Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Other manufacturers

[David Wilson]

Next up is the Salvas Condor, illustrated in the autcion pictures below and named after the New World vultures, which are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere:

So what we have here is a pair of orange or black full-foot fins embossed with the product name, the manufacturer's logo, the size range and the country of origin. Their distinguishing feature is the symmetrical pattern of five parallel lines radiating from the edge of the toe opening.

 

[David Wilson]

The Salvas Condor moulds appear to have gone the journey eventually to Turkey's largest city Istanbul, where a rubber goods plant called Nilsan Nildeniz Kauçuk (Nilsan) used them to rebrand the original Italian design as Nildeniz Golf fins:

I have a pair in my collection of basic diving gear, and very good they are too as retro reproductions, providing the wearer with a satisfactory degree of power and comfort. Sadly, Nilsan Nildeniz Kauçuk no longer makes the model, having climbed on to the plastic and thermoplastic elastomer fin manufacturing bandwagon.

We still have a couple of Salvas fins to review, which we shall do at the weekend. Stay safe and keep well in the meantime.

 

[David Wilson]

Thank you, Sam and Jale, for the likes.

We are approaching the end of this review of Salvas fins and hence the end of the Salvas line of basic diving gear too. Let us begin today with the Salvas Pro Jumbo:

What we have here appears to be Salvas's answer to the Beuchat Jetfin. The foot pocket comes with a closed heel and an open toe in size EU 44-46 (the same-sized Beuchat features an open heel and a closed toe). The convex blade is fitted with three vents.

 

[David Wilson]

Last up for review is a Salvas fin design known by the product names "Hai" and "Golden Team". "Hai" is German for "shark". Here is one version of the "Freetime Hai":

Note the concave-tipped blade the heel tread pattern and the words "HAI Freeetime Made by SALVAS" with a shark logo on the top of the foot pocket. Here is another version of the Hai:

Convex-tipped blade, different heel tread, but still a Freetime Hai model made by Salvas.

The "Golden Team" model also came in the same two versions.

Version 1:

​

Version 2:

So much for Salvas's budget-line fins. We are not quite finished with Salvas altogether, however, as there are still "Shark" masks, snorkels, snorkel-masks and fins to be reviewed. "Shark" merged with Salvas during the 1960s and some of the underwater gear it made remained in production after the merger. More anon midweek. In the meantime, keep safe and stay well.

 

[David Wilson]

Thank you for the likes, Sam, Akimbo and Jale.

And now for the diving equipment manufacturer "Shark", trading independently until its merger with Salvas in 1964. Shark was based in the municipality of Castelnuovo Scrivia (above) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about 90 kilometres (56 miles) east of Turin and about 20 kilometres (12 miles) northeast of Alessandria. Here is the company logo:

"Stivale - calzature sportive" roughly translates to "boots - sports footwear", e.g. sandals, which the company produced as well as basic diving equipment:

As for the Shark range of underwater gear, the early-1960s advertisement above provides a representative sample. Let us start with the "Capri Goggles", illustrated below in 1962:

Italian: "CAPRI GOGGLES" occhiale in gomma aderentissimo adatto per tutte le profondità."
Rough translation: "CAPRI GOGGLES. Very snug fitting rubber goggles suitable for all depths."

The product name "Capri" proved popular with many diving equipment manufacturers. These products were named after the island of Capri located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy.

From 1961 to 1962, Shark's Capri aviator-style diving goggles must have remained the preferred eyewear of a certain section of the underwater community to justify its continued presence in Shark advertisements.

 

[David Wilson]

Next up is the Shark "Grecale" diving mask, which was around between 1962 and 1965, i.e. both pre- and post-merger with Salvas:

Italian: "GRECALE maschera con ottimo campo visivo, in gomma, resistente, practica."
Rough translation: "GRECALE. Mask with excellent field of vision, made of rubber, hard-wearing, practical."

"Grecale" is Italian for "Gregale", which is "a Mediterranean wind that can occur during times when a low-pressure area moves through the area to the south of Malta and causes a strong, cool, northeasterly wind to affect the island. It also affects other islands of the Western Mediterranean." The Italian name "Grecale" could be translated as "Greek wind", as the wind starts at the Ionian Island of Zakynthos.

As for the mask itself, it is a plain design with a split headstrap but no compensator to facilitate ear-clearing. Despite its basic design, West Germany's main diving equipment manufacturer Barakuda imported this mask between 1962 and 1964:

German: "GRECALE (ital.), blau. Eine hochwertige Tauchmaske mit an den Schläfen weit herumgezogenem Dichtrand und vielseitiger Paßform. Die gewölbte Kunststoffscheibe wirkt in geringem Ausmaß als Korrekturscheibe. Ein extrem breitgeteiltes Kopfband sorgt für den festen Sitz der Maske. Nr. 111 Kunststoffscheibe DM 6,85."
English: "GRECALE (Italian), blue. A high-quality diving mask offering a wide sealing edge around the temples and a versatile fit. To a small extent, the convex plastic lens works as a corrective lens. An extremely wide headband ensures the mask is a snug fit. No. 111 plastic lens DM 6.85."

A 1965 issue of the Italian diving magazine Mondo Sommerso confirmed that the Grecale mask was still on sale in that year.

At the weekend, I shall proceed to the other diving masks in the original Shark range, namely the Explorer, the Profondità and the Scirocco. Until then, keep safe and stay well.

 

[David Wilson]

My Scubaboard posting about the Shark Explorer, Profondità and Scirocco masks does not appear to have survived the system crash last Sunday, so I am going to review these models once again today. Let us start with the "Profondità", which is Italian for "Depth". It was available between 1961 and 1966, therefore before and after the Salvas-Shark merger in 1964. Here is an image from 1961:

Italian: "Maschera PROFONDITA' studiata per consentire una perfetta compensazione E' la maschera adatta per i pescatori più qualificati."
Rough translation: "PROFONDITÀ mask designed to enable perfect compensation. It is the right mask for the most qualified fish hunters."

So a mask fitted with the wherewithal for nostril-pinching during the ear-clearing necessary when experienced underwater hunters plumb the depths in search of their quarry, hence the product name.

Here is a slightly clearer view of the mask from 1964, namely the year of the Salvas-Shark merger:

Italian: "Maschera «PROFONDITA'» con sistema di compensazione, aderente, morbida."
Rough translation: "'PROFONDITÀ' mask with compensation system, snug-fitting, soft."

And here is the clearest view I have of the mask from the Salvas-Shark German-language underwater catalogue of 1966:

German: "art. 206 «profondità» Maske mit verstärktem, nicht oxydierenden Stahl-Band, mit Ersatzmöglichkeit."
English: "art. 206 «profondità» mask with reinforced, non-oxidising stainless-steel band, which can be replaced."

So the emphasis here is on the metal band surrounding the oval window, claiming how it is both incorrodible and replaceable, rather than on the corrugated compensator bosses on the inside and rthe finger wells on the outside.

 

[David Wilson]

Now for the Shark Explorer mask, which was around from 1963 to 1966. Here is the model in the German-language underwater catalogue of 1966:

German: "art. 205 «explorer» Maske mit verstärktem, nicht oxydierenden Band."
English: "art. 205 «explorer» mask with reinforced, non-oxidising band."

So the Explorer is a plainer mask, fitted with a rust-proof fixing band like the Profondità, but lacking the latter's compensator.

As for our final Shark diving mask of the day, the Scirocco was in production between 1963 and 1965. "Scirocco" is Italian for "Sirocco", which is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. You may recall that Shark named another of its masks after a Mediterranean wind, the "Grecale", Italian for "Gregale", which is "a Mediterranean wind that can occur during times when a low-pressure area moves through the area to the south of Malta and causes a strong, cool, northeasterly wind to affect the island. It also affects other islands of the Western Mediterranean".

Sadly, I do not have any pictures of the Scirocco, but I do have the Shark mask roundup from 1963 issue of the Italian diving magazine Mondo Sommerso:

Note how the Scirocco comes in two sizes, presumably corresponding to "child" and "adult", and in two lens colours, "normale" (clear glass) and "giallo" (yellow filter glass), all at different prices.

That's plenty for today and I hope I have replaced whatever I happened to have written last Sunday. Next time, at the weekend, I shall move on to Shark snorkels and snorkel-masks. Until then, stay safe and keep well.

 

[David Wilson]

On to Shark snorkels and snorkel-masks today, showcased here in a 1963 issue of the Italian diving magazine Mondo Sommerso:

Here is a close-up of the Shark snorkel. No record of a product name:

So what we have here is a breathing tube comprising three parts. The tube is topped with a shut-off valve to exclude water when the snorkel submerges. While the valve remains open, air passes through its U-bend stem into the straight barrel to which it is fitted. At the lower end of the barrel, there is a combined U-shaped elbow and mouthpiece with lugs to be gripped between the user's teeth.

A snorkel keeper for the mask strap to be threaded through is conspicuous by its absence. The stemmed valve is presumably removeable, if desired, leaving the remaindert as a J-shaped snorkel.

 

[David Wilson]

Let us proceed now to the two Shark snorkel-masks, whose product names are Maestrale and Libeccio. Like Shark's Grecale (Gregale) and Scirocco (Sirocco) diving masks before them, both derive their names from Mediterranean winds. Note how the product developers at Shark have chosen the names of the northeasterly, southeasterly, southwesterly and northwesterly Mediterranean winds for their diving eyewear, forming a cross in the process.

The Maestrale ("Mistral" in English) snorkel-mask made its début in the 1962 catalogue of the German diving equuipment manufacturer and importer Barakuda:

German: "MAESTRALE (ital.). Diese Schnorchelmaske für Nasenatmung verlügt genau wie das Modell „GRECALE” über eine gewölbte Kunststoffscheibe. Der dichte Rand ist mit einem Doppelwulst versehen und gewährleistet druckfreien Sitz. Ein Schwimmerventil sorgt für zuverlässige Schnorcheldichtung beim Abtauchen. Kunststoffscheibe. Nr. 150. DM 8,85."
English: "MAESTRALE (Italian). Like the “GRECALE” model, this nose-breathing snorkel mask comes with a curved plastic window. The leaktight edge is double beaded, ensuring a pressure-free seat. A float valve ensures reliable snorkel sealing when diving. Plastic window. No. 150. DM 8.85."

So a single-snorkel mask with a float-valve topped tube and a double-flanged face-seal for watertightness.

Here is the snorkel-mask again in a 1963 issue of Mondo Sommerso:

The Maestrale reappeared in a 1965 Mondo Sommerso mask roundup, confirming that the product had briefly survived the Shark-Salvas merger.