Anyone remember yellow assent balls???

[sasscuba]

You could make your own and weight them so they would ascend slower.

Not really the point. Just wanted to see if people remembered them. Remember following small bubbles to the surface are free..

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Not really the point. Just wanted to see if people remembered them. Remember following small bubbles to the surface are free..

OK...No then sorry I don't remember them.

 

[Jason Ooi]

Thanks

I don't have a pic, but this article has a pretty decent description of those and other items. A pretty entertaining read: Weird Gear

 

[Rick Murchison]

wanted to see if anyone else seen them or heard of them

Yep...
An interesting idea that didn't work very well. Here's one variant (not the ones I've seen, which were just released and followed; just dawned on me that I don't remember them being yellow, but then I don't remember 'em being any other color in particular either - if you'd asked me I'd have probably said white)
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United States Patent # 5308272
A non-mechanical ascent rate indicator for use in saltwater scuba diving. A high density sphere attached by means of a ball chain tether to the gauge, or hose, of a scuba diver has a free rate of ascent of less than 60 feet/minute, the difference in this rate and that of the diver will be shown by the amount to free loop in the tether as it is observed on a horizontal plane even to the diver's eyes. A safe ascent rate will provide a loop of approximately 1 to 11/2 inch.
---
Rick

 

[DA Aquamaster]

They were called "Dive Bubbles" and consisted of a holder with 3 yellow balls in it. I always wanted some too but at the time 90% of my diving was in a river with a very stiff current so they just were not practical.

The link is pretty cool. They mention the At-Ppac and I used to dive with and still own one. It was a weight integrated back mounted BC and essentially was the precursur to todays BP/wing. It was well ahead of it's time and had a couple of the minor details been right, it would have lasted longer than it did. As it was the LP inflatior hose was in side the corrogated hose and the inlet assembly for it also incorporated a small and inadequate overpressure relief valve for the 40 lb wing. A really our of control ascent was pretty much guarenteed to rupture the wing from over pressure. The weight system consisted of lead balls about 1/4" in diameter that were carried in the hollow backplate. They were dropped via astainless steel hinged gate at the bottom operated by a pull pin arrangement. It worked well when it worked and it did not work anytime the large lead shot bridged and formed an arch over the open gate - which was basically anytime it had had a chance to settle. If you needed less than a full load of lead shot, you filled the remaning space with marbles, although you needed to load them in on top of the lead as the larger marbles bridged even more effectively than the shot.

The At-Pac also had a fairing designed to go over the wing and tank and was considered very cool at the time. I think I used mine once, as it may have been cool but was not horribly practical.

 

[CompuDude]

I remember them. They were kind of useless if there was any current. The norm was also to pick out the smallest bubble and keep it stationary in front of your mask as you ascended. I don't know of anyone who would have a picture of one but it was basically a colored ping pong ball.

That's what I was taught, too. Always loved that method. Now I use a computer that screams at me if I start moving too fast. Does anyone know what speed those little bubbles rise at? I was trained at the 60fpm speed, using the bubble technique, so I wonder if they rise closer to the no-longer-considered-safe 60fpm than the currently-recommended 30fpm?

 

[sasscuba]

I have always surfaced much slower than the smallest bubble....never know what you can see that last few minutes.

 

[Tom Winters]

I remember reading about them in Skin Diver. They seemed like a useless gimmick - waaaay too easy to lose so they gave you three of them to begin with. Who needed them when you could just follow your smallest bubble on up to the surface after you pulled your J-valve?
I never saw one in use or knew anyone who bought them..

 

[markbruscke]

I found a set on e-bay and bought it. Contact me if you are interested. (bruscke@abax.com) Mark

 

[Walter]

They came in two colors (I don't remember the other color), one for salt water, the other for fresh.