Pros & Cons of Vintage Gear

[Alex777]

BC's today are way too busy..........all you need one for is to maintain bouancy. And you need little of that if you are weighted correctly in the first place. Oldmossback

Actually, it seems to me that a true "vintage diver" doesn't need a BC at all and probably wouldn't wear one ...

 

[duckbill]

Actually, it seems to me that a true "vintage diver" doesn't need a BC at all and probably wouldn't wear one ...

Then define "vintage diver".
I believe BCs first made the scene in the early 1960s, and , yes, apparently some divers at that time did see the benefit of using one.
I see your are in Grand Cayman; Try diving the northern or central California coast in a 1/4" farmer john and maintaining your neutral buoyancy with no BC. LOL

 

[Alex777]

Well, of course I can only speak to the conditions with which I am familiar. But I have always had the impression that divers in the 50s and early 60s did dive without BCs even in N & Central Cal. Perhaps someone who was there at that time can comment on this ...

 

[pescador775]

In the 1950's we did not use BC's (we called them life jackets or "floats"). I did carry a "resque pak" during one season. It was a set of CO2 water wings folded into a package. Next season I wore a Dacor float which was a CO2 rubber tube which was worn flat and which snapped to a web belt. After I decided that they were a bother I stopped using them. Scuba divers including military started wearing vests in the late 50's to early 60's and I started in 1971. These were not BC's but could serve somewhat like that if inflated by mouth. The lack of a crotch strap made them uncomfortable when inflated under water. The Dacor was particularly nice but more of the yellow, USD vests were sold than anything. My vest was a UDT type with double, 25 gram inflators. That vest was used by serious divers of the day as it was said that twin detonators could raise the diver from 200 feet. Also, that vest was equipped with an overpressure valve, something rare in the day. Free divers did or did not wear a vest depending on preference. I used one because it could be used to help fight really large fish. Also, it could be removed and temporarily tied off to the gun in situations where a big fish was holed up. I have noticed that there is a tendency today for free divers to abandon the vest altogether which does not seem to be a good idea. I think they rely on trailing floats, boogie boards and the like to hang on to. To this day I still use the UDT vest for free diving and short, shallow tank dives. I still dive vintage SCUBA from time to time and use a military horsecollar modified for rec use to go below 60 feet. You can see my photos of this vest in the gallery. It is extremely compact when deflated but not as nice as a modern back inflate overall. The military vest is crucial for me because I carry a big speargun which can only be cocked efficiently with a short vest as all military vests are. Here again, the advantage goes to the back inflate but I can use either.

 

[Nemrod]

Then define "vintage diver".
I believe BCs first made the scene in the early 1960s, and , yes, apparently some divers at that time did see the benefit of using one.
I see your are in Grand Cayman; Try diving the northern or central California coast in a 1/4" farmer john and maintaining your neutral buoyancy with no BC. LOL

You could be right but I do not recall seeing a real BC of any sort until the early 70s, not 60s. During the 60s we certainly used the Mae West type CO2 vests but they were NOT a BC. The first functional manual inflate BC, horsecollar, I did not recall seeing until about 1972, the At Pac concept, when did that come along at it's earliest experts out there?

N

 

[Gilldiver]

The first real BC that was meant to be used bellow the surface was most likely the Fensie (SP?), which had it's own inflator bottle, came out in the late 60's. Luis, one of the vintage divers around here still will use his.

The horse collar BC was the staple in the 70's and early 80's but most in the 70's were manual inflate only. My first Jacket style was a Seaquest ADV vest that I got about 1985, now it had a power inflator! I switched to the Diverite wing (now Classic Wing) about 1991 or a year or so later.

 

[Luis H]

When a type of equipment such as a flotation device or BC first showed up and when they became popular (especially in Kansas ) are two totally different dates.

The Fenzy came out in 1961
The Scubapro Stabilization Jacket came out in 1971
The Watergill At Pac came out in 1972
Scubapro also introduced a wing in the early 70’s, but I can’t find an exact date.

The Dacor Nautilus rigid ballast system came out in 1976.
There were some real innovations (not all for the better) back in the 70’s. Now a day everyone seems to just copy each other…probably due to market acceptance or liability.


I started using a Fenzy around 1972 (maybe late 71), but I grew up in the Caribbean so the Fenzy was mostly for surface flotation. It just made it easier to wait on the surface while the other 6 or 7 divers would get back on the boat (a Boston Whaler 17&#8217.


I have a copy of a great Power Point presentation about the history of BC, put together by David McLean. It is very well done with some great pictures and lot of great information. If anyone wants a copy, just send me a PM with your email and I will send you a copy.

 

[pescador775]

The Scubapro Stab Jacket was introduced in the fall of 1977. I bought one and loved it. Used it until it fell apart in 1994. Bought a replacement but only used it once. The design had changed. When I ordered the original the shop owner in Falls Church, Va had not yet seen one, it was just a picture in a sales bulletin from SP which included a test report from Skin Diver magazine, I think. The shop owner was Bill McGehee, the largest SP dealer in that part of the east coast.

 

[pescador775]

There were no BC's in use in 1971. I don't count the two divers who brought Fenzi's back from France. Instead, there were the CO2 vests which I mentioned before. However, within the next year or two, the horsecollar became very prominent. This type of flotation began to show up everywhere in shops, magazines and particularly among wreck divers and anyone who needed auto flotation to bring up loads of oysters and anchors. By about 1973 there was a big article in Skin Diver about the Atpac wing; although I never personally saw one , I did try the Waterlung version. Adoption of new products was not universal throughout the US, it was spotty depending on what the local shops were pushing. In 1974, I tried a Waterlung wing which looked very much like the Atpac. I tested it once but did not go further with it. Auto inflation was becoming widespread by that time and my BC was the black SP horsecollar, then later the stab jacket. The limiting factor was the regulators and, as a result, some dive shops began selling adapters which would increase the number of available LP ports for the Conshelf and others. I modified an oxygen elbow to use with an Aquamaster and my triple tanks. By 1975, diving the double hose with auto inflate Scubapro vest (BC) was routine for me. All of our crew were retro like that. We dived and salvaged wrecks using that type of gear.

 

[captain]

Then define "vintage diver".
I believe BCs first made the scene in the early 1960s, and , yes, apparently some divers at that time did see the benefit of using one.
I see your are in Grand Cayman; Try diving the northern or central California coast in a 1/4" farmer john and maintaining your neutral buoyancy with no BC. LOL

I made many a dive with a 1/4 wet suit and no BC, you weighted yourself to be reasonable neutral at depth but you could not be neutral through out the whole water column. Suit buoyancy changed the most in the first 33 feet, I was buoyant at the start of the dive and either had to swim down hard or hand over hand down the anchor line. Safety stops were unheard of so being neutral at the end of a dive was not an issue.
The first real BC I recall seeing was the Fenzy in the early 70's. My first BC was the Nemrod horse collar with the inflation cylinder like the Fenzy but it was cheaper than the Fenzy.