1956 DivAir (Model F) Rebuild

[abnfrog]

actually i do , a guy from texas came up to see me in the 80s said he had an old dble hose would i like to buy it ,(he bought it from surf and dive he told me ) yes says me does it work yes he says i dove it 3 weeks ago ...so i buy it i think i paid 50 bucks for it , sam i have alot of real rare items in my collection even the first real digital dive computer called a cyber diver (they only made 200) mostly for the military , mine even works still ....... it was red digital the same as the first pocket calculator made by texas instruments !

 

[Sam Miller III]

@AfterDark

Stated

"Sam Miller III I have no doubt you are correct, I've only seen the Divair regs in pictures. My interest in diving began in 1959-60 or whenever it was I saw my 1st Sea Hunt program. From that time on I'd examine every piece of gear I spotted, most were USD double hose regs. If I had seen a DivAir I might not have known what it was but I think I would have remembered. To see a diver anywhere in the 1960's around where I lived was an event!

There was a sporting goods wholesaler in the city I used to bicycle to when Mom wasn't looking and walk around his store ogling the dive gear until the owner threw me out! Little PITA I was! "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank You ! Your response is..... 'Very Interesting...'

Your experiences provide as a youth from the east coast validity to my study and program on the migration of recreational diving from the west coast of SoCal to the hinterlands to the very east coast via American Retailers

The catalyst for this interest and migration as I analyzed the event was as follows
!) Skin Diver Magazine = 1951
~~~five years later ~~
2) American retailers
a) Sears 1956
b) Wards 1957
c) Pennys 1971
<<< It is also noted all the retailers offered diving instruction books - So there was dive instruction >>>>
My study was based on migration via the retailers catalogs

A major contributor to the developing interest in recreational diving was of course Sea Hunt, which also appeared seven years after SDM on the B&W TV screens in 1958 and continues to 1961 with 150 plus action packed episodes. This series was one of the most popular TV programs of the era and do doubt had a significant impact on recreational diving. I am positive youngsters through out America were glued to their TVs every week for another exciting adventure...
It was aired only in the winter months
~~~~~~ BUT ~~~~~~~~~~~
All the major US retailers catalogs that featured diving equipment were only issued several months later in the spring or summer editions --- so the interest and enthusiasm was created a market was readily in place but no product until several months later...

And that the was is WUZZ in the days of our dives

Thanks for your interest and response

Samuel Miller, 111
LA Co UW instructor # 11
NAUI instructor A- 27
PADI Instructor # 241
etc etc

cc
@Scuba Lawyer
@abnfrog

.............CE Marie 13

@tursiops -- i suspect he has 25000 words of advice
and good ole @Rose Robinson i suspect she has as many words

 

[tursiops]

@tursiops -- i suspect he has 25000 words of advice

Nope. My knowledge of S.Cal diving history comes from working and socializing for a few years with Hugh Bradner when we were both at a NATO lab in Italy. So it is all hearsay.
I don't remember what the brand of DH reg it was that we learned on in college in the early 60s, but it was not the DivAir.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Deleted

 

[SurfLung]

Wow! I just saw this thread this morning and immediately had questions about where you got the hoses and how the reserve works... But then all I had to do was READ YOUR POST! Kidding aside... Really a beautiful restoration. Thanks for sharing the description and photos. I'd only seen the Divair in photos and movies (that one with Lon Chaney is one). But in the last couple of years, I was treated to an in person view of SwimJim Bach's Divair... Which he dives frequently on our dive trips to Fortune Pond. Like you, SwimJim is impressed with the Divair design.

When my Dad started diving in Northern Minnesota back in 1961, he mail ordered a Voit single hose 40 Fathom regulator. Then a young guy in town opened a one room dive shop and sold Sportsways single hose regulators... So that's the regulator my brother and I got to use ( I stuck a Sportways Decal on my baby sister's crib).

I only saw double hose regs on Sea Hunt and Cousteau until I graduated from High School in '72... My Dad gave me a used DA Aquamaster that I thought was a Royal because it had the little crown sticker on it. Dove it a bit but building a family and business got in the way of diving for several years. I had no idea of so many different double hose regs until I got into Vintage in 2011. VERY satisfying to learn the history and various mechanisms.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Wow! I just saw this thread this morning and immediately had questions about where you got the hoses and how the reserve works... But then all I had to do was READ YOUR POST! Kidding aside... Really a beautiful restoration. Thanks for sharing the description and photos. I'd only seen the Divair in photos and movies (that one with Lon Chaney is one). But in the last couple of years, I was treated to an in person view of SwimJim Bach's Divair... Which he dives frequently on our dive trips to Fortune Pond. Like you, SwimJim is impressed with the Divair design.

When my Dad started diving in Northern Minnesota back in 1961, he mail ordered a Voit single hose 40 Fathom regulator. Then a young guy in town opened a one room dive shop and sold Sportsways single hose regulators... So that's the regulator my brother and I got to use ( I stuck a Sportways Decal on my baby sister's crib).

I only saw double hose regs on Sea Hunt and Cousteau until I graduated from High School in '72... My Dad gave me a used DA Aquamaster that I thought was a Royal because it had the little crown sticker on it. Dove it a bit but building a family and business got in the way of diving for several years. I had no idea of so many different double hose regs until I got into Vintage in 2011. VERY satisfying to learn the history and various mechanisms.

Thanks for the kind words Eben!

Your West Coast dive buddy,

Mark

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Not questioning your work in the least, but are those screw on hose clamps reliable and safe?

I have been diving Healthways Scuba regulators since I started diving in 1959, just after the DivAir, and the Healthways original Scuba regulator had those stainless steel screw-on hose clamps on both ends of the hose, and a Hope-Page Mouthpiece. They are much more reliable than later plastic clamps, and had the advantage over Tinnerman clamps in their ease-of-use. But, they were more expensive, and so later models of almost all double hose regulators went to plastic hose clamps. They were at least as safe as newer clamps, and probably safer and more reliable.

Mark,

Your DivAir looks glorious. I have a book in my library which shows a DivAir in use, and I'll look it up soon.

SeaRat