Tank Enclosure

[rndboulder]

Thanks for posting links to the site Luis. The triples are AL30 with a one piece non isolation manifold. They are from the US Divers ABS system which included a plastic housing available in blue or silver. The OFS sets use a custom fiberglass housing. I was able to see the units first hand on a visit to the OFS a few months back. The small triples are great to dive with. I dive with them frequently here in Tacoma, WA. They are balanced and low profile with a nice quantity of air. I typically leave the housing at home.

The titanium tank set is very nice and extremely low profile. It held more air than double 80s at a fraction of the weight and bulk. The Cousteau Society dove with them for many years. The only problem was the ultimate life span due to the titanium alloy and the 5000psi pressure. They did have one tank split on them after which they only charged them to 2500psi. Incidentally, I have seen the ruptured tank. The other nice feature of the 4 tank set is that they used the 4th tank as a reserve. The lower valve allowed the diver access to the reserve once the primary air was used up.

Cousteau used this set up dating back to the first Aqualung Tests. He preferred the reserve over the use of a submersible pressure gauge because he felt it had less opportunity to fail. There was another unit available at the time of Cousteau's Aqualung tests that did use a submersible pressure gauge. The unit developed by George Comheines the GC-42 had a housing as well.

Here is the GC-42:

DSCN1785

The unit had been used to dive to 53Meters (174ft) by the time Cousteau began testing the aqualung.

As for the pods on the scooters, they contained one of the 5000psI cylinders and allowed the divers to breathe directly off the scooter for short reconnaissance missions. This concept was present on the scooters developed for the Under Sea World of Jacques Cousteau in the Sixties:
Scooter Yell 2

As mentioned before you can see a very large selection of the equipment used by Cousteau divers at my site Flashback Scuba: Simply Adventure.

If you have contacts or information regarding Cousteau equipment etc. drop me a line.

-Ryan

 

[5ata]

I'm curious about what would be needed to set up something like this. I actually hate diving a single tank - especially Aluminum tanks, but like the idea of being streamlined while shooting video underwater. Being a freediver doesn't help as I like to be as streamlined as possible when diving - this falls into line with that paradigm.

So if I understand it correctly, this setup that Blair sent the pic of (He's a great guy BTW - interviewed both he and JMC at DEMA 2003) consists of 3 - AL30's? Would SS 30's work as well? What is the manifold system to connect three tanks like that? Are the enclosures available to the General public? How would this rig attach to a BC? I have two potential broadcast TV projects in the works that are going to require my services as primary shooter underwater and want something efficient to dive with while shooting.

I plan on being at DEMA 2007 in Orlando and will be there from Oct 30 to Nov 3. If anyone has a contact person with whom I could talk to about this I would greatly appreciate it as I'm doing video podcasts of the show again this year for UWDV.COM and audio ones for underwatervideographer.tv.

 

[meesier42]

Hey 5ata, I will be at DEMA this year as well and I talk with Blair regularly. Come by the ForceFin booth and look for the red head in there.

I will have to verify this with Blair, but the enclosures are really only use with the subjects that are being filmed and even then for cosemtic reasons. I believe their insperation CCR's are painted to match their tank enclosures, which extends the visual continuity for film.

 

[rndboulder]

The hardest part in setting up a set like this is finding the Manifold. They are out there but fairly rare. The manifold fits AL30's but any tank with the same diameter or smaller will work. Any larger diameter tanks will not fit due to the manifold spacing spacing. -Ryan

 

[5ata]

Hey 5ata, I will be at DEMA this year as well and I talk with Blair regularly. Come by the ForceFin booth and look for the red head in there.

I will have to verify this with Blair, but the enclosures are really only use with the subjects that are being filmed and even then for cosemtic reasons. I believe their insperation CCR's are painted to match their tank enclosures, which extends the visual continuity for film.

Makes sense for the visual continuity as it really does add something to their projects visually.

I'll be running around with video gear shooting pieces for daily video podcasts but I'll make sure I come by the booth - Do you know if anyone from Ocean Futures is attending this year?

 

[oxyhacker]

There is an old letter from one of the Cousteau team floating around, regarding the gear used by the Cousteau team towards the end of his life, that best as I can recall explains that Cousteau was very much enamored of the "manfish" concept, which meant using a rig which was as simple and intuitive as possible, with as few bits dangling gear and items that needed constant monitoring or fiddling with as possible. This is one of the reasons (beyond paternal pride) that his team went on using double-hosers as long as they did - he liked the way a diver very familiar with the gear could estimate remaining air by the WOB, and how the divers would be gently nudged into ascending as the tank pressure dropped. Ditto BCs. He didn't like them, feeling that a properly weighted diver didn't need one, and was much freer without.

It's ironic that the JMC units that started this thread, while very similar in appearance to the old JC versions (which is doubtlessly why they are using them) represent a complete break from the old ones in every other respect, incorporating gauges, balanced regulators, computers and variable buoyancy, all the bells and whistles that modern divers expect and JC abhorred.

Cousteau used this set up dating back to the first Aqualung Tests. He preferred the reserve over the use of a submersible pressure gauge because he felt it had less opportunity to fail.

 

[meesier42]

Do you know if anyone from Ocean Futures is attending this year?

Not sure if anyone from OFS will be there or not, I just know that Blair Mott said that he will not be there. Sorry.

If you want to link up with him, his screen name is his name, just hop over to the Force Fin thread and feel free to talk, he really only reads that section of scubaboard. and even then just a couple of times a week, I think Tuesday's are his day that is on the board for discussions and I am pretty sure he is more than willing to talk about OFS stuff.

 

[WD8CDH]

The hardest part in setting up a set like this is finding the Manifold. They are out there but fairly rare. The manifold fits AL30's but any tank with the same diameter or smaller will work. Any larger diameter tanks will not fit due to the manifold spacing spacing. -Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Do you know what the spacing truly is? I know that the manifolds were for the Luxfur S30s which were 4.9" in diameter. Would the 5.25" S40s fit?

Thanks,

Ron

(skinny doubles and triples user)

 

[rndboulder]

Nothing larger than 4.9 will work. I looked into puting 40's on one of my sets. -Ryan

 

[WD8CDH]

Thanks Ryan,

That's what I was suspecting but I was hoping I was wrong. If you have a chance, could you measure the exact center to center spacing or the gap between cylinders in case I find some unusual tanks?

I guess for the time being, the only narrow manifold in current production is the DiveRite for up to 5.5" tanks.

By the way, I am working on a custom yoke manifold for 3 Catalina 30s or Luxfur 27s to fit the UDS-1 shell with one of the outside tanks inverted as a valved off reserve. I previously modified my original UDS-1 integrated manifold into a double manifold for 2 - 35s.

-Ron