Vintage out of the closet

[Nemrod]

Sorry, for a second post in a row but I just read your link ScubaPro50!!! Wow, I think those folks are seriously misinformed and biased by their modern training. Yeppers, I have had the same lectures given me by divemasters and others experts who were not born when I started diving and when I look at them, most are WAY overweighted, often their equipment is in misrepair and disheveled looking with hoses running all over the place and so many neon colors my eyes hurt. OK----"you obviously know more than me"--is my response so I try to comply just to be easy going most of the time. N (obviously they do not know I am Nemrod, god of the sea--lol---just kidding--y'all have a great day)

 

[justleesa]

Maybe some time as people discover vintage friendly operators they could list them in some sort of a Sticky note under this heading--is that a good idea?

Not a bad idea at all Nemrod. How should we do it? Everybody can PM me the name and the link to the op that allows vintage divers to dive from their boats and I'll make a locked sticky? That way we could have it all in one post organized according to location? What do you all think?

 

[Turtleguy9]

I have never purchased anything on Ebay. I understand there is some risk but what has been your folks experience. They always seem to have some dive goody I want to buy.

Aloha Mike Matthews, of all the hundreds of items I have purchsed on E-bay, only one failed to show up. Most sellers are willing to take a check or money order, and if you have a bank card, you can sign up with PAY PAL and pay them by credit /bank card. I live in Hawaii, and there are a limited amount of places to find vintage stuff here, so e-bay has been a fun way to expand my collection. Shipping to Hawaii, has also been cheaper than I expected, as the US Mail will ship a scuba tank to Hawaii, from Florida for about $32.00...
E-bay even has a vintage scuba catagory now, under scuba snorkeling.
Good Luck with the goodies.
Turtleguy

 

[Nemrod]

Yes, Justleeza, that sounds perfect. It might take a while to get some places entered but how else to do it? I think that many vintage divers dive their tubs(lol) or maybe local lakes but if your gonna dive the ocean most will need to take a charter boat and that boat will have to be vintage friendly. Yes, please do that if others are OK with it. N

 

[justleesa]

There you go guys, your sticky is waiting to be filled

 

[Mike Matthews]

I think Vinatge, while commonly used, may misrepresent what many of us are talking about, older/less tech gear and methods. I belive some feel vintage equates to antique and is therefore shoddy and worn out. In reality vintage relates to when something was created/born/began. Horse Collar BCD's may have been around along time but they still work, are still made, and fill a specific nitch.

 

[Nemrod]

I am not trying to be bossy, I just like talking about this stuff, hope it comes across that way! I agree with you Mike that some people get the idea we are just trying to be cheap or avoid buying new gear or learning new techniques. I wish I could post a pic of all my gear. It looks like a shrine to Nemrod, god of the sea! Old and new and I am buying more, cannot have to much! Nope, not saving money here.
To me Vintage Diving is diving with gear sold, used or built more or less pre 1975 using the techniques, training and styles that would have been taught and were common during that era. For example, several rather normal looking single hose regs are vintage and in my opinion so are certain types of manual and power inflated BC units but the Scuba Pro Stab Jacket which I think came out in the early 70s is not vintage. It is not vintage because it does not fit the style, methods or training, techniques of that earlier Sea Hunt era, it belongs to the Post Vintage era of diving. I also think certain types of spg units are vintage and if one can not find a real vintage spg then some of the modern brass units ought to be acceptable. Looking through some pre 1970 dive magazines I have here I see several articals about the "new" spgs. There is another argument for using a surface flotation vest--Mae West. There is nothing in the magazines about any BCs. Oh, look, here is an adv for a life vest, CO2 inflate, Rubber Fabricators Inc, 22.95 dollars!! Nope, nada, except in the very last of my 1970 year issues. I don't know for sure when the SP Jet Fin came out but it is not in my opinion vintage--I could be wrong. If it has flaps, vents, jets, springs etc it is probably not of vintage style or methods or training. Consoles, computers, digital anything are not vintage but I see several articals on the analog/mechanical ScubaPro "automatic decompression meter". Now, understand, I am no expert and I know these are just my own opinions and others may differ and that is OK. I also understand that many people may dive a vintage double hose reg with a modern computer hooked up to it and that is GREAT and they do it because they love using that piece of gear etc but it is not vintage diving, it is just diving using a piece of vintage gear. I guess what I am saying is that using vintage gear does not mean to imply vintage diving in and of itself.
I belong to a vintage motocross club. These guys get into fights over the color of sprokets, you can split hairs and ruin the fun of anything and if it ain't fun it probably not worth doing. I guess if they ever start having vintage diving competitions then there will likely be fights over whether someones swimsuit is authentic vintage and if neon pink in a wet suit is period authentic! Until then though I think your vintage if you honor the "spirit" of that era. N

 

[Mike Matthews]

Keep up the conversation. I like talking about something other than computers, nitrox, and cattle boat dives. This is one of the most interesting, to me, threads in a long time.

I am not trying to be bossy, I just like talking about this stuff, hope it comes across that way! I agree with you Mike that some people get the idea we are just trying to be cheap or avoid buying new gear or learning new techniques. I wish I could post a pic of all my gear. It looks like a shrine to Nemrod, god of the sea! Old and new and I am buying more, cannot have to much! Nope, not saving money here.
To me Vintage Diving is diving with gear sold, used or built more or less pre 1975 using the techniques, training and styles that would have been taught and were common during that era. For example, several rather normal looking single hose regs are vintage and in my opinion so are certain types of manual and power inflated BC units but the Scuba Pro Stab Jacket which I think came out in the early 70s is not vintage. It is not vintage because it does not fit the style, methods or training, techniques of that earlier Sea Hunt era, it belongs to the Post Vintage era of diving. I also think certain types of spg units are vintage and if one can not find a real vintage spg then some of the modern brass units ought to be acceptable. Looking through some pre 1970 dive magazines I have here I see several articals about the "new" spgs. There is another argument for using a surface flotation vest--Mae West. There is nothing in the magazines about any BCs. Oh, look, here is an adv for a life vest, CO2 inflate, Rubber Fabricators Inc, 22.95 dollars!! Nope, nada, except in the very last of my 1970 year issues. I don't know for sure when the SP Jet Fin came out but it is not in my opinion vintage--I could be wrong. If it has flaps, vents, jets, springs etc it is probably not of vintage style or methods or training. Consoles, computers, digital anything are not vintage but I see several articals on the analog/mechanical ScubaPro "automatic decompression meter". Now, understand, I am no expert and I know these are just my own opinions and others may differ and that is OK. I also understand that many people may dive a vintage double hose reg with a modern computer hooked up to it and that is GREAT and they do it because they love using that piece of gear etc but it is not vintage diving, it is just diving using a piece of vintage gear. I guess what I am saying is that using vintage gear does not mean to imply vintage diving in and of itself.
I belong to a vintage motocross club. These guys get into fights over the color of sprokets, you can split hairs and ruin the fun of anything and if it ain't fun it probably not worth doing. I guess if they ever start having vintage diving competitions then there will likely be fights over whether someones swimsuit is authentic vintage and if neon pink in a wet suit is period authentic! Until then though I think your vintage if you honor the "spirit" of that era. N

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I don't know for sure when the SP Jet Fin came out but it is not in my opinion vintage--I could be wrong. If it has flaps, vents, jets, springs etc it is probably not of vintage style or methods or training.

The Jet Fin was first produced in 1965. So it overlapped the production of several double hose reg models by other companies for a decade. In light of that, it's hard to say it is not vintage. But Jet Fins like, the Scubapro Stab Jacket, were well ahead of their time. My jet fins are the only piece of my original diving gear that are still part of my normal diving kit and they are still sold by SP. Forty years as a continuously cataloged item is a real feat in the diving industry.

As far as single hose regs go, I think any single hose reg with only 1 or 2 LP ports qualifies as vintage as they predate the use of LP inflators and octos respectively and using one requires techniques that differ substantially from a modern single hose reg.

 

[Nemrod]

"The Jet Fin was first produced in 1965. So it overlapped the production of several double hose reg models by other companies for a decade."

Oops, sorry, I was wrong and so that being the case I guess they are vintage, it was a bad example to use to make my point--sorry. I was a kid and simply do not recall seeing them.
Your observation on the regulators seems reasonable. My Calypso J had no low pressure ports--none--except for the one used by the second stage. It had a single hp port as well. This was US Divers top single hose regulator at the time I bought it---I think. I later added two low pressure ports to it using a swivel fitting screwed into the port used by the second stage.

You know, looking at some pics here my dive instructor may have had SP Jet fins on, it is blurry!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
N