Help me Identify this regulator and depth guage

[John C. Ratliff]

Hey guys,

I'm helping my wife create a presentation targeted at fifth graders covering "scuba technology changes over time." I've got some very old equipment, and my LDS loaned me a bunch. However, I'd like to include things like the name of the product and the year it was made. Can anyone help me identify these two? Before you say it, I already looked on vintagedoublehose.com. They didn't appear to have exactly this regulator (although many simmilar ones). I can't find anything about the guage. Also, the scubapro museum no longer exists so that's not an option either.

View attachment 448580 View attachment 448581

Also, I know it's not really considered vintage.. anyone know the manufacture date of the scubapro mk7 honker?

If you get a chance, take that capillary depth gauge on a dive and photograph it at various depths underwater. Then with those fifth graders, show the water column advancing up the capillary tube with increasing depth, and if possible show it at 33 feet of sea water, where it should be half way up the tube. You can then discuss the various depth readings, and show the relationship between volume and pressure using this "simple" depth gauge.

By the wat, I have a presentation on the history of buoyancy compensation that I can also share with you and your wife. Just send me a PM with your e-mail address.

Working with kids is fun. I gave this presentation recently, and brought old equipment, including my Nikonos II with a BC flash unit attached. I put an unused flash bulb in it, and after my presentation showed it to people and students, Including one high school student. I told her to go ahead and depress the shutter lever, which she did. Immediately, a blinding flash erupted as the bulb flashed; I apologized for scaring her, as that unit had not been used in somethoping like thirty years. But its battery and capacitor still worked. This sparked a discussion about early artificial light photography and one student asked, "You mean that you only got one flash from each bulb?" I told him, "Yes, and we had to replace the bulb after each photo, sometimes with three-finger neoprene gloves on our hands." They were agsost at the waste. But that's how we did it in that time.

SeaRat

 

[Bob DBF]

The depth gauge is a capillary type, difficult to read and only fairly accurate at best. I don't think many are still in use.

My old Healthways capillary gauge is more difficult to read as it has yellowed over time. As for accurate, it was right on with a computer and a bourdon tube gauge. At altitude it it is more accurate than a bourdon tube gauge, and tracks with the computer.


Bob

 

[diversteve]

I think that particular gauge is a little newer - at least my old Scubapro dealer still sold something very similar in the early 80's. No telling how long it had been on display though, IIRC the earlier 70's models were metal - or at least had a silver ring around the inside edge of the gauge - similar/same face.. Although my first gauges new in 1981 were already oil-filled

 

[kelemvor]

Here's what we ended up with. It isn't setup nice on the display table, but this is what we scraped together for the kids to look at. The presentation topic was "Changes In Technology." The teacher selected scuba technology since we had available some older scuba gear to show rather than just online photos.

The pages only cover brief information about the regulators. We didn't have time to dig up information on the various dive computers. Keep in mind, this is targeted at fifth graders in public shool. Exactly zero of the kids in this class had ever known anyone who was a scuba diver.


I remember the first time I saw scuba equipment. My 7th grade science teacher brought her scuba gear in to show us. I wonder if any of these kids will remember seeing these things later in life.