Aqualung Conshelf VI and vintage rig questions

[Nemrod]

I think there's 2 dynamics here:

1. Apparently the "vintage" era is deemed to have ended around 1975. So, *if* vintage diving is using equipment from that "era", then SPGs and Stab Jackets would be perfectly appropriate. SPGs were clearly in use way before then -- tapped into the plug in the tank valve, even on the 1/2" tapered valve K valve tank I used. My single hose Conshelf XI had 2 LP ports and I had an octopus on that even back then.

2. On the other hand, if "vintage" diving is more of a mindset that values the simplicity, self-reliance and training of that era, then that's fine too.

Number two is closer to it and as well, I think the Aqua Master ceased production in --what--73? While Nemrod carried on with their double hose until 98 it was the cessation of the Aqua Master that is the end bracket of the era for many vintage era enthusiast.

I agree with you Mr. Bill Brain on the spg, the Sportsways Sea Vue and banjo adapter have been around since the very early 60s. Hey, y'all are the collectors, not me, so my dates could be off a year or two this way or that on the Sportways Sea Vue. Mr. Sportways himself was at the Legends dive in Ohio a few summers ago and he was amazing to talk to, yeah, I would go with the Sea Vue being vintage compliant.

Hey, the PadI scuba police may be a joke but there really are vintage scuba police and you don't want to mess with him. I ran afoul of him once and got a darn near hose slicing. Since then I toe the line. Hoses are expensive and I don't want him slicing up my new green hoses, no way . He is a bad hombre .

N

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Bill,

There is no cut-and-dried method of saying what is "vintage" and what is not. What I'm trying to show is the evolution of diving techniques, from the "vintage" era in the 1950s and 1960 (through about the mid-1970s). This technique was using basic gear: mask; fins; snorkel (sometimes); and an aqualung (scuba) consisting of a regulator, tank and harness. Added to this was a diving suit, usually a wet suit, which also evolved, with a weight belt to sink us. We weighted ourselves for the depth that we went to, and struggled down to that depth positively buoyant. Here is a photo which illustrates that technique:

You can see, I'm just the correct buoyancy in about 1973 for this dive.

Early in my diving, in high school in the 1960s, I dove my first single hose regulator as a single hose. It was a Healthways Scuba Star:

In 1967, I went through the US Navy School for Underwater Swimmers, and here it was pure "vntage" diving: mask, fins, (no snorkel), Aqualung (yes, the real deal, USD twin 90 aluminum tanks and a DA Aquamaster regulator), swimsuit, and US Navy vest (for surface lifesaving), and a dive watch.

Getting ready for a harbor, black-water dive. We used the J-reserve and no SPG. We got good results by knowing our air consumption rate, depth, and planned for no-decompression. We also used a wrist compass, and swam in buddy teams hooked together with a buddy line. If we surfaced away from our buddy, we were given a "buddy line" to carry everywhere for the next 24 hours--only this buddy line was six inches thick, and ten feet long, weighing in excess of 60 pounds.

My equipment continued to evolve, and I got a dry suit because in Clear Lake (Oregon Cascade Mountains) I froze in a wet suit after about 45 minutes. Here's that photo:

Note that I'm also now using a SPG with my system. The dry suit is an Aquala, to which I added a power inflator. It is worn over the farmer John bottoms of a wet suit, with a wool sweater over that, and a wool hood (stocking cap which converted into a hood).

A dive shop owner, Bill Herder of Deep Sea Bill's in Newport, Oregon (where I did a lot of diving in the 1970s) decided to experiment with a better system. He had decried the "push button divers" who were using power inflators with very awkward BC systems, so he decided to design his own. He decided to do something better, by designing a BC system into the back of the wet suits he built (he was a LDS which custom built wet suits for the local divers). I took his invention and demonstrated it at the Sixth International Conference on Underwater Education, sponsored by NAUI (IQ6) October 4-6, 1974. During that pool demonstration, which was attended by manufacturing reps, and I think by Scubapro (see the photo below), I demonstrated both the inverted "U" built into my wet suit by Bill, and a BC vest built of wet suit materials (1/8 inch skin inside foam neoprene, which was sealed with black seam tape). Here is a photo of that demonstration:

What I am saying is that the advances in BCs, "push-button diving" if you will, marks the end of the "vintage" era. With it, and the SPG, came a completely different style of diving, one more dependent upon the dive equipment. SPGs evolved into "counsels" which numerous gauges on them, instead of on the diver's wrists. Techniques were modified, swimming was reduced and divers ascended and descended more like submarines than like swimming divers. Water skill sets were de-emphasized,and "anyone can dive" became the industry norm. This gets us into the modern era, where divers are now completely dependent upon their equipment to dive. Water skills are minimal for basic scuba; fitness in also de-emphasized.

I'm not saying that this is all bad, just very different from vintage diving.

John

 

[halocline]

Hey John, is Clear lake the one that's near the pass not far from Sisters Or? I think I've heard of it and since my sister lives in sisters (it makes it easy to remember!) I'm hoping to dive there some day. I was thinking it might be a good place to try drysuit diving.

 

[Nemrod]

Vintage Sea Vue:

N

 

[vshearer]

John, I love the chick with the beehive hairdo. That is real vintage.

Great post.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Hey John, is Clear lake the one that's near the pass not far from Sisters Or? I think I've heard of it and since my sister lives in sisters (it makes it easy to remember!) I'm hoping to dive there some day. I was thinking it might be a good place to try drysuit diving.

Mattboy,

Yes, this Clear Lake (there are a lot of them) is located just west of the junction of the McKenzie and South Santiam Highways (Highways 126 and 20, on Hwy 126). This Clear Lake is the headwaters of the McKenzie River, which flows west through Eugene. Here as a Google Maps Satellite View of Clear Lake:

Here is another diving photo I took at Clear Lake. By the way, I've got to credit Bruce Higgins for the photos of me in the post above. I'll go back and do that.

It is definitely a place for either a very good, cold water wet suit or a dry suit. Year round temperatures only vary from between 38 to 42 degrees. But in the upper regions of the lake (it's divided into two sections, and the upper one is where the springs are), the visibilities can get to 200 feet.

Closer to Sisters, there is another very nice dive spot, although it is on private land. It is Blue Lake, just south of Suttle Lake:

This is a very deep lake, and so anyone diving it will need to be very mindful of their depth. It is volcanic in origine, with vertical walls.

Both of these lakes are at altitude, and if you dive Clear Lake and drive from Sisters and back in the same day, you'll need to use the Santiam Pass altitude for your dive altitude. I think (but you need to confirm) that this is about 4500 feet above sea level. In Clear Lake, staying in the shallow top area, you should have no problem with decompression, as it is not quite 60 feet at its deepest.

John

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Vintage Sea Vue:

N

Nemrod,

I understand what you are saying here, but realize that until about 1978 the submersible pressure gauge was an option, and not a way of diving. It Cousteau & Gagnan's original patent, #2,485,039, they actually made the case for not having a submersible pressure gauge.

...A third cylinder C serves as a reserve; the gas contained in it being available for the diver when he feels that the supply of gas contained in the two cylinders A and B is close to being exhausted. The capacity of this third cyclinder is sufficiently large to supply sufficient air to the diver to enable him to rise to the surface sufficiently slowly. The diver can thus dispense with any instruments for measuring the pressure in the two cylinders A and B...(emphasis added--jcr.)

When I took my NAUI instructor training in 1975, received the NAUI Instructor's Guide. In it, they gave the BASIC SCUBA DIVING COURSE STANDARDS. Part of this was the diving equipment standard:

5. b) Diving Equipment

This area is to provide the student with a basic knowledge of the purpose, features, types and use of sport skin and scuba diving equipment. The student isto be prepared to intelligently select, use and care for the following: mask, snorkel, fins, surface float with flag, personal flotation vest, knife, weight belt, protective suit, depth gauge, watch, pressure gauge, compass, regulator and cylinder including valve and harness or backpack, plus any other useful accessories.

Note that they said "pressure gauge," and not "submersible pressure gauge. At this point, many were still using J-reserve valves and no SPG. Tank pressure was checked before and after a dive, and these pressures recorded so that the air consumption rate could be monitored. These were small, hand-held gauges that showed the pressure before the dive. This check was done so that the diver was ensured a full tank of air prior to entering the water. While the SPG was available, and people were taught (see the last paragraph) about it, it was not required.

Contrast this with the NAUI Pro Manual from 1977. Here, Submersible Pressure Gauges were one heading, and explained in some detail their function, features, selection and care. Under Function, this manual, written by Ted Boehler, stated:

Submersible pressure gauges are also known as tank pressure gauges, sea-view gauges and by other brand names. Attached to the high pressure port of the regulator, the gauge is used for constant monitoring of the tank pressure. It should be considered a required item for any open water dive.(emphasis added--jcr.)

I believe that I had been using a SPG since the early 1970s, but even today I sometimes dive without it in heavy current where it may get caught on rocks.

John

 

[halocline]

John;

I'm interested in diving Clear lake next summer. I would need to rent a drysuit and get some sort of instruction in using it, maybe a class, maybe just an orientation dive in a pool. I could show up with my reg and mask; that's probably about all I could travel with on this trip. I'll be climbing Mt Hood with my niece on the same trip, so I'll have some mountaineering gear. Who would I contact about diving there and getting the suit?

Thanks! It looks beautiful there and I've wanted to dive it for a while.

 

[bill_bain]

Nemrod,

I understand what you are saying here, but realize that until about 1978 the submersible pressure gauge was an option, and not a way of diving. It Cousteau & Gagnan's original patent, #2,485,039, they actually made the case for not having a submersible pressure gauge.

John

Umm, a couple of points on that original patent quote:

1. It appears that the patent is discussing a triple tank rig with a separate reserve bottle of some sort. From doing some reading, what is described is that the diver would dive on the two main cylinders and when resistance was felt, open the reserve tank's valve which would repressurize the two main cylinders. The repressurization, being audible, would also serve to alert the buddy that the diver was on reserve air. I believe that the reserve bottle might have been mounted upside down so the diver could reach the valve when needed. While ingenious, that rig was hardly common in sport diving circles.

2. Carve-outs like the one you describe are common in patent drafting as a way to distinguish the applicant's idea from the "prior art" so as to meet the "nonobvious" part of the standard for patentability. It would be interesting to see what the application cited as prior art, but I'm not sure I'd place much stock in it as an argument against a SPG.

I do know that by 1971 when I got certified, the consensus was that the SPG was preferred over the J valve, although, as you say, it wasn't required.

 

[Nemrod]

I purchased my first spg in 1968. It ran on the HP port on my 1966 Calypso J. I was first certified in spring of 66 and re-certified in 68, first was LA and then NAUI. Of note, looking at my actual notes, lol, I have them, the text was the New Science of Skin and Scuba and the only thing I have written about an spg was that "underwater tank pressure gauges are preferred for deep diving" and I wrote that in the corner of a page. I do recall that some of our equipment did have a spg. We did not have any BCs but in the second class we did use the USD/Voit Mae West safety vest whereas in 66 we did not. In both classes some of the regulators were double hose and in the 68 class I used my very own Mistral and Calypso J.

I have very few pictures from the 60s due to a fire, a flood, and the remainder being in my parents attic and my being a kid, I did not have a camera, this pic is from my re-certification check out dive circa 1968:

My first USD spg is from 74, it is in the serial number. I remember purchasing it. Prior to that I had been using the Sportsways, kinda hard to go into a cave with only a J valve. However, I suspect my early initiation in the Florida caves may taint my memories of what equipment was used, I suspect the vast, vast majority of open water divers in the 60s and into the early 70s still used a simple J valve. I still find myself reaching back, learned and ingrained memory, to check my J valve up and then realize, I don't have a J valve to check . You can also find banjo adapters and spgs in USD catalogs of the 60s--so they were there.

I don't define Vintage Era by what Cousteau did or used, I use the catalogs and text books of the era to determine what was and was not in use and how it was used. Just me, others may vary. In the case of Bill's jacket, an argument can be made but still, I think of it as being of the current methods and techniques, it was new and revolutionary then and very different from the methods of scuba diving previously employed. We all know some experiments were being done in the late 60s with Fenzy and others and even some back inflate stuff so there is that grey area, thus the fun of arguing over what is and isn't.

N