Rear view mirror

[dead dog]

Thanks Sam. I can take credit for this one. The head mounted go pro camera was giving me trouble.

I couldn’t always hear the beeps and got tired of asking everyone “is the red light on”? so I made something to allow me to instantly check on the cameras status. Should work well for checking for your buddy and I have also heard that some solo scuba divers find it works well for performing a bubble check on the first stage(s).

I can see this would be also helpful to free divers to see what's behind them (sharks).

 

[Sam Miller III]

I was fortunate to have began goggling (diving with goggles ) before JYC invented the bubble machine and was
introduced to lung diving on a bright sunny SoCal day 68 years ago. (That was before @drbill filled up the ocean !)

One of my horrible hobbies was to collect the diving catalogs. When
"Skin Diver magazine : a magazine for spear fishermen and skin divers" "SDM" was introduced in December 1951,
I expanded the scope of my collecting and began binding the SDMs.in library bindings

When ER Cross produced his full page 8-1/2 X 11, 1953 Sparling dive equipment catalog I bound it with my SDMs

In 1957 after JYC and a group of SoCal Car dealers acquired US Divers from Rene they published a full size color catalog, I began binding Catalogs and SDMs as a single volume. When Bob Mitchel established Aqua Craft in his San Diego garage I began binding his printed one sheet catalog which in a few years expanded to an acceptable serious catalog. I continued to bind it until its untimely and certainly unfortunate demise.

Before SDM was published I was friends with the founders. Jim Auxier and Chuck Blakeslee. After they sold the magazine to Bob Petersen Jim had a very debilitating stroke and passed away at his daughters home in Georgia . Chuck remained in California and we were often in contact via letter, telephone amd at the annual Fathers of Spear fishing meets. During that time if I had any question about an article or product such as a Aqua-Craft, rearview mirror all I needed to do was to contact Chuck -- His close intimate contact with SDM & the products gave him astounding memory - It seemed that with in a nano second he could give me year, month and page of an article or when an advertisement appeared in SDM

Chuck is no longer with us...

So for my own education I searched the Aqua-Craft catalogs year by year and page by page
This is the results of my search

1974

Aqua-Craft Catalog
5280 Kurtz Street
Sam Diego. Cal
(714 ) 289 9351
31 pages- sill pages -
Illustrated & photographed
B&W and full color pages

Page 12
1/2 page advertisement
General accessories

Buddy Mirror
"Takes the tunnel out of your vision "
Etc etc etc....

Catalog number A-192
Price ….$5.95

So @AndrewStick- 44 years ago a San Diego California company called Aqua-Craft introduced
"The Divers Rear View Mirror" Indeed sorry to disappoint you

Now you all know...

Sam Miller, III

@Akimbo
@JamesBon92007
@MAKO Spearguns
@couv
@ricardo V
@txgoose

 

[Akimbo]

When ER Cross produced his full page 8-1/2 X 11, 1953 Sparling dive equipment catalog I bound it with my SDMs

I never even heard a rumor about a Sparling catalog. Was it mostly recreational Scuba gear or did it include some commercial heavy gear?

Note for other readers:
ER Cross owned the Sparling School of Diving and Underwater Welding in Wilmington, California and ran the first formal class in the US for experienced civilian recreational divers. See Bev Morgan, Diving Industry Pioneer, Post #2

 

[Sam Miller III]

@Akimbo

Stated:

I never even heard a rumor about a Sparling catalog. Was it mostly recreational Scuba gear or did it include some commercial heavy gear?

Note for other readers:
ER Cross owned the Sparling School of Diving and Underwater Welding in Wilmington, California and ran the first formal class in the US for experienced civilian recreational divers. See Bev Morgan, Diving Industry Pioneer,

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too historical