Mystery Scubapro buckle, can you identify?????

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1969ivan1

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I came across this weird church key style scubapro buckle. Does anyone know what the story is on this one or have they ever seen it before?????

scubapro buckle2.JPG
 
In a post at another dive forum:
Scubapro Buckle [Archive] - The Dive Forum

I found this answer by "BTS"

"This is what ScubaPro say;

Regarding your question, we can explain you the cutout on the weight belt buckle.

Long time ago, divers were using no BC's, they were using horse collar BC around the neck.
The tanks had shoulder straps and a crotch strap between the legs to prevent the tank from getting off when the diver has a head-down position.
The buckle of the crotch strap hooked in the weight belt buckle. In case of emergency, the diver releases both crotch strap and weight belt."


It does not make sense as it seems to be 90 degrees out of position for that utility. Have you tried to open a bottle with it?

Some manufactures put a feature on a weight belt buckle to differentiate it from a harness buckle for tactile identification purposes.

It also looks pretty modern.
 
Pretty cool. Maybe it was pre vulgar-flip-top-cans.
 
Some manufactures put a feature on a weight belt buckle to differentiate it from a harness buckle for tactile identification purposes.
Here is a clip from the 1980 catalog.
SP buckles 1980.PNG
 
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I came across this weird church key style scubapro buckle. Does anyone know what the story is on this one or have they ever seen it before?????

View attachment 569050
That particular buckle is not now on The Scuba Museum's website. But it is not meant for the crotch strap. The small fitting you see on the quick release is probably meeting up with a metal rod to help insure the security of the buckle. Some divers inadvertently flipped the handle and lost their weights at depth or while snorkeling while trying to remove a fish from a spear and get it onto a holding line. This small addition held the weight belt more securely.

Concerning the buckle for hooking the crotch strap, that was a very different LaSpiro buckle, that The Scuba Museum actually has on sale right now.
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There is a small hook that goes on the crotch strap to hook it into the weight belt. The Cousteau dive teams used this exclusively, and did not use a waist strap on their Aqualungs.

SeaRat
 
Here's a photo of me in a scuba configuration, with twin 45 tanks, an Overpressure Breathing regulator, and the weight belt with the La Spirotechnique buckle and the crotch strap hooked into the weight belt buckle some years ago at High Rocks on the Clackamas River. This configuration works very well, and as you can see is very streamlined.

SeaRat
 

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Really? Only one other alcoholic out there. That's so obviously a bottle opener.
Well hopefully I'm not an alcoholic, but I do enjoy a bottle of liquid decompression after a long day of diving, sunshine, and boat trip back to shore.
 
From the tongue in cheek department

While I appreciate the dual modes of a weight belt buckle / bottle opener, its use while in the water may result in an inability to maintain neutral buoyancy or an uncontrolled ascent from the depths. For those reasons, I prefer the Mares Tris knife, with the bottle opener.

vintage-amf-mares-tris-diving-scuba_1_bdcbac19e5cb048d0c3364974430fed8.jpg


Simple to use above or below the waves [although the brew be a bit flat below 40'] there will be no loss of buoyancy beyond that which may occur through impaired judgment.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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