Scubapro "Finseal" BCD's ..

[MR12111]

Trying to get a timeline on Scubapro BCD's ... Looking to buy a Vintage Finseal BCD and was wondering when they were selling at scubapro .. I'm a burnt out Boat Captain/Instructor and am thinking of getting back in after 15? years out of the water ... I have 1 of the Scubapro BCD's with the weights in it and don't like it ...I/you cannot just Ignore the Integral Weight system and wear a weight belt because of the way the Jacket is Made/Cut ...
I'm looking for something to use ..I won't be diving much ..Bad Back and 1 knee for starters .. anyhow can anyone fill me in on the progression of the BCD models back then ..I used the Orange Ones almost up until my "Retirement" .. I was a certified Scubapro Tech at 1 point but lost track of the models when I started "driving" full time ..

Finseal ..When were they made and what was their place in the Scubapro Line ? I'm thinking they might have been a "cheaper" alternative to what became the Classic Black BCD .. Any help will be really appreciated ..I tried to research this but there seems to be nothing on the Internet about it ...
Sorry This is so Long ...Don

 

[tursiops]

Mike's Dive Store | A Brief History of ScubaPro Dive Equipment

In the early 1960s Gustav Dalla Valle (an importer of Cressi and Beuchat) and Dick Bonin (a US Navy SEAL officer) bought the rights to the name Scubapro for 1 US dollar. Gustav continued to say he overpaid for the company his whole career! Revered as the Rolls Royce of scuba diving, Scubapro...

www.mikesdivestore.com

 

[MR12111]

Mike's Dive Store | A Brief History of ScubaPro Dive Equipment

In the early 1960s Gustav Dalla Valle (an importer of Cressi and Beuchat) and Dick Bonin (a US Navy SEAL officer) bought the rights to the name Scubapro for 1 US dollar. Gustav continued to say he overpaid for the company his whole career! Revered as the Rolls Royce of scuba diving, Scubapro...

www.mikesdivestore.com

Think I read that already ...they just talk about the orange one then jump ahead 30? years ..didn't really help ...thanks anyhow

 

[Pressurehead]

I was a certified Scubapro Tech at 1 point but lost track of the models when I started "driving" full time ..

Believe me, Regulators have not chanced much since you 'lost track', if you went back to being a 'tech', you would not know you even left.
And those BCs were a lot of fun back in the day, easy on/off and years of diving with them.

 

[Damselfish]

I think my first BC was a red finseal, bought in 1989. I replaced it after a couple years because it never fit me well and had no adjustability. It sat in the closet for some years until I discovered it didn’t hold air well anymore. I’d be leery of buying a BC that old.

 

[rhwestfall]

IIRC, The Finseal became the Classic when they came out with new models. I have non-weight-integrated Classic models from the early to middle 90's. I vaguely remember weight integration becoming available (and my jealousy of those that had it). Ah, the good old days...

I still have those jackets, and need to find homes for them...

 

[rx7diver]

From memory: Scubapro used to double tape and glue its SSJ's. Then in the late 1980's, they began offering less expensive "heat sealed" jackets, also. Then around 1990, Scubapro no longer used double tape and glue on its premium SSJ's, and began marketing them as "fin sealed" (or something like that), while still offering the less expensive "heat sealed" jackets.

I believe the premium, "fin sealed" jackets continued to be coated internally with neoprene. I believe the less expensive "heat sealed" jackets were coated internally with poly-something-or-other (polyurethane?)

My first SSJ, which I purchased new in 1987, was the orange, "taco-packet" model. It was double-taped and glued.

My "new" SSJ, which I continue to dive occasionally, I purchased new ca. 1994. It is black, and "fin sealed", with "Scubapro Classic" stenciled across the pocket flap.

I'll double-check all this against old Scubapro catalogs when I have time this evening.

rx7diver

 

[MR12111]

I think my first BC was a red finseal, bought in 1989. I replaced it after a couple years because it never fit me well and had no adjustability. It sat in the closet for some years until I discovered it didn’t hold air well anymore. I’d be leery of buying a BC that old.

Good Point ... I have no Idea how long they can hold out "in storage" .. I have wore out a few .. used to be you could send back "the bag" and they'd send you a new one ...

 

[rhwestfall]

Um yeah... those days are l-o-n-g gone....

 

[MR12111]

IIRC, The Finseal became the Classic when they came out with new models. I have non-weight-integrated Classic models from the early to middle 90's. I vaguely remember weight integration becoming available (and my jealousy of those that had it). Ah, the good old days...

I still have those jackets, and need to find homes for them...

This is what my old one looked like ..and what I'm looking for ...I have found a blue "finseal" one that looks in pretty good shape ...but .... You said you had one or 2 that needed new homes ..Large Maybe ??