Vintage weight belt military 1940's?

[AfterDark]

The wife and I went to the Somerset, MA historical society Sunday. I found this weight belt on display in the military room where there are displays from the civil war to the 1^st gulf war.
It looks to be in pretty good shape and I like the quick release.
I’m assuming it’s WWII vintage but I’m not sure. Does anyone know for sure?

 

[RVBldr]

The latch sure looks like standard mil-spec aircraft harness latch from the period.

 

[Sam Miller III]

The belt webbing is WW11 & Korean war vintage, the buckle was from the same era and was used in air craft but this one has been adapted for diving.

The weights are curved which did not appear until late 1950- mid 1960s.

Therefore, the unit can be dated to probably 1960s. Some would identify it vintage, some would identify it as just old with little historical significance.

That was the way it was...

SDM

 

[AfterDark]

The belt webbing is WW11 & Korean war vintage, the buckle was from the same era and was used in air craft but this one has been adapted for diving.

The weights are curved which did not appear until late 1950- mid 1960s.

Therefore, the unit can be dated to probably 1960s. Some would identify it vintage, some would identify it as just old with little historical significance.

That was the way it was...

SDM

Unless you are John Powers or one of his clan. Thanks Sam, I didn't know that about curved weights.

 

[captain]

The link and latch buckle are common on 5 point safety harness in race cars and aircraft. They are readily available but I have never seen them offered in stainless steel or brass.

Latch & Links- Lowy Enterprises, Inc.

 

[AfterDark]

The link and latch buckle are common on 5 point safety harness in race cars and aircraft. They are readily available but I have never seen them offered in stainless steel or brass.

Latch & Links- Lowy Enterprises, Inc.

I don't what it's made from, next time I go (its right across from my in-laws house) I'll bring a magnet to see if it attracts.

 

[Akimbo]

That buckle is still used on some commercial weight belts and is available in brass:

miller diving commercial weight belt | Miller Diving

Atlantic Diving Equipment - More Gear - Commercial Dive Harnesses

DESCO Commercial Quick Release Belt | DESCO Diving Equipment and Supply Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I understood that the origin was from parachutes sometime before WWII. The US Navy used them for the lightweight (only 45 Lbs) weightbelt used with the Jack Brown mask well into the 1970s. All the ones I have seen have been brass on dive gear and Aluminum on parachutes.

Edit: I have seen the buckle bolted to reinforced rubber from ¼-5/16" thick or conveyor belting. The image looks like a cotton belt and the weight don't look like anything I have seen used in the Navy or in old Navy manuals. My guess is that it is a diver-built belt rather than Navy Surplus. The links above show the typical weights used on the 85 Lb Deep Sea belts in the Navy since the Mark V hat was developed. Those same weights were used on the “lightweight” belts.

Deep sea belts were leather and didn't have a quick release, only the lightweight belts.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

These were not commonly used, as they were made of aluminum and steel and tended to corrode badly in sea water. The spring-loaded ball that held the lever in was especially prone to corrosion, and the lever itself tended to get caught on all kinds of stuff and come loose. I do remember them, but we tended not to use them in the early 1960s.

SeaRat

 

[AfterDark]

That buckle is still used on some commercial weight belts and is available in brass:

miller diving commercial weight belt | Miller Diving

Atlantic Diving Equipment - More Gear - Commercial Dive Harnesses

DESCO Commercial Quick Release Belt | DESCO Diving Equipment and Supply Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I understood that the origin was from parachutes sometime before WWII. The US Navy used them for the lightweight (only 45 Lbs) weightbelt used with the Jack Brown mask well into the 1970s. All the ones I have seen have been brass on dive gear and Aluminum on parachutes.

Edit: I have seen the buckle bolted to reinforced rubber from ¼-5/16" thick or conveyor belting. The image looks like a cotton belt and the weight don't look like anything I have seen used in the Navy or in old Navy manuals. My guess is that it is a diver-built belt rather than Navy Surplus. The links above show the typical weights used on the 85 Lb Deep Sea belts in the Navy since the Mark V hat was developed. Those same weights were used on the “lightweight” belts.

Deep sea belts were leather and didn't have a quick release, only the lightweight belts.

All the items exhibited were donated by the people who used them or their families so this could have very well been something John Powers made himself. None of the items are "surplus".

 

[Akimbo]

.... The spring-loaded ball that held the lever in was especially prone to corrosion, and the lever itself tended to get caught on all kinds of stuff and come loose…

The bronze buckles are very reliable, but this style belt was never intended to be used without suspenders or in Scuba. Getting the lever hooked on something usually didn’t cause the buckle to unlatch since the weight was not working to spread the ends apart.

It is sort of an odd evolution. The Jack Brown was the only mask in the late 1940s and early 1950s in the US. It is a surface supplied freeflow mask (no demand regulator) so a bailout bottle was useless. If the air supply failed and the tender didn’t haul you off the bottom fast enough, your only option was to dump the belt and mask and do a blow & go. Two hands would be used to open the lever and pull the “eye” out. Then you would slip out of the shoulder straps and flip the mask off. The “world view” of the divers was relative to heavy/deep sea gear, not Scuba.

Here is an image of the Jack Brown mask.