Towable Dive Sled

[diverrick]

I was the one who originally tried to post those pics. Myself as well as the inventer were laid off our jobs a few years back. I have lost contact since then with more folks than him.. If someone is truly interested, I could do some phoning around and see if the old guy is still kicking. If he is, I would guess he is still looking for some way to make this dream of his a reality. He is a really great person, and a master at plastics.. His name is Dave Kaufman. Last I heard he was living in the bay area of California. If anyone gets ahold of him tell him Rick Dozier says hello.. and sent you.. Might help, might hurt..

 

[Tom Winters]

Hey diverrick - it's "illegitimus".

 

[oneshotshooter]

Thanks for the help. Our PSD does not have the funds for underwater sonar. I am trying to come up with the way to cover large amounts of territory using a GPS grid pattern on the surface for recovery. I like the idea of not having to hold on, and a full shield.

 

[Bob3]

Here's the pic from the GLOBAL website again:

Adding that little "T-bar" seat to it keeps the load off the arms.
My buddy used to drag me around for hours looking for new bug habitat to exploit during the commercial bug diving season down in FL.

Back when I was in high school I built a little tow sub from a belly tank of a P-51, one of those things that sometimes comes back to haunt ya, especially at EAA conventions & air shows.

 

[Couv]

Here is a design that should be easy to copy.

YouTube - iqrayboard's Channel

 

[imwright1985]

i dont know how to post pics but mine is a triangular shape aluminum frame about 1/4 inch round then there is a 1/4 piece of plastic shaped like Home plate in baseball with 2 handles notched out of it, and its hinged about 1/2 way down the plate so plate can swing around the AL frame

 

[corman]

The "Dive Sled" is something I invented in 2001 to hold three tanks on the surface which I can pull around (using a tow line to my weight belt) while I am diving below using a air hose attached to one of the tanks. It is actually quite easy to tow and I find there is no real danger not having an air guage. When the air runs low in the tank the breathing becomes more strained but there is always plenty of air to surface safely on. The Dive Sled is an excellent vehicle to use off the beach giving the diver three tanks to use rather than the traditional one tank at a time scuba diving method. Also a Catch or Storage box can be built onto the Dive Sled which I have used for holding Lobbies and speared fish. The beauty of using the dive sled is I can stay out and under for upwards of three hours at a time just surfacing to switch out tanks. I generally put on 100' of air hose. See photos attached

 

[East West]

Looks cool and would like to test my skills building one . Any divers living in Southern Cal. who are interested P M me .

 

[zoom]

Here is the link to the ultimate towable dive sled. I cannot post urls yet so if you google UV1 dive sled or go to free patents online you will fine it. Or if you are interested then pm me and I will send along the site. Its the patent and is very detailed. This vehicle was produced by a plastics engineer by the name of Harold Manfield. His final version was made of lexan. Sadly there was very little interest and I dont think he sold very many. They did not attract sharks at all. Harold worked out all the problems and his sled was wonderful. One of the problems with these sleds is that when you stop especially in a reef or rocky area the sled lays horizontal on the bottom and its hard to get going again. Harold solved this by attaching a small fender buoy a little up the tow line. This buoy kept the sled afloat and upright when you tossed it into the water and still had enough buoyance to keep it standing vertically on the bottom so it was ready to take off without hitting rocks on the bottom. The whole thing disassembled and would fit into an LL Bean canvas carry bag. It was wonderful design. The tow rope that contained the communications cable just coiled up. He used a simple 12 volt buzzer system to communicate to the boat. I rode the sled one time and it worked flawlessly.
Wonder what ever happened to Harold!!! Very smart guy.

 

[corman]

There is a company called Marine Sports that manufacturers something called the "Towable Sea Sled #5568". I bought one years ago and I remember using it successfully even though if you let it go the boat operator needs to be watching you and it at all times so as to get back to you safefully. You can dive and surface with it simply by moving it down or up with your wrists and only limited in speed by your ability to keep your mask on your face. I see they are selling for about $70. Seems kinda high priced for a piece of plastic and aluminum bar but that's what it is. I could probably build one using a plastic large kitchen cutting board LOL . Here are some photos: