I enjoy vintage too, but just the snorkelling variety; I don't scuba-dive. I live in the UK and snorkel in the North Sea.
There's room for us all in the vintage underwater world and we don't have embrace to every single aspect to pursue our favourite activity, whether it's a pastime or a passion. I can't contribute much when the conversation turns to regulators (or "demand valves" in 1950s/1960s British parlance), but I'm happy researching fins, masks, snorkels and suits, even sometimes encouraging vintage regulator collectors to consider displaying their countries' historical non-scuba basic underwater swimming gear alongside their prized scuba possessions.
I'm as keen as anybody else on using my vintage gear when snorkelling off the North East English coast, but that doesn't mean I don't relish too exploring and recording examples of subaquatic artefacts from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, before the advent of plastic and silicone. I also think that there's plenty of mileage in encouraging modern manufacturers who stick with classic designs. I admire, for example, the way that the Istanbul manufacturer
Adalılar Kauçuk continues to make traditional rubber fins, including the world's only full-foot fin with a heel strap, a common design in its time:
View attachment 170777
The fin on the right is the latest reincarnation of the Mares Concorde from the 1970s. More fins by the same Turkish manufacturer on their site:
Adalýlar Kauçuk ve Plastik Ürünleri Ýmalatý San. ve Tic. Ltd. Þti.
I would also like to see the full text (not just the covers) of early issues of national diving magazines being digitised and posted online so that we can all read about the early days of skin and scuba diving in our own languages (not just English!). I would love to browse through the advertisements in the 1950s UK BSAC magazine "Triton" and in its French and German equivalents.
As I say, plenty of work to be done in the vintage field, both in
and out of the water!
