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

[Popgun Pete]

You can see elements of Nemrod's guns in the Safari Sub models, but they have done a bit of copying with the Mares Titan handgrip, seen here.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the post, Pete.

On to Safari sub diving masks. I am going to follow a roughly alphabetical order as I have access to just one historical catalogue. First up is the Abisal model. "Abisal" is Spanish for "abyssal" or "pertaining to the abyss".

Spanish: "Modelo Técnico de gran visibilidad con buena adaptación por su doble faldilla. Cerco Inx."
Rough translation: "Technical model offering great visibility as well as a good fit thanks to its double skirt. Stainless-steel rim".

So a compensator mask with a single head strap adjustable with twin plastic buckles.

 

[David Wilson]

The second Safari sub diving mask of the day is called "Alevin", meaning "fry" in the sense of a baby fish.

Spanish: "Modelo Infantil. Popular. Cerco de nylon".
Rough translation: "Children's model. Popular. Nylon rim".

So, as the product name suggests, this diving mask was designed for young children. It came with a plastic rim and twin plastic buckles to adjust the single head strap.

More Safari sub masks at the weekend.

 

[David Wilson]

Two more Safari sub diving masks from the past. First the Bahia model. Bahía and Bahia are Spanish and Portuguese respectively for "bay". The latter is also the name of one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by area. The image above shows a view of Morro de São Paulo in Bahia.

Spanish: "Modelo Cadete. Popular. Cerco de Nylon"
Rough translation: "Youngsters' Model. Popular. Nylon rim".

So a rounded rectangular lens secured by a plastic rim and fitted with twin plastic buckles to adjust the single head strap.

Some Bahia diving mask imagery.

 

[David Wilson]

The second Safari sub diving mask today is the Bermudas. "Bermudas" is Spanish for "Bermuda", which is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The image above shows a view of one of its beaches.

Spanish: "Modelo Caballero. De gran visión."
Rough translation: "Men's model. Great visibility".

A diving mask for male adults with a pastic rim and with twin stainless-steel buckles to adjust the single head strap.

Safari sub sometimes recycled product names and the above is an example of the practice. Here the Bermudas mask is kidney-shaped model with twin lenses and a split strap.

More Safari sub masks midweek.

 

[Popgun Pete]

Some of these masks look kind of familiar, the last one reminds me of an Occhio mask, but that is purely from memory as I have not checked it. The stainless steel clip frame mask bar the plastic blue buckles looks like something from GSD. When the latter went out of business it is possible their moulding dies were put on the market and Safari Sub snapped them up. Ditto for the Titan handle, once Mares concentrated on their rear handle floating pneumatic guns they scrubbed all the sinkers and that included the Titan models. The only gun of that series they still made was the hero Bazooka which no one probably ever used but looked good on the wall. Too long to load, too long to swing and weighed too much, the few they continued to make were most likely from stocks of spares.

Just checking and Cressi has reused the Occhio name and changed the shape, in fact there is a Super Occhio mask as well. My memory is of the mask as first introduced. The advantage of twin lens masks was not only closer positioning to the eyes but also the ability to fit optical correction lenses in some models. Prior to that divers had lenses bonded to the glass face plate by specialists using a product that you heat up, something (friars?) balsam, but cannot remember the proprietary name. My Dad had such a dive mask, a Cressi or Mares Vedo which had alloy screw in lens holders and a rather odd appearance as a consequence. Over twenty years ago and probably more like 30, so hard to recall exactly.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the post, Pete, and for the likes, Luis.

Two more Safari sub diving masks. First the Captain model:

Spanish: "Modelo para Cadete de bajo volumen".
Rough translation: "Youngster's low-volume model".

So a junior oval mask with low internal volume, a yellow plastic rim and twin buckles to adjust a single head strap.

 

[David Wilson]

The Caribe diving mask takes its name from the Spanish term for the Caribbean sea and its islands.

This model has a circular lens surrounded by a stainless-syeel rim. Twin buckles to adjust a single head strap. Ribs for reinforcement of the skirt to eliminate the collapse of the rubber body at depth.

More Safari sub diving masks at the weekend.

 

[David Wilson]

Ceilán (La Coruña) is a Spanish village located in the parish of Monte, in the municipality of La Baña, in the province of La Coruña, Galicia. The toponym "Ceilán" is also the Spanish word for "Ceylon", the former name of the country now known as "Sri Lanka". "Ceilan" is the name of the Safari sub diving mask we are reviewing first today.

Spanish: "Modelo Panorámico. Cerco Inx."
Rough translation: "Panoramic model. Stainless-steel rim".

A rounded rectangular lens surrounded by a metal rim. Twin buckles to retain a single headstrap.

More Ceilan imagery:

 

[David Wilson]

Second Safari sub diving mask today is the Comando model. The Spanish term for "commando" comes with one "m". Two different versions appeared over time.

Spanish: "Modelo Caballero. Popular. Con cerco de nylon".
Rough translation: "Men's model. Popular. Nylon rim".

This is the 1983 version of the mask named Ceilan. Once again a rounded rectangular lens, this time surrounded by a plastic rim. Plastic buckles for adjustment of the single head strap.

Here is a presumably older version of the Safari sub diving mask called "Ceilan". It came with a metal rim.

I shall return midweek with two more Safari sub mask designs.