung Titan, Conshelf, and Legend is basically the same as (and many of the parts are interchangeable) with the Royal Aqua Master. The Conshelf itself has been around unchanged for over 35 years.

In the case of vintage single hose regulator the only major change to most modern regulators is the use of plastic for the second stage housing. The mechanism of my early 1970’s Scubapro Mk-5 is basically the same as many of today’s regulator.

 

[justleesa]

hmmmm why? Because it's here....lol

My husband is a vintage scuba equipment collector. I could dive vintage every day of the month and not use the same set up twice...I like doing something different, I like that the bubbles are behind me, I like wearing less gear..I like sharing the joy of something with my husband

 

[DiverBuoy]

It reminds me of James Bond picking up a child's potato spud shooter to knock a helicopter out of the sky. Since the weapon clearly is not ideal, no one questions the skill.

Clearly a simplier design, like a vintage car without computerization which is considered by many to be easier and often cheaper to work on, has merit.

There is the added factor that on a boat full of noobs you can draw a lot of attention to yourself donned in vintage gear. Comments like "man that guy must have taught Jaques himself" or "look at that old salty has been to D.J.'s Locker and back more than once". This spotlight may appeal to a few. By the same token millions of people today either don't care how they look or care even less how others perceive them. A few also hold to the idea that change is bad, prefer simplier times, and in a few cases cling to some false and erroneous notions and ideas.

Somewhere nestled in the middle of these crossroads is the home of the vintage scuba equipment wearer.

-my $.02 worth.

 

[7millimeter]

A point of correction: the term “antique technology” is basically incorrect if you are referring to regulators.

Point taken, thank you! By all means, my question is out of curiosity and a general interest in vintage gear and is not meant to disparage.

Thanks for you comments, folks. I hope that more will be added to the thread.

 

[SwimJim]

I dive my vintage gear because it takes me back. I did not start out with double hose regs, but the inspiration came from the adventures of Jaques Coustou, Seahunt, Thunderball and others. When I was little I would basicly freedive off my inner tube to a great depth of perhaps ten feet down to the rocks in Lake Michigan, all the while dreaming about scuba and using the equipment of the day. That mean't double hose regs and steel 72's. Now that I'm, uh hum, a few years older and can afford to do it, I indulge in collecting a few of these old regs and I dive them. I think its really something how they perform as I had imagined all those years ago. I could imagine, even as a kid in the early sixties subtle things like the slight give from the accordian hoses on the the regs. The very slight delay in the on rush off the air that begins the breathing cycle and the sound and rush of the bubbles behind your head on the exhale. Just a totally differnt experience the my Xstreams or even my old Olyimpics. There just something special about this equipment thats intangable and a lot of people just don't get. Thats okay by me. I rather enjoy being a little differnt anyway. I guess I was just mean't to be an old two hoser. Ha.

jim

 

[David Wilson]

Some of the reasons given for diving with vintage gear certainly resonate with me. In the early 1960s, I taught myself to snorkel in a public swimming pool, when the use of fins, snorkel and mask wasn't considered a "health and safety issue" or a potential risk to other pool users. I learned to dive in a university sub-aqua club in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s I went on annual trips to Mediterranean resorts where I could do some leisurely snorkelling, using the same full-foot fins, mask and snorkel I had purchased as a student. I've never felt the need to buy into the new dive technologies of plastic fins and silicone masks. Plastic fins in the 1960s mangled the feet and were for people who couldn't afford rubber fins. Silicone masks were overpriced eyewear for people with allergies. Over the years, I've bought new rubber fins, masks and snorkels because they are tried and tested gear well suited to the leisurely snorkelling I prefer. Such gear remains both readily available and also cheaper than the plastic and silicone gear purporting to replace it. So in my case, I don't pursue "vintage" but "classic" snorkelling. I'm not a purist about using 1960s gear, I in fact prefer modern replicas, because they're not dried out or perished. I remember in the early days of microcomputing a TV pundit saying that although he loved his word processing software, he still preferred his fountain pen when the occasion required it. I know what he meant. We all need some artefacts around us that don't change because they don't need to change. For me, that's my underwater swimming equipment. And nobody can persuade me otherwise!

 

[7millimeter]

Many interesting replies, thanks!

I'd like to add a bit to my original question. Do you dive your vintage (or "classic," as per Mr. Wilson) gear all or most of the time? Does anyone dive non-vintage most of the time and then don the black rubber stuff on occasion?