The SCUBA Police and the Vintage Diver

[Savaaha]

This is great! I'm slowly collecting vintage gear, only thing Ive ever used of it tho is the old rectangle navy seals type mask. All my equipment but the mask and fins is used, some of it like my 1st/2nd stage and octo are older than 10yrs and they work great.

 

[B Lo]

I know I'm a bit late to the game, but I have to praise this post. Well done. You have earned my admiration - and that's not always easy.

I would have simply responded to everything he said very loudly, "Did you know that Leisurepro.com has the best prices on SCUBA Gear?"

"I always find the best prices at Leisurepro.com!"

"Why would anyone by gear at a dive shop when there's Leisurepro.com?!"

 

[MattCrunk]

Man, what a great thread and what a great forum! I've been diving since 1982, but not very actively for the past 15 or so years. I've recently started to get back into it, because my "new" wife of ten years has decided she wants to learn to dive. But, wow, did I ever get excited when I found this thread and realized there may actually be a community with a growing interest in vintage equipment diving. Now I know I'm not alone.

All my basic equipment is what I started out with back in the early 80's, so it's already vintage by definition. But it's the real old stuff that I think is the coolest - the double hose regulators, oval masks, shiny black wetsuits, etc. I had no idea people where finding and diving with this stuff again. What a cool scene!

I've always had a natural affinity for all things vintage: hot rods, houses, music, etc. "Frogman" G.I. Joe and the Bond films (and later "Jaws") are what first sparked my interest in diving, so that's were my head was at from the start. In fact, I think it was all the high-tech equipment advances and dive "fashion" in the 90's that later contributed to my eventual disinterest in the whole scene.

Well, now I'm back, and it looks like I found a home.

 

[Paladin]

Man, what a great thread and what a great forum! I've been diving since 1982, but not very actively for the past 15 or so years. I've recently started to get back into it, because my "new" wife of ten years has decided she wants to learn to dive. But, wow, did I ever get excited when I found this thread and realized there may actually be a community with a growing interest in vintage equipment diving. Now I know I'm not alone.

All my basic equipment is what I started out with back in the early 80's, so it's already vintage by definition. But it's the real old stuff that I think is the coolest - the double hose regulators, oval masks, shiny black wetsuits, etc. I had no idea people where finding and diving with this stuff again. What a cool scene!

I've always had a natural affinity for all things vintage: hot rods, houses, music, etc. "Frogman" G.I. Joe and the Bond films (and later "Jaws") are what first sparked my interest in diving, so that's were my head was at from the start. In fact, I think it was all the high-tech equipment advances and dive "fashion" in the 90's that later contributed to my eventual disinterest in the whole scene.

Well, now I'm back, and it looks like I found a home.

Welcome to the Dark Side!

Come to Portage Quarry in Ohio in August for the Legends of Diving weekend. You'll meet a bunch of us vintage equipment outcasts there!

 

[duckbill]

Welcome, Matt! Yes, diving can still be fun for young and old alike (to paraphrase Mike Nelson).

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Welcome to the Dark Side!

Come to Portage Quarry in Ohio in August for the Legends of Diving weekend. You'll meet a bunch of us vintage equipment outcasts there!

I love being a vintage outcast.
To bad I'm busy and broke at the same time or I'd make a pilgrimage out there.
Maybe someday.

For now I'll just have to keep pissing off the modern diving crowd with my old vintage crap that will "get me killed someday".

 

[Paladin]

For you folks out there who are thinking about trying vintage equipment diving, there is a way to dive without an SPG: Select an arbitrary SAC rate that is higher than your actual SAC rate and calculate your air supply in minutes. My SAC rate varies between about .6 cubic feet per minute and .8 cu. ft/min. When planning a dive, I use an arbitrary 1.0 cu. ft./min. and use my watch in place of an SPG. This is the way I learned to dive, many years ago, on a DA Aqua-Master without an SPG.

A 72 cu. ft steel tank actually holds about 65 cu. ft. at 2250 PSI. Using a SAC rate of 1 cu. ft./min. gives 65 min of air at the surface, 32 minutes at 33 ft., 21 minutes at 66 ft. and 16 min. at 99 ft. Of course this gives a bit of a reserve buffer but that only adds a safety factor. I still use this method even when I am diving with an SPG attached to a regulator.

If you're using an AL80, remember that an 80 actually holds 77 cu. ft. of air.

The above method works for both a J valve and a K valve. However, it does require a healthy dose of self discipline and an adherence to a dive plan.

 

[captain]

For you folks out there who are thinking about trying vintage equipment diving, there is a way to dive without an SPG: Select an arbitrary SAC rate that is higher than your actual SAC rate and calculate your air supply in minutes. My SAC rate varies between about .6 cubic feet per minute and .8 cu. ft/min. When planning a dive, I use an arbitrary 1.0 cu. ft./min. and use my watch in place of an SPG. This is the way I learned to dive, many years ago, on a DA Aqua-Master without an SPG.

A 72 cu. ft steel tank actually holds about 65 cu. ft. at 2250 PSI. Using a SAC rate of 1 cu. ft./min. gives 65 min of air at the surface, 32 minutes at 33 ft., 21 minutes at 66 ft. and 16 min. at 99 ft. Of course this gives a bit of a reserve buffer but that only adds a safety factor. I still use this method even when I am diving with an SPG attached to a regulator.

If you're using an AL80, remember that an 80 actually holds 77 cu. ft. of air.

The above method works for both a J valve and a K valve. However, it does require a healthy dose of self discipline and an adherence to a dive plan.

Good post, a lot of times even with an spg I can look at my dive time and depth and estimate my remaining air and a be within 100 psi of the spg.

 

[Thalassamania]

Or be sure to use a downstream, unbalanced, first stage.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I dove for about 14 years without a SPG--I just "knew" about how long my air was gonna last and consulted my $13 dive watch. I probably had more air left in my tank than necessary most of the time but since I couldn't see how much there was it didn't really bother me ;-). Now I consider the SPG an accessory, at least when diving 40 feet or less. I suppose if I was going to dive 100 feet without the SPG I would calculate according to what was mentioned but in some cases I'd prefer to use the gauge.

When I think about I suppose a dive watch is not really necessary for beach diving in 40' or less as long as I use my unbalanced first stage