History of BCs...finalizing the Powerpoint

[Dave McLean]

With tremendous help from many friends I have dusted off a Powerpoint that I created about five years ago and I am seriously adding to it. The topic is the History of Buoyancy Compensators. I have a number of photos that have been supplied to me over the years (some with me in them) that span the "classic" years of diving of '70s onward, but I am missing a few key shots. If you have any of these, I would really appreciate an email to david_mclean@<antispam>msn.com. Make sure you remove the bracket stuff.

1) At-Pac Shroud
2) At-Pac Comfort Jacket
3) Cuda BC (Let's see a show of hands who know about this one...hehe)
4) Shot of first Seatec Catalog
5) Any advertisement for a ResQ Float (those inflatable ball thingys)
6) Any shots of Dumas' first BC from the Dumas Museum (the shots I have aren't too clear)
7) USD Catalog shot of the first Calypso over-the-shoulder Jacket BC.
8) Scubapro Can Weights - went on the SCUBA Tank - Circa 1977ish.

If anyone has one of the original ORANGE SeaQuest ADV single bag BC demo units out there, please let me know too. This would be Circa 1982-1983ish.

If you were involved in any BC design or testing I would love to speak with you too.

I will give proper credit to your shots in the presentation.

January 17th I will be trying it out for the first time at the Moss Bay Dive Club meeting in Kirkland, Washington. Time should be around 7:00ish. If you would like more info go to www.Mossbaydiveclub.org

Thanks!

Dave McLean

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Dave,

Any discussion about the history of the buoyancy compensator cannot be complete without mention of Bill Herder of Deep Sea Bill's, Newport, Oregon in the 1970s. He pioneered different BSs, including a jacket BC that I demonstrated at IQ6 (The Sixth International Conference on Underwater Education) during the 1970s. I also wrote some papers that were published during that time period, and have developed my own BC (wrap-around jacket with a parachute harness). Take a look at these threads:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=19431&highlight=Ratliff+BC

I've put you at the beginning of this thread, but you really should look and read the entire thread.

SeaRat

 

[Chad Carney]

With tremendous help from many friends I have dusted off a Powerpoint that I created about five years ago and I am seriously adding to it. The topic is the History of Buoyancy Compensators. I have a number of photos that have been supplied to me over the years (some with me in them) that span the "classic" years of diving of '70s onward, but I am missing a few key shots. If you have any of these, I would really appreciate an email to david_mclean@<antispam>msn.com. Make sure you remove the bracket stuff.

1) At-Pac Shroud
2) At-Pac Comfort Jacket
3) Cuda BC (Let's see a show of hands who know about this one...hehe)
4) Shot of first Seatec Catalog
5) Any advertisement for a ResQ Float (those inflatable ball thingys)
6) Any shots of Dumas' first BC from the Dumas Museum (the shots I have aren't too clear)
7) USD Catalog shot of the first Calypso over-the-shoulder Jacket BC.
8) Scubapro Can Weights - went on the SCUBA Tank - Circa 1977ish.

If anyone has one of the original ORANGE SeaQuest ADV single bag BC demo units out there, please let me know too. This would be Circa 1982-1983ish.

If you were involved in any BC design or testing I would love to speak with you too.

I will give proper credit to your shots in the presentation.

January 17th I will be trying it out for the first time at the Moss Bay Dive Club meeting in Kirkland, Washington. Time should be around 7:00ish. If you would like more info go to www.Mossbaydiveclub.org

Thanks!

Dave McLean

Dave,

I used #1 in 1972, and also used and sold #2 & #3 in our dive shop. I probably have photos of the first two.

Chad

 

[ScubaEngineer]

Hello Dave,
I have At-pac Shroud, and also have a Barracuda Silicone molded Hard BC. We also probably have the old Seaquest ADV here in our History file.

ED

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Dave,

I'll try to remember to get that 1980 Navy Experimental Diving Unit study into a PDF tomorrow at work.

John

 

[Tom Winters]

No mention of the Bou&#233;e Fenzy with that awesome refillable bottle in a history of bc's???

 

[captain]

This is a 1980 test report by the Navy on different types of BC,s. Any BC that was attached to the tank was rejected for Navy use because of being unable to ditch the tank without also having to ditch the BC.

http://www.vintagescubasupply.com/downloads/NavyEDUreport.pdf

 

[Dave McLean]

You betcha!

 

[Dave McLean]

So the Shot I need now is of the first women's BC - the one with the cross-your-heart straps...yikes!

 

[Dave McLean]

Update - The Draft Powerpoint can be found here:

http://mckclan.net/BC.htm

Chad Carney stands guard on the page in his vintage At-Pac with Comfort Jacket.