Dacor Seachute BC

[jadairiii]

The Dacor Seachute was an interesting BC and some of its features may be lost on the "new generation" of divers. When true BC's started becoming popular vs safety vests, one version of BC was a "pillow" BC that was strapped on the front of the diver but did not have the horse collar shape, buoyancy was directed to the stomach/chest area (see a 1976 Seatec catalog). This model was somewhat popular with cave divers prior to the wing. Anyway, Dacor comes out with this Seachute BC, it was made up of 2 bladders within a "common" external cover. The upper bladder inflated around the neck like a safety vest and the lower bladder was the "Buoyancy Compensator", much like the pillow BC.

I know there must be some old timers that actually have dived with this bc and can give a dive report on how they operated. The link is from ebay, I AM NOT THE SELLER, but it really gives some good pictures of the unit.

Vintage Dacor Seachute Horse Collar 40 lb Buoyancy Compensator Vest Model BC4 | eBay

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I think I may have used one a long, long time ago. But when I decided to make my own Para-Sea BC design, I rejected this design as it placed a “bubble” under the midsection of the diver, and would be rather difficult to keep from rolling over. The design is great on the long axis of the diver, but may be unstable on the roll axis.

SeaRat

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Here’s my patent on a BCD. I developed it with “wings” to keep that bubble around the chest, rather than under it.

US4623316A - Flotation vest - Google Patents

SeaRat

 

[jadairiii]

Here’s my patent on a BCD. I developed it with “wings” to keep that bubble around the chest, rather than under it.

US4623316A - Flotation vest - Google Patents

SeaRat

A bit reminiscent of the USD Calypso compensator. For an inexperienced diver, I would bet that vest would be dang near impossible to get into horizonal trim.

 

[gbf]

This is my profile pic. That is a Seaquest horse collar, ca. 1976 at Merrits Mill Pond/Twin Caves. Maintaining horizontal trim was not a problem. That was a new-and-improved version with a "y" harness into which you stepped.

Look closely and you might be able to see several other somewhat dated (!) or home-made bits of equipment. And for those who think long hose primary with bungeed secondary are a new thing...

 

[jadairiii]

This is my profile pic. That is a Seaquest horse collar, ca. 1976 at Merrits Mill Pond/Twin Caves. Maintaining horizontal trim was not a problem. That was a new-and-improved version with a "y" harness into which you stepped.

Look closely and you might be able to see several other somewhat dated (!) or home-made bits of equipment. And for those who think long hose primary with bungeed secondary are a new thing...

View attachment 660591

Ever cave dive with Paul Meng back then?

 

[Saboteur]

I had a Seachute back in ‘79 exactly like the one posted. It was so long ago I can’t recall how trim was. It would be fun to do back to back dives with a horse collar BCD and a modern back inflate.

 

[gbf]

Ever cave dive with Paul Meng back then?

Knew him to speak to. Never dove with him. Seems like he was along for the ride up the Chipola River when I did part of my NACD class - but that was a really long time ago and I could be wrong about that.

 

[jadairiii]

Knew him to speak to. Never dove with him. Seems like he was along for the ride up the Chipola River when I did part of my NACD class - but that was a really long time ago and I could be wrong about that.

He was my Advanced/DM/AI Instructor at UF back in 81-82. Dove with him a lot, but not cave, just cavern diving. He died in 1983, great guy.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

A bit reminiscent of the USD Calypso compensator. For an inexperienced diver, I would bet that vest would be dang near impossible to get into horizonal trim.

If you’re talking about the Para-Sea BC, which is the patent I have, no, trim is easy. The reason is that the air moves from the neck to the sides, and is sitting beside the chest. I have a few photos, and when I got up to my other computer, I’ll post them here.

SeaRat

PS, below is a photograph of me using the Para-Sea BC in Clear Lake. It also has lines of buoyant force for the conventional vest BC, and for the Para-Sea BC, along with a balancing weight belt force in the opposite direction. As you can see, my trim was pretty good.