Anybody ever dive one of these???

[Mike Robertson]

Greetings! I don't know if this is the appropriate place for this thread being that this is an antique piece of gear but.....

I figured the old far....er..more experienced divers like me.....would get a kick out of this picture from my early diving days. Can you identifty It?

Mike

 

[The Kraken]

Never dived one, but I saw a fellow diving one a long time ago.

If memory serves me correctly, I think his last name was "Flintstone".

the K

 

[Sam Miller III]

It was made in the very early 1970s by US Divers aka Aqua Lung. It was made to correct the problem of a injured diver face being submerged in water.

Had a mulitude of problems. Never well recieved by the diving public was removed after one year. It was and is considered a very poor design--Aka JUNK!

The engineer who designed it was let go or resigned US Divers and returned to Texas.

Need More?

SDM

 

[Nemrod]

Some of the industry once upon a time confused a BC with a life jacket, most still do hence all of the vest shaped, padded, fluffed up products we see to this day in this catagory. N

 

[Mike Robertson]

Hey Kraken - !!! Good One. I was there, too.

Nemrod - I know, I can't stand the vest/jacket style and would rather use no BC rather than one of those.

Sam- :11: Aw c'mon now don't hold back, tell us how you really feel. Actually, I apologize for stirring what must be horrible memories of a reallllly bad experience with one of these comps. I hope you accept this apology. I had one that I bought brand new in late '78 and dove it for nearly 15 years with no problems whatsoever. I loved this rig and would buy another one today if the price were right and it was in decent condition. I think that the vest / jacket style BC's coming out around the same time had more to do with it's demise than design. By the way, I let 3 other friends of mine use this rig pictured when they were buying gear and all 3 of them bought this BC style. Maybe I like it because 90% of my diving was done in Texas.

Thanks for your replies guys, positive or negative they are welcome!

Mike

 

[Sam Miller III]

I respect the knowledge and opinions of Krakken and Nemrod both who are long term associates and considered electronic diving friends.

At the time it was produced I was the contract instructor for US Divers. I was also was an equipment evaluation consultant for US Divers during that time period. So I some what have a valid opinion based on my knowledge and experience which was certainly above that of a neophite diver or even a diving shop owner of that era

It had and has a mulitude of problems, but certainly happy that you liked it.

I have a brand new one do not recall it ever being used. You apparently are interested in another one;therefore What is your realistic bid?

SDM

 

[Mike Robertson]

I am truly curious what you consider to be it's problems, are they "safety" related or "convenience" related. As I said, I used one for many years until I was forced to sell my gear and had NO problems with it. One caveat - it took me about 4 dives to get it set up right and get comfortable with it but after that, I LOVED IT. I will PM you regarding the purchase as I don't feel that is something that needs to be discussed here. I am interested in owning another. I guess I am just into vintage gear......

Mike

 

[Stu S.]

I had one very similar. An interesting feature was the fill and dump control was on one handle. There is a similar thing on some Sea Quest BC's today.

 

[JEScholz]

Looks newer than the horse collar I started with. I see that one of the manufacturers is bringing the horse collar back with a small tank and a short hose reg. as a "quick response" rig.

 

[Nemrod]

The horsecollar has never actually gone away. A number of companies still make them including SeaTec.

That picture in the OP looks kinda cool actually--though bizzare it may be. Imagine that integrated into a Hawiian type hoop frame pack. You have to remember that in the beginning we did not use a BC and so early on the BC was mostly thought of as a crutch for beginners who could not weight themselves correctly or for those heavy 1/4 inch sharkskin suits and it was thought to be a lifejacket. The introduction of the BC more than anything else brought in the masses of people to diving who were not Mike Nelsons or water people or old time divers like Sam Miller.

N

BTW, SM has forgotten more than most of us will ever know about diving. He is a very nice gentleman as well.