USD black Horsecollars

[bwi_diver]

I too am interested in restoring the old USD horse color BCs. I have a yellow one that the fittings have deteriorated on. I e-mailed USD but they said they no longer have parts. I have one of the black military USD horse collars from the 80's that's still good. I too am looking at trying to replicate or find other fitting to replace the ones that have deteriorated on my old vest. The bladder is in good shape. I liked the right side inflator and dump. I recently bought a used Seaquest BCD with the i3 inflator. Haven't dove with it yet but I still like the old USD horse collar.
Recently a the local dive shop someone said they went to a resort that won't let them dive with a horse collar BC. Let me know if you come up with a replacement for the fittings.

Thanks,

bwi_diver

 

[Nemrod]

Recently a the local dive shop someone said they went to a resort that won't let them dive with a horse collar BC. Let me know if you come up with a replacement for the fittings.
bwi_diver

People routinely confuse a horsecollar BC with a snorkel vest. They are not the same at all. I have never heard of a horsecollar being banned since arguably, from a safety standpoint, it is the best BC design in existence.

N

 

[Deep Thought]

I think this is what you are looking for: black usd horse collar bcd. yes the inflator is loose where it attached to the bladder, as i'm sure the vinyl has gone south around the connector.... the fabric, straps, inflate mechanism, dump, CO2, all look in good condition - fresh water diver.

see if I can load a pic

Deep Thought


..... ah fighting with windows 7! wont open file extensions to post pic!!

 

[Deep Thought]

Aqua lung Black Horse Collar BCD

I think this is the topic of discussion

Deep Thought

 

[porbeagle]

YEP! I have received your PM and responded via e-mail.
Thanks in advance. PORBEAGLE

 

[vshearer]

Sea Elites (used) for $25 plus $10 shipping. Look to be in decent condition.

Buoyancy Compensator for SCUBA/Sea Elite Horse Collar - eBay (item 170436049882 end time Jan-29-10 11:06:37 PST)

EDIT: WARNING. This guy only has 25 feedbacks, all as a buyer, and all for little $2 items. I smell a scam.

 

[bwi_diver]

I just found some old fittings from an old USD horse collar I had that the bladder went up on. I have three others, two that still work. I'm looking into what it will take to make new ones from these. Two of them the pressure inflator and C02 inflator have brass inserts to screw in the inflator mechanisms. I have a drawing of the inflator parts break down. I'm trying figure out whether I should try to make my own molds and just make the parts or have them made by some company. Are you still working on trying to duplicate the fittings too? What was your idea to duplicate them? I'll share what ever I come up with. My concern is that USD told me the original parts were welded to the bladder. My oldest one that deteriorated was made out of a soft pliable plastic. The later ones have a harder plastic that cracks. I'm just trying to figure what will be the best plastic (probably resin if I do it my self) and what will be the best cement or clue to attach them to the urethane bladder.

 

[porbeagle]

Hi BWI!,I just typed out a long response to your post and lost it somehow.I hate computers!
Anyhoo, Here is what I have learned after buying and ripping apart 7 horsecollars.
Plastic parts which crumble are ABS
ABS is incompatable with urethane bladders.
plastisizers keep plastic - plastic.
the urethane plastisizers draw out the plastisizers from the ABS. (I could be wrong here,although I have not found 1 bladder which has deteriorated .
Making a new bladder from scratch is not hard,you need waterbed material a pattern,and
someone to weld the urethane.
Making the elbows and fittings from resin will not work.A mold is out of our league.
To shop out a mold is crazy expensive.
Duplicating USD's ABS fittings is not wise IMHO because they were a poor design when
new.I don't believe there were "early soft plastic fittings " or later hard plastic that cracks.
Just look at the oral inflator fitting... The disc inside the bladder is less than 1/16" thick,
AND it tapers down to about a 32th at the outer edge.How the heck can that fitting take
the pulling and abuse over the years? Right now I'm trying to use urethane blocks which
will roughly look like the plastic fittings.These will be WELDED,not glued, to the inside of
the bladder.They will be larger than original,I'm going to lose the co2 assembly altogether,
This will mean 3-3" slits cut into the bladder allowing internal work.then patching the
bladder both inside and out.I had first thought it would be possible to rebuild so that
those who are period conscious would be happy.Sorry to say that I can't.To costly,to hard.
I spent weeks researching plastic welding,and have settled on welding rods, and a rather
cheap welder for $35. The oral inflator rebuild is easy,not so much for the dump and
the lp inflator.I found 2 nib bladder patch kits from USD,they are the same as waterbed
repair kits,so thats an easy fix.I will continue to post as I go.
How about you? I would very much like your input. There are only 4 ports to worry about
I still think we can do it............ PORBEAGLE

 

[bwi_diver]

Wow you've done a lot of research and seem to be making good progress. I'm pretty sure we can do this too. I'm still looking into either making parts or having them made. I found a place on the internet that will make small parts runs of plastic down to one offs. They have an online CAD program that enter the design and then they give you a price. My idea was to make fittings and then install them through the hole for the deflator and to use some type of glue to secure them. All the fittings I salvaged from the old vest have flanges that are larger than the hole they go in to. I appreciate you posting your progress, if I come up with anything I'll be sure to post also.

 

[porbeagle]

BWI, Hi again. Good post. I had never thought about slipping the fittings through the larger
of the 4 holes.That would eliminate my idea about cutting 3" slits in the bladder. That would
mean less failure points ie an intact bladder. That is good,very good.It also means glue may be the best way to go. It eliminates welding the interior of the bladder. (Looking better and better).It can't be hard to find a glue which will glue different plastics.Oh, and before I forget,
I believe the fittings inside the bladder MUST be thicker AND oversize.I am sure USD screwed
up on the fittings design.And last but not least,have you considered plastic sleeves glued
to the fittings outside the vest which terminate inside the bladder and are flange-like.(and
glued to the inside of the bladder? ). I await your ideas.Meantime I will research the glue.
We maybe need an engineer to consult? Nice talking to a like minded fanatic.
PORBEAGLE