Old School Scuba

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

Recently saw an old movie made in 1954. It featured scuba diving off the coast of Mexico in which the divers encounter a sea monster. The credits state that it was filmed on location in the ocean. What intrigued me since I've only been diving for a couple years is that the divers basically used a tank with shoulder straps, a two hose regulator and a weight belt. No gauges, no BCD, no computers, no, depth gauges, no dive watches, no nothing.

Apparently diving back in the day was pretty simple. How did they control boyauncy? It didn't look like they went very deep in the movie, maybe 20-30 feet but still.

They used a horseshoe bladder and were correctly weighted. Most used the US Navy Diving Tables, and didn't dive very deep. .

 

[Gene]

I saw someone else say they first used scuba at 11, and that was me in 1973 in the Weeki Wachee River during a family camping trip.
My step-dad said he'd let me try out the gear if I answered enough scuba questions right. I anxiously donned a single steel tank on a plate with straps. One reg as I recall and that was about it!
I'll never forget that first moment breathing underwater. I'm still at it at 59!

 

[Thunder Struck]

J-Valve tanks. So you can run out of air twice on a dive

 

[tursiops]

They used a horseshoe bladder

Never saw one.

were correctly weighted.

Yes

Most used the US Navy Diving Tables

Yes

didn't dive very deep.

No

 

[PfcAJ]

Horse COLLAR not horseshoe.

 

[herman]

I routinely dive that way today -DH reg, tank and harness, it's a much more enjoyable way to dive. I will admit I do usually dive with a computer but it's mainly to keep up with depth and time, not really as a computer. It forces you to get your weighting dead on and to get very good control of your buoyancy. You would be amazed how much easier diving is once you stop depending on a BC for your buoyancy and get your weights dialed in properly.

 

[happy-diver]

Just like swimming without having to surface

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

I think a lot of us were inspired by Mike Nelson.... I've got the entire series on DVD and even the original book from 1960.... Who needs a BC or gauges to be bothered with when your only job is to save the world and then get back to the boat for a Lucky Strike!! One of my favorite episodes is Killer Rock where Mike is hired to go up to BC , and blow up the rock that is a serious navigation hazard. He dives into the cave with a pile of dynamite (no hood or gloves because Mike is tough)....... but before he can unroll the entire fuse an indigenous electric eel inadvertently lights the fuse close to the explosives and Mike has only minutes to either stop the explosion or make an escape... Que the drama music.......

 

[rongoodman]

I wonder how solid his back kick was, though?

 

[Angelo Farina]

Before globalization did occur, diving was very different in different parts of the world.
I can report on how it was here in Italy 50 years ago.

The mediterranean is warm during summer. So no diving suit... Hence no change in buoyancy with depth.
We did dive deep: the normal rec limit was 50m with deco, all done in air. Some were going even deeper, the limit for air was considered 90m, they were hunting red coral.
The standard tank was a twin tank of 10+10 liters at 150-200 bars (my first twin tank was at 170 bars, but routinely overfilled at 200). No BCD, no pressure gauge, reserve on the right tank. Two valves, no separation manifold, two posts, two complete regs (two first stages, two second stages).
Depth meter, wrist-watch and US Navy tables.
Most divers were mostly free divers, who occasionally also used air tanks, or pure oxygen rebreathers (ARO) for shallow diving.
Scuba training was cheap and very long (the course was 6 months long), based mostly on free diving and using the ARO.
Less than 1/3 of the initial students did arrive to being certified.
There were no specialties: just 3 levels for divers (1, 2 or 3 stars) and 3 levels for instructors.
Reaching the highest rank was incredibly difficult: my 3-stars instructor certification carries the number 14 and I got it in 1982.
This means that, before me, in the previous 30 years only 13 other guys did get the same certification.
Females were favoured here for a number of reasons, but only at low and medium levels.