Regulator and Tank Valve Terminology

[BoltSnap]

From Sherwood SCUBA :

Sherwood Valves are the most used valves in diving. Sherwood Valves can be found on cylinders on every continent. The critical link between your regulator and tank, our patented Sherwood valve was designed specifically to handle today’s high-performance regulators. Sherwood valves are available in both Pro Valve (DIN/K) and K Valve.

OMG, OMG, OMG Sherwood got it wrong?????

 

[CRT2]

OMG, OMG, OMG Sherwood got it wrong?????

Yep, as did XS SCUBA; however, Thermo valves list K, Pro, J and DIN.

 

[Wallowa]

Good grief! The word pedantic just about covers it [did not know that word was used in Texas.. .]

Seriously everybody has one....an opinion....even the "experts"....at least in 1955 the USD catalog did originally simply refer to a non-reserve valve post in a single steel tank and a reserve valve in a single steel tank [72s].... commonly called then a "K" valve = non-reserve.....while the "J" valve = reserve valve.....yes, a reserve....it usually held back bottle pressure of 300-500 psi in reserve until the "J" valve was pulled down or pushed up to access that last 300-500 psi in the tank [you could configure the J-rod to open/access the reserved air by pulling, most common, or pushing the rod up]....why? Cuz kelp/etc. could accidentally pull the J-rod down and you would not have the reserve gas you were counting on....counting on? Yup, we dived with two-hose regs [DA] and when the breathing got hard [without pulling J valve you ran out of gas] we knew we were near the last available air unless we pulled the J-valve...normally for our ascent...no SPGs then...pre-gadget old school dive planning.....obviously all this was using yoke attachment for regs to valves and no "DIN"s in use.

How do I know the above? Because I first started diving in 1955 and we routinely dived deep, got hard to breath [DA reg], pull J rod and ascend....extra 300-500 psi plus less hydrostatic pressure on ascent and breathing got easier...all good and nobody died.. Contrary to the next WAG I can foresee...in all these years, I still use J valves, I have never know of or had a J valve fail...

Why all the bloviating about such a topic escapes me. Interested in diving history? Good. But to simply lambast the OP or anyone to prove them inaccurate seems to becoming the norm and only diminishes the value of the information exchange.

Ps... Interestlly some old two hose regs had built in "J" valve type reserves which also required pulling to activate...

 

[BoltSnap]

.extra 300-500 psi

It isn't "extra," it is "remaining." They didn't come from somewhere magical outside the system, they are what remained from the initial air you started with but was "locked up."

 

[Wallowa]

It isn't "extra," it is "remaining." They didn't come from somewhere magical outside the system, they are what remained from the initial air you started with but was "locked up."

Thanks for the correction....much needed...... my grievous error ....semantics count.....re-read my last paragraph #23.....

 

[BoltSnap]

Thanks for the correction....much needed...... my grievous error ....semantics count.....re-read my last paragraph #23.....

Stop the BS and misleading sarcasm. Accuracy and use of proper terms are essential in this context.

BTW, MANY people got hurt, or even worse, because the J valve was either in the wrong position at the beginning of the dive or because it was turned into the no-reserve position when the diver bumped into a rock or part of a wreck. Again, stop the BS and passing erroneous information.

 

[lowwall]

Widespread usage does not make something right. A photocopy is not necessarily a Xerox, a facial tissue is not necessarily a Kleenex, a parking apron or ramp at a large commercial airport is almost never likely to be Tarmac. See also the widespread use of the term "clip" when one is really referring to a magazine.

Actually, widespread usage does make it right. That's how language works. A surprisingly percentage of our words have shifted in spelling, pronunciation, and meaning since they entered the lexicon.

Even if you are only referring to the specific situation of trademarked terms, you are incorrect. A large number of formerly trademarked terms have lost that status due to widespread usage. Some examples include dry ice, flip phone, heroin, aspirin (in the USA), hoover (in the UK).

But that only comes into play if the term was actually trademarked. I just did a search on the USPTO trademark search site. Neither "K valve" nor "J valve" have ever been trademarked as standalone terms in the USA. The terms were never an official name of US Divers or Aqua Lung products. Instead they were created by divers as a shorthand way to refer to non-reserve and reserve single valves based on the AL catalog lettering.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Actually, widespread usage does make it right. That's how language works. A surprisingly percentage of our words have shifted in spelling, pronunciation, and meaning since they entered the lexicon.

Hold on now!

Did your mother never explain to you that just because all your friends go jump off a bridge into the water, it doesn't mean you should too?


Wait a minute ...




Probably the wrong group to ask that of.

Hell, just look at your damned profile pic !!

 

[lowwall]

Probably the wrong group to ask that of.

Hell, just look at your damned profile pic !!

That's my son testing out his first (sailing) drysuit in Lake Michigan.

 

[happy-diver]

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and fill your J Valves with the lever down