Basic gear from the Polish People's Republic

[David Wilson]

The Polish company Gumar, which made the open-heel fins pictured above, also manufactured at least one model of diving mask. This is the subject of today's posting.

Gumar diving mask

The Gumar was a plain, solid, oval-shaped single-lens rubber diving mask without a compensator. A thick rim retained the mask's window and skirt. The manufacturer's name "GUMAR" was embossed on the top of the skirt.

The next message will focus on the Polish-made Murena mask, which comes with binocular vision.

 

[iamrushman]

did i miss the years these mask were manufactured without the equalization notch found in mask today?

 

[David Wilson]

did i miss the years these mask were manufactured without the equalization notch found in mask today?

The compensator bosses in masks were introduced towards the end of the 1950s by Beuchat of Marseilles and Marin of Nice. The equalising nose pocket first appeared in the Cressi Pinocchio mask, which came along in the early 1950s thanks to the development work of Luigi Ferraro. Plain masks without equalising features have been around since the late 1940s and continue in production.

 

[iamrushman]

thank you so much for these details....i have been curious about the development of the equalizing nose pockets.

 

[David Wilson]

On to a third diving mask from the era and territory of the Polish People's Republic. This one is from the same stable as the Murena fins above, which were reviewed earlier in this thread.

Murena diving mask

The pictures above are from the Polish virtual diving museum web page at Maska MURENA - Zabytki techniki ocalić od zapomnienia | 2018. As you can see, the Murena is a twin-lens mask with a nosepiece, which may suggest the influence of the later Italian Cressi Pinocchio mask designs illustrated in the 1968 advertising flyer below:

Another influence, also Italian, may have been the Mares Vedo twin-lens mask, which made its début in the 1963 catalogue of Lillywhites of London:

The Murena appears to be a blend of the two Italian designs, confirming that Polish diving equipment manufacturers were aware of product trends in western Europe. There follow a couple of pictures of the Murena mask from a Polish online auction site:

If you fancy bidding for it, the Polish Murena mask is still for sale with a pair of Soviet Russian Turist adjustable open-heel fins at płetwy czarne + maska Turist Murena. Note the name "MURENA" embossed on the split strap of the mask.

In my next posting, I'll move on to breathing tubes from Polish People's Republic times.

 

[iamrushman]

wearing the above mask and fins plus a neoprene beaver tail wet suit would make the diver quite a conversation item on any beach or dive boat....thanks for sharing such interesting photos.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks again, iamrushman. Next up, as promised, snorkels manufactured on the territory and during the era of the Polish People's Republic. As was generally the wont of diving equipment manufacturers in the eastern bloc, these snorkels come without product names. This post will concentrate on J-shaped models.

Stomil J-shaped snorkel

This J-shaped breathing tube has a slightly contoured barrel, whose lower end fits into the socket at one end of a rubber elbow in the form of a U-bend. The other end of the rubber elbow terminates in a mouthpiece with twin lugs. Incidentally, the mask in the picture is probably Soviet Russian.

Unbranded J-shaped snorkel

The picture above is from the Polish virtual diving museum web page at Fajka z 1981 roku - Zabytki techniki ocalić od zapomnienia | 2018. The exhibit is dated 1981. The snorkel comes complete with a white barrel, an orange one-piece rubber elbow and mouthpiece, a mask strap attachment, a packing slip and the original cellophane bag. Above the bagged breathing tube, a small paper sign is visible. The caption on the sign reads:

Polish original: Fajki polskiej produkcji, lata osiemdziesiąte. Zachowała się autentyczna metka zakupionej w 1981 roku fajki. W takich fajkach, dla wygody użytkowania, odgryzało się jeden z gumowych wypustków ustnika.

My own rough English rendering: Breathing tube manufactured in Poland during the 1980s. An authentic label for a snorkel bought in 1981 has been preserved. In such snorkels, for convenience of use, one of the rubber mouthpiece lugs has been bitten off.

The question why someone would bite one of the lugs off a snorkel mouthpiece for convenience rather than by accident is left unanswered. Can anybody suggest a possible reason?

The two snorkels featured in this posting may be identical models. The semi-contoured barrel in the Stomil version may have been straight when purchased then reshaped while immersed in very hot water. Stomil may have manufactured their breathing tube in orange as well as black.

The next posting will focus on L-shaped snorkels made in the era of the Polish People's Republic and will likely be the final message in this thread. I will then move on to a review of basic diving equipment manufactured in the Hungarian People's Republic.

 

[dmaziuk]

The question why someone would bite one of the lugs off a snorkel mouthpiece for convenience rather than by accident is left unanswered. Can anybody suggest a possible reason?

Not without putting that particular mouthpiece in the mouth first. Conceivably, they could have designed it so it fits better with only one lug...

 

[Sam Miller III]

In the days of long swims of considerable distance and often 2 to 4 hours with a snorkel for free diving and spear fishing would create a condition called "Snorkel mouth".

To avoid or minimize the effects divers would often trim the tabs and the seals of the offending snorkels.
I used an Exacto knife followed "sanding and smoothing " with the wife's nail emery board.

Some years ago- many years ago I authored a long forgotten article on Snorkel mouth

It is real ailment of diving

Sam Miller,III

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks, guys, for your suggestions why one of the Polish-made J-shaped snorkels on display in the Warsaw diving museum had one of its mouthpiece lugs removed. Let's move on to L-shaped snorkels manufactured in the Polish People's Republic. Once again, we have a branded snorkel (Gumar) and an unbranded model.

Gumar L-shaped snorkel

The above is an image to be viewed at STARA MASKA + RURKA PŁETWONURKA GUMAR PRL NUREK - 6366035536 - oficjalne archiwum allegro in the archive of the Polish website Allegro. The accompanying text supplies the measurements for this breathing tube: 40 cm long, 2 cm diameter, 77 g weight.

The picture also features a Gumar mask, which has been discussed earlier in this thread, where I reported that that Gumar was also responsible for the production of the fins below:

These fins were replicas of Britmarine Clippers manufactured in the United Kingdom by Haffenden-Richborough of Sandwich in Kent and exported to the USA embossed with an image of Lloyd Bridges in his Mike Nelson persona to supply demand created by the "Sea Hunt" TV series there.

The second Polish L-shaped breathing tube to be reviewed comes without sourcing information.

Unbranded L-shaped snorkel

The picture above is from the Polish virtual diving museum web page at Fajka 4 - Zabytki techniki ocalić od zapomnienia | 2018. The exhibit has no provenance data.

Here are two more pictures of unbranded Polish L-shaped snorkels, this time from an online auction site:

Once again, I am tempted to say that the Gumar and the unbranded breathing tubes are one and the same, but I can't say for sure. A further point of interest is that they closely resemble the Soviet Russian snorkel (below) in appearance:

The Polish and Russian snorkels differ, however, when it comes to material. The Polish breathing tubes have plastic barrels while their Russian equivalent is metal.

In another thread I mentioned why an L-shaped snorkel was considered to be a better option than a traditional J-shaped breathing tube when the former design was first introduced. Here is what I wrote: "On a general snorkel design point, L-shaped snorkels eliminate the usual depth of tubing below head level. A shallow draft reduces water drag, cuts down resistance to breathing and makes snorkel clearing easier and faster than with traditional J-shaped snorkels. During the early 1960s, diving equipment manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic embraced the “L” design, introducing the Beuchat “Tubalux”, Cavalero “Tuba L”, Dacor “Model LST”, Spartan “L” and US Divers “Snork-L”. East German and Soviet diving equipment manufacturers were also early adopters of the “L” design in the 1960s when developing commercial snorkel models for their recreational markets."

Well, that's my five cents' worth for basic gear manufactured in the era, and on the territory, of the Polish People's Republic. I'll soon be starting what may be my final thread about fins, masks and snorkels made in Eastern Europe before the collapse of communism there. It will be focusing on basic underwater swimming products from the Hungarian People's Republic.