Tekna BCDs & Regis

[Green Frog]

When I first started accumulating a set of gear in the early ‘90s, I got a great deal on a demo model Tekna BCD. It was pretty “state of the art” at the time and I used it for nearly 20 years before I got my current Sherwood. It’s still usable and I got curious about the status of the company now, but all I could find was Tekna dive knives and lights. Did the rest of the company merge, change names, go belly up or...?
All I’m seeing now is eBay listings and the like.
Froggie

 

[Fibonacci]

I started diving with a Tekna 2100 reg and loved its innovative compact design and ease of breathing... arguably way ahead of its time.
I still have one of the original iconic skeletonised knives, widely copied.
Tekna knives and flashlights are valued by outdoor enthusiasts and scuba divers for their innovative designs and ruggedness. In 1990 Ray-o-Vac purchased Tekna and continued to produce these items.[18] Tekna flashlights and knives are now owned and produced by Tektite Industries.

Big fan of Tekna founder Ralph Osterhout, a prolific innovator and real-life 'Q'

Ralph Osterhout - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[2stroketony]

When I first started accumulating a set of gear in the early ‘90s, I got a great deal on a demo model Tekna BCD. It was pretty “state of the art” at the time and I used it for nearly 20 years before I got my current Sherwood. It’s still usable and I got curious about the status of the company now, but all I could find was Tekna dive knives and lights. Did the rest of the company merge, change names, go belly up or...?
All I’m seeing now is eBay listings and the like.
Froggie

hey froggie
Tekna went under sometime around 1993?????
Various companies bought portions of the company but there gone.
I have some parts if needed for your bc.
Let me know if you need any tekna 2100 regs or parts.
Tony

 

[Green Frog]

Thanks, 2ST. I’ve actually discontinued use of my Tekna BCD in favor of a decades newer Sherwood. The Tekna was getting pretty worn, especially the built-in rubber hangers inside to secure the belt. I was really just wondering what happened to the company since any of their products to which I’d been exposed were of good quality.
Regards,

 

[jadairiii]

Remember his first company was Farallon, and they made some really "state of the art" products for the time. I still use a Farallon snorkel for free diving. Spring straps for jet fins, the Fara-fin, all kinds of cool gages, and "decompression computer" that didnt work. And the DPV's were classic, and much copied.

My understanding is he sold Farallon to Oceanic and then started Tekna.

 

[2stroketony]

Thanks, 2ST. I’ve actually discontinued use of my Tekna BCD in favor of a decades newer Sherwood. The Tekna was getting pretty worn, especially the built-in rubber hangers inside to secure the belt. I was really just wondering what happened to the company since any of their products to which I’d been exposed were of good quality.
Regards,

Froggie
Ralph and Bob Hollis were buddies. The 2100 reg and the oceanic omega reg had similarities because the story goes that Ralph and Bob designed them together in their garage in San Leandro. Ralph went with a whisker or pilot valve and Bob went with a flap sort of valve both main valves shared identical diaphram.
I think themain reason tekna folded was a result of a lawsuit against them. I saw a copy of the suit one time and it concerned a plastic 2100.
Bob is retired and spends a lot of time in the Pacific and Ralph is retired in Sonoma or Napa valley, California.

 

[Green Frog]

Thanks again to those who replied. I’m a “vintage gear guy” partly because I started buying gear in the ‘90s and haven’t been diving since pre-Covid, and partly because I’m too cheap to buy new gear when what I’ve got still works well. My Tekna BCD always got the jon done for me, but it was getting pretty worn and I got a screaming deal on a new Sherwood sooo…

I asked about the Tekna because although I had worn mine out and replaced it with a new Sherwood, it seemed like Tekna made good gear and I wondered what happened to them.

Froggie