Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Spain: Nemrod

[Angelo Farina]

Thanks for the likes, Angelo, АлександрД and Luis.

First Nemrod snorkel today is the Calella. The latter is named after the municipality (above) in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It is known as the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme and is characterised by being a cosmopolitan city with a typical Mediterranean climate. As for the breathing tube:

View attachment 757370​

The image is from the June 1970 issue of Skin Diver magazine. So a telescopic device, barrel height adjustable.. Perhaps somewhat overengineered, but apparently in demand by those looking for "greater diving flexibility".

More imagery:

View attachment 757371

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Over the years, the Calella came with a variety of mouthpiece extensions:

View attachment 757374
View attachment 757375​

The last example has a flexible hose fitted with a drain valve.

I did own the Calella, the model in 2nd and 3rd photos with semicircular connection between hose and mouthpiece.
It was difficult to purge it perfectly, some water did always remain inside even if expiring quickly and powerfully through it.

 

[Popgun Pete]

The Almeria con boya is, as you would expect, the standard Almeria fitted with a float (valve). Over the years, this float changed in structure, but remained a ball in a cage design:

View attachment 757376
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The lanyard eyelet feature also seems to have been a permanent fixture on the mouthpiece stem.

At the weekend, we shall take a look at the Canarias con boya and Menorca Flex snorkels. Keep safe and well. There's a frost here in the UK.

Thanks for the likes, Angelo, АлександрД and Luis.

First Nemrod snorkel today is the Calella. The latter is named after the municipality (above) in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It is known as the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme and is characterised by being a cosmopolitan city with a typical Mediterranean climate. As for the breathing tube:

View attachment 757370​

The image is from the June 1970 issue of Skin Diver magazine. So a telescopic device, barrel height adjustable.. Perhaps somewhat overengineered, but apparently in demand by those looking for "greater diving flexibility".

More imagery:

View attachment 757371

View attachment 757372
View attachment 757373​

Over the years, the Calella came with a variety of mouthpiece extensions:

View attachment 757374
View attachment 757375​

The last example has a flexible hose fitted with a drain valve.

I remember the “Calella” as Hartleys Sports Store in Melbourne had a big range of Nemrod dive gear on the first floor of the store which you reached by climbing a long staircase on one side of the store. I don’t know anyone who bought one but we had a look at it and bar telescoping for transport or storage it did not seem a great idea. I remember the “Salou” and their range of simple J snorkels and when the big bore “Irun” came out which was a bigger version of the “Salou” I actually bought one of those. I did not have it for very long as at one stage I lent it out and that was the last I saw of it.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, JMBL, АлександрД, Luis, Angelo, and for the posts, Luis, Angelo and Pete.

Today we look at another two Nemrod breathing tubes: Canarias con boya and Menorca Flex.

The Canarias con boya is named after the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and they are the most populous special territory of the European Union.

Here is the snorkel of that name, complete with its "boya" float valve.

Type 1:

Type 2

Type 1 and type 2 only appear to differ in the nature and position of the brand mark. As you can see, the "boya" takes the form of a "cap valve" or "splash cap", which performs the same function as its counterpart on a semi-dry modern-style snorkel. The inside of the cap valve will resemble the workings of the following Typhoon T1 snorkel:

Air passes through the holes in the alloy barrel when the valve is above the surface and water will follow when it dips below the surface. The cap serves to keep out water splashes when the sea is choppy.

The rest of the Nemrod Canarias con boya is traditional in construction, having a straight plastic barrel fitted at the bottom wth a rubber U-bend ending in a lugged mouthpiece.

 

[David Wilson]

Our second Nemrod snorkel today is the Menorca Flex. Menorca (above) (from Latin: Insula Minor, lit. 'smaller island', later Minorica) is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capital is Mahón, situated on the island's eastern end, although Menorca is not a province and forms a political union with the other islands in the archipelago. Ciutadella and Mahon are the main ports and largest towns. The port of Mahon is the second biggest natural port in the world.

Now for the Menorca Flex snorkel.

Type 1

Type 2

Type 4

The typology comes from Facebook's excellent Nemrod Museum, which does not have an image of type 3 so far ar I am aware. The difference between types and 2 is largely cosmetic, while type 4 has a distinctly different combined mouthpiece and bend. The flexible-hose snorkel's selling point is the ability of the hose and mouthpiece to drop out of the way when it is not in use, a feature appreciated by scuba divers in the early 1970s. Note the presence of a safety band at the top of the last two versions to alert other water users.

Midweek we shall review the Nemrod Vigo and Bagur snorkels. Keep safe and well as winter sets in.

 

[JMBL]

Thanks for the likes, JMBL, АлександрД, Luis, Angelo, and for the posts, Luis, Angelo and Pete.

Today we look at another two Nemrod breathing tubes: Canarias con boya and Menorca Flex.

The Canarias con boya is named after the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and they are the most populous special territory of the European Union.

Here is the snorkel of that name, complete with its "boya" float valve.

Type 1:

View attachment 758036​

Type 2

View attachment 758037​

Type 1 and type 2 only appear to differ in the nature and position of the brand mark. As you can see, the "boya" takes the form of a "cap valve" or "splash cap", which performs the same function as its counterpart on a semi-dry modern-style snorkel. The inside of the cap valve will resemble the workings of the following Typhoon T1 snorkel:

View attachment 758038​

Air passes through the holes in the alloy barrel when the valve is above the surface and water will follow when it dips below the surface. The cap serves to keep out water splashes when the sea is choppy.

The rest of the Nemrod Canarias con boya is traditional in construction, having a straight plastic barrel fitted at the bottom wth a rubber U-bend ending in a lugged mouthpiece.

Is there someone around who tried one of those ? I'm really both curious and doubtful about breathing confort.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Our second Nemrod snorkel today is the Menorca Flex. Menorca (above) (from Latin: Insula Minor, lit. 'smaller island', later Minorica) is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capital is Mahón, situated on the island's eastern end, although Menorca is not a province and forms a political union with the other islands in the archipelago. Ciutadella and Mahon are the main ports and largest towns. The port of Mahon is the second biggest natural port in the world.

Now for the Menorca Flex snorkel.

Type 1

View attachment 758039​

Type 2

View attachment 758040​

Type 4

View attachment 758042​

The typology comes from Facebook's excellent Nemrod Museum, which does not have an image of type 3 so far ar I am aware. The difference between types and 2 is largely cosmetic, while type 4 has a distinctly different combined mouthpiece and bend. The flexible-hose snorkel's selling point is the ability of the hose and mouthpiece to drop out of the way when it is not in use, a feature appreciated by scuba divers in the early 1970s. Note the presence of a safety band at the top of the last two versions to alert other water users.

Midweek we shall review the Nemrod Vigo and Bagur snorkels. Keep safe and well as winter sets in.

I owned also the Menorca Type 1. Also this was very difficult to evacuate...

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, Angelo, Luis and JMBL. And for the posts, JMBL and Angelo.

Today we look at the Nemrod Vigo and Bagur snorkel models. Vigo (above) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the Rías Baixas.As for the Nemrod Vigo breathing tube:

So a simple J-shaped breathing tube comprising a straight barrel with a snorkel keeper and with a rubber combined U-bend and lugged mouthpiece on the lower end.

The following image shows a later version of the Vigo with a ball valve fitted to the air supply end:

There is some kind of Nemrod branding on the barrel.

 

[David Wilson]

The second snorkel for review today is the Bagur. Bagur (above) is a village and municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain. The village itself lies some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) from, and 200 metres (660 ft) above, the coastline of the Costa Brava, but the municipality includes several seaside resorts. The municipality of Bagur has 3,986 inhabitants (according to the census of 2005). It is an important tourist attraction in the Baix Empordà. During the summer, the population can exceed 40,000 people. Here is the Nemrod Bagur snorkel from the 1972 catalogue:

The breathing tube was a "novedad", or new product in 1972 and it was conspicuous by its absence from subsequent catalogues. So a straight barrel with snorkel keeper. On the lower end, a flexible hose terminating in a lugged mouthpiece. There is a drain valve at the centre that would have been factory sealed by default. Flexible-hose snorkels like this were popular at the time with scuba divers as they fell and hung out of the way when the user changed mouthpieces.

JMBL mentioned the breathability and clearability of flexible-hose snorkels. It is true that the inner corrugations could be residual water traps, but I have used such breathing tubes over the years when snorkelling without too many problems. A couple of improvements were made in this design as the years went on: (a) the rubber was made thicker to prevent kinking and hence reducing the air supply after placing the mouthpiece in the mouth and (b) one manufacturer (I forget who) made the inside of the rubber tube so that there was no airflow turbulence and any water was easier to blow out.

At the weekend we shall look at two snorkels Nemrod introduced in 1973: the Calella de luxe and the Irun. Until then, keep safe, stay well and warm: it's freezing here!

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, Angelo and Luis. Today we look at at the Calella de luxe and Irun Nemrod breathing tubes. Calella (above) is a municipality in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It is known as the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme and is characterised by being a cosmopolitan city with a typical Mediterranean climate. As for the snorkel of the same name:

1973

French: "G-CALELLA DE LUXE. Modèle avec tube téléscopique de longueur variable, avec embout articulé et soupape d'expulsion".
Rough translation: "G-CALELLA DE LUXE. Model with telescopic tube for adjustable length, articulated mouthpiece and expulsion valve".

1974

Italian: "H-CALELLA DI LUSSO. Modelo con boccaglio girevola e tubo telescopico dalla lunghezza variabile e valvola d'espulsione.
Rough translation: "G-CALELLA DE LUXE. Model with telescopic tube for adjustable length, articulated mouthpiece and expulsion valve".

1975

1976

Spanish: "H-CALELLA DE LUXE. Modelo con tubo telescópico de logitud variable, con boquilla articulada y válvula expulsión".
Rough translation: "G-CALELLA DE LUXE. Model with telescopic tube for adjustable length, articulated mouthpiece and expulsion valve".

The 1977 catalogue has the same picture and caption. So the Calella de luxe snorkel combines the length variability of a "telescopic snorkel" with the accordion-style extended lugged mouthpiece of a flexible-hose snorkel. The drain valve on the hose feature is the icing on the cake, hence "de luxe".

 

[David Wilson]

On to the Nemrod Irun breathing tube, named after the town (above) of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain.

In 1973, the British Sub Aqua Club Journal Triton published the following:

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In 1974, Skin Diver magazine, Skin Diver magazine followed suit:

1975

G-IRUN PROFESSIONAL SNORKEL. Large 1-inch O D barrel for easiest breathing. Contoured to fit along diver's head for minimum drag. Soft, comfortable mouthpiece.

1976

Spanish: "G-IRUN. Modelo ideal para pesca submarina. Su gran diámetro permite una ventilación óptima. Técnica moderna de adaptación en parte posterior cabeza".
Rough translation: "G-IRUN. Ideal model for underwater fishing. Its large diameter allows optimal airflow. Modern technology enables it to fit around the rear part of the head".

The 1977 version is the same. A contoured snorkel if the kind becoming commoner as the 1970s went on. The orange band at the top is another new feature of that decade for safety reasons. Note the continued presence of the lanyard eyelet near the base to prevent loss in choppy waters. The lanyard might also have come in handy when hanging the snorkel up during storage.

Some time midweek we shall look at the Nemrod Cadaques and Vigo con boya breathing tubes. Keep safe, well and warm.