Russian Vintage Scuba Diving

[Sam Miller III]

David,Thanks for the research of the Rory Page article. I appreciate it and hope you and others enjoy it and find it interesting ...a document of "The way it was..." Some times I have a difficulty locating my old articles. Over the years I have had four dedicated magazine columns and one news paper column, all some what filed away --some where? I must stay away from the water and get organized --some day


Rory and I were "neighbors" for many years he lived "two blocks south of me and 10 blocks west of my home" but we were "neighbors"


We chatted about many things...Family, diving and our USAF experiences, mine as a Korean war veteran and Rorys as a WW11 veteran

One that might be of interest to you was his WW11 experiences as a US Army fighter pilot . Rory was right in the middle of the battles in 1943-1944, his plane was shot up but he was never wounded but once landed in North Sea and twice crashed landed in jolly ole England. The brass of the US Army air force decided his experiences would be valuable so sent him back to the US as an advanced fighter pilot instructor.

So he missed D Day and all the fun and possibilities to became an Ace.So many stories and so many memories of great and good friends who are all now diving on that big reef in the sky


Thanks for your effort in location this article . SDM

Trapezus ..feel free to copy for your Turkish vintage divers sdm

 

[АлександрД]

Here is newest Valery foto from Moscow exibition Dive Show

with his new simple rebreather Astra

Rebreather IDA Astra-4.7.5.1
This rebreather is intended for use:
- with sidemount configurations of cylinders, which allows you to pass the narrowness of carrying the rebreather in front of you;
- with another rebreather, as a backup device;
- backmount, simply as a rebreather, for which backmount cylinders will play the role of bailout.
The rebreather is placed on the chest and during the passage of the narrowness it can be partially (only from below) or completely removed from the body and lead in front of him. You can also disconnect it from the cylinders and leave it in front of the entrance to the narrowness.

Some of his photos above possible is mine
here some extra and antiofftopic photos (from me):
Russian developing bureau of breathing apparatus museum:

Some are oxygen, some are regenerative and some is regenerative+selfmixer (time scheduled), some is deep diving supply systems.

here is me not very old gas mask, reworked to FullFaceMask, fireman`s demand valves from ASV SCBA, BCD reworked from pilots west ASZh-58 and SimpleSidemount

me in DrySuit UGK-1 with sidemount

demand valve from AVM-5, BCD as above

and more sofisticaded sidemount

Valery with his first versions of IDA Afalina (later Astra) - oxygen kind of his rebreather

and KISS kind

our fundive with SGP (rescue suit for submariners)

reworked Russian gas mask PMK-3 (newest) with ASV firemans SCBA demand valves, sidemount
This dive was in old phosfor ore open pit, where water Ph is around 4 ! (real acid)

here is real view of that place

Vintage soviet dry suit Sadko

old soviet oxygen rebreather IPSA (it has no regulator! just bag controlled button directly from HP to the breathing bag)

Valery no mount dive really - just tank, regulator and suit

Valery as supply diver behind ThreeBolts diver

Anastasiya (La?) backstage photo

 

[АлександрД]

me and Sidemount, reworked from one of the first soviet SCUBA - AVM-1m

old soviet ascent device ZhV-1

Modern Russian regulator AVM-12 (VR-12) with octopus from AVM-5 scuba

soviet very rare compass KNM and depthgauge G-5

three disassembled AVM-1m regulators

Wanna more fotos? Have questions?
welcome!

sorry, for my possible language mistakes, english is not native for me, and I read english slowly.

 

[iamrushman]

Thanks for sharing such interesting and personal photos....i really enjoyed looking at them.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for your contribution, АлександрД. I recognise the Sadko drysuit, which I know was a suit designed for Soviet sportsmen and came in two versions, Sadko 1 and Sadko 2. I have a Sadko hood in my collection of vintage diving gear:

You may be interested in several threads posted here over recent years about Russian and Ukrainian fins, masks and snorkels:
Soviet fins: Models 1-7
Soviet fins 2
Soviet Fins 3: Made in Leningrad
Soviet fins 4: The Ukrainian connection
Post-Soviet fins: Russian models 1
Post-Soviet fins: Russian models 2
Post-Soviet fins: Ukrainian models
Post-Soviet masks: Russian models
Post-Soviet masks: Ukrainian models
Soviet masks: Russian models
Soviet masks: Ukrainian models
Russian and Ukrainian snorkels
I for one would value any input you may have about what has been posted in these threads.

Thanks again for sharing your pictures.

 

[АлександрД]

Do you know difference between Sadko-1 and Sadko-2?
it is winter hood! that absent in Sadko-1 (also gloves with plastic rings)
I suspect that your helmet on the picture above is spare part for Sadko-1.

Winter Helmet on photo. It has very nice connection type - inside is plastic rim, than helmet, attached to the suit (like on your photo), than Winter helmet with integrated mask and mouthpiece, than rubber ring.
Here is full set:

I`v seen most of that topics. Later I will try to add more interesting, about regulators and another equipment.
But for Russian equipment - I more interested for regulators and rebreathers.
For rebreathers - only for construction and engeneering ideas and strikes. I`m normal diver.
I`m not collect it, but try to use, if that likes to me - I use it sometimes rework.

 

[Mark IV]

The photos in the ^ above post reminded me of something amusing I read in another forum, a few years back:
"Ask a Russian to design a pair of shoes, and he'll bring you something that looks like the box the shoes should come in.
But ask him to design something to kill Germans....and he turns into Thomas-friggin'-Edison !!"

 

[Luis H]

Wow, a side mounted double hose.

Great pictures АлександрД.

Thanks

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The Americans spent millions of dollars trying to make a pen that would work in space. After the cold ended war and we were speaking again, they asked the Russians how they dealt with that problem, and the they said “We use pencil”.

I don’t know if the story is true or not, but I thought it was perfect.
I’m of Russian descent and I grew up around a lot of Russians, I know how they think.

 

[АлександрД]

a little part of offtopic:

But ask him to design something to kill Germans....

here is great mistake. Not Germans, but fascists. This is a great difference. But other really sometime looks like a true.

About story of the pen or pencil in the space - it is partically true.
First man (Yuri Gagarin) in orbital flight had pencil for writting. We developed pen much late, but when we was ready to produce it - States already had massproduction (mass hundreds) of Fisher`s space pen. And we just bought it to use in flight of second generation of spaceships.

antiofftopic:

That is Ukraina-2 (and same used for ASV scba) membrane regulator. with SP-21.8(German oxygen thread) to DIN adaptor
Hose is original! It is not selfmade! Because intermediate pressure is 6-6.5 bar (because used contraflow demand valve)
It is third version of regulator.

That is first, pistone, model of regulator.
It is most simple, that I ever saw.
It contains only from 6 metal items, one spring, one o-ring, one brass or rubber washer, one PTFE cylinder as a valve seal.
length is not six inches! here is cm! It just 2+1/2 inch lenght.

It had two options, without SPG and with it! (spring SPG)

Here is only drawing of second kind of regulator for Ukraina-2

It is enviromentally sealed (all springs is inside). I never saw it, but many times try to find.