...1960 was a good year but the US Diver SPG had been in their inventory for at least two years
US diver SPG first appeared in the 1958 US Diver's Catalog on page 5 as part number 7002 "See Sea Underwater Pressure Gauge" price $19.95...
Ahh, I see the error of my ways... at least partially.
The 1961 US Divers catalog, which I drooled over as a 10 year old, didn't have an SPG. The SPG listed in the 1962 catalog was the first I could find from US Divers that screwed into a HP port on the first stage of a single hose.
However, I did find an SPG that screwed into the proprietary plug on the J (reserve) valve listed from in US Divers catalogs from 1957-1960, which I hadn't seen until downloading them from the Vintage Double Hose site. Check the middle of Page 8 of the 1957 catalog under: UNDERWATER PRESSURE GAUGES
It looks like Sam Lecocq, founder of Sportsways, got the jump on US Divers by introducing an SPG that screwed into the first stage of a single hose regulator. Do you know how early Sportsways introduced this style of SPG? I don't have any older catalogs.
Another question, was Sportsways the first to introduce HP ports on the first stage? I couldn't see any plugs on the US Divers Calypso in their 1960 catalog, but their less expensive "Aqua-Div" looks like it has a port... but it could be an LP??? In any case, they didn't sell a gauge for it if it was HP. Weird.
I have a vague, and probably wrong, recollection that one of the mine safety/firefighting equipment companies like Scott or Northill had gauges on the rigs they converted to use underwater. Could it be one of them?
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