First BC in 1968?

[VooDooGasMan]

It shows the routing in this add of a september 68 skin diver mag add.

http://ca.picclick.com/1968-SCUBA-EQUALIZER-SAFTBALLAST-DIVING-180653451853.html The routing is a three way and I would say the hose running up the left in your whit stag pic. More vintage adds under it.

 

[Quero]

It shows the routing in this add of a 68 skin diver mag add.

well anyways it did not work,1968 SCUBA EQUALIZER SAFTBALLAST DIVING SCUBA DIVER AD | eBay september 68. The routing is a three way and I would say the hose running up the left in your whit stag pic.

That link doesn't work, but by going to the ebay ad and clicking on "enlarge" below the image, you can get to that address.

 

[Akimbo]

So far, it looks like 1968 is the earliest device intended as a BC to hit the US and maybe even the European market. I imagine the first BC was discovering that you could use a Fenzy to adjust buoyancy, even if it wasted some of your emergency reserve inflation air (or orally inflated).

According to this site (scroll down to Water Gill AT-PAC):

Maurice Fenzy developed the first ABLJ (Adjustable Buoyancy Life Jacket) in 1961. Ten years later Scubapro developed the Stabilizer Jacket specifically for Divers, and one year after that Water Gill introduced the innovative AT-PAC in 1972. The AT-PAC was the first of the Wings (this term is used to refer to a Buoyancy Compensator or Buoyancy Control Device with bladders placed on either side of the Diver's back). The AT-PAC also had integrated weight as a standard feature and was the first BC/BCD able to be inflated via low-pressure feed….

I could be wrong, but I thought that we adapted Fenzys to inflate off our tanks before 1972. I believe we used a valve mechanism similar to today’s BC inflators that came off O’Neil’s early Neoprene drysuits (shoulder zipper, post-Poseidon Unisuits).

 

[Thalassamania]

While the AT Pac may, in fact, first commercial BC/BCD able to be inflated via low-pressure feed, many California divers had been using an IP line with a valve threaded into the CO2 detonator for a few years by then. The biggest problem with the WaterGill inflator was it's location up by gooseneck:



Other issues were the huge drag of the fairing and the inertia of water trapped inside. All in all a rather poorly thought out and executed piece of gear.

 

[Akimbo]

While the AT Pac may, in fact, first commercial BC/BCD able to be inflated via low-pressure feed, many California divers had been using an IP line with a valve threaded into the CO2 detonator for a few years by then...

This Saf-T-Ballast predates the At Pac, but doesn’t appear to have been a successful product. I suppose “LP-fed” has to be added to “first to be marketed as a BC”.

The first vest I saw with an LP-hose was a modified Fenzy. None of the CO2 cartridge vests I saw had an over-pressure valve, which would make them risky to inflate at depth.

…The biggest problem with the WaterGill inflator was it's location up by gooseneck:...

That was the part I liked! Here is a photo of the early model wing with brass fittings. For those that don’t know what we are talking about, a short LP hose from the first stage connected to a QD fitting attached to the plastic gooseneck at the top. Another LP hose ran inside the corrugated hose to the power inflator, oral inflator mouthpiece, and over pressure valve assembly on the end. I have actually considered rebuilding it again and putting it on my Oxycheq wing.

The other thing I liked was the elastic outer cover that kept it from taco’ing and generally flopping around. This wing was so compact that it convinced a lot of hard-core old divers to try a BC.



IMHO, the rest of the At Pac was marketing-oriented rubbish.

 

[Thalassamania]

... None of the CO2 cartridge vests I saw had an over-pressure valve, which would make them risky to inflate at depth.

That was part of the fun, right up there with the divers' choice of valve to use in the IP line, I saw needle valves, ball valves and gate valves used by different people.

 

[duckbill]

I suppose “LP-fed” has to be added to “first to be marketed as a BC”.

Why?

 

[Akimbo]

Why?

Can you think of another buoyancy device before October 1968 that had an LP supply from the first stage and an overpressure/relief valve? When I say added, I mean the first device intended as a BC and the first device to be LP-fed off the diver’s cylinders.

If this holds up to scrutiny, it would make the Saf-T-Ballast a ground breaking market failure — but ground breaking none the less.

With the exception of Thal’s recollections of an LP supply to a CO2 cartridge vest without an overpressure valve, nobody has come up with an older design. I think it is fair to say that they weren’t practical designs, bordering on scary.

 

[duckbill]

Can you think of another buoyancy device before October 1968 that had an LP supply from the first stage and an overpressure/relief valve? When I say added, I mean the first device intended as a BC and the first device to be LP-fed off the diver’s cylinders.

The question should really be, "Can you think of any buoyancy device before October 1968?"

It is the date of the Saf-T-Ballast that makes it a candidate as "the first BC device". The fact it has an LP provision does not make that a requirement for all BC devices that came before or after. An LP inflator is not necessary on a BC device, so if another BC device predates the Saf-T-Ballast that does not have an LP connector, it would still be an older "BC device" than the Saf-T-Ballast.

I regularly dive a horsecollar that has no provision for an LP hose. It's no problem adding air orally while underwater. Hence, my statement that an LP inflator is not a requirement to be called a "BC device".

 

[Thalassamania]

Good point, the Nemrod vest was available with a small HP tank, as well as without ... and it had no direct IP feed.