Was Sheck Exley the first to introduce the "octopus?"

[BladesRobinson]

I have two questions and I was hoping someone could help me out.

1) Is Sheck Exley the pioneer that first introduced the "octopus" as claimed by many (including scuba: Definition from Answers.com, Sheck Exley at AllExperts, and Long hose diving - a knol by Bruce Everiss)
Or is Walter Hendrick the first as claimed by Andrea Zaffres?(http://www.teamlgs.com/start-a-public-safety-dive-team, http://www.teamlgs.com/dressing-divers-and-tenders-for-mass-casualty-operations
and Omni Divers Underwater Services, L.L.C. - Public Safety Diving - Articles)

2) When was the the first single hose regulator mass produced and commercially available?

 

[kanonfodr]

Blades:

Not sure on number 1 yet, but Ted Eldred Was the first designer of a single hose regulator, the Porpoise. He started designing it in 1948, and production began in 1952.

Timeline of diving technology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porpoise_(make_of_scuba_gear)
Ted Eldred - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peace,
Greg

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Scientists recently found evidence of fossilized octopuses dating back 95 million years according to MSNBC. Sheck Exley was born April 1, 1949. Given that information, I don't think Sheck could have introduced the octopus.

Various individuals have been credited with introducing the back-up regulator into their specific niches within the diving community. I'm sure Sheck Exley was the most instrumental for recommending the long hose and a redundant regulator into cave diving. Butch Hendrick probably did the same for public safety. NASDS has been given credit as being the first recreational agency to require an additional second stage as a back-up.

I'm sure once the single hose regulator was developed. The obvious possibility of adding an additional hose and second stage occurred to designers and divers. Perhaps asking the vintage divers may yield greater information on who pioneered the additional second stage?

 

[BladesRobinson]

Scientists recently found evidence of fossilized octopuses dating back 95 million years according to MSNBC. Sheck Exley was born April 1, 1949. Given that information, I don't think Sheck could have introduced the octopus.

Now that is funny!!!

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I was unaware of the Porpoise regulator from 1952. I read in "SCUBA America" by Zale Parry and Albert Tillman [ISBN 1-928638-03-1], page 22 that E. R. Cross invented the "Sport Diver" which (according to a photo credit) "was the first commercial one hose regulator." There is no date of when the "Sport Diver" was produced

I found the following online Skin Diver column online (written by E.R. Cross) and share it with those who may be interested...


FROM: Venomous Shells, Regulator Patents & SDM Collectors

Patent Restrictions on Dive Regulators

In recent months two readers, one from Australia and one from Texas, wrote with similar requests. Both were interested in the patent protection for the double and single hose regulators. Patent regulations and requirements are extremely complex. However, it appears the patented part of the double hose regulator was the idea of bringing the exhaled air back to the demand regulator. This reduces or nearly eliminates the differential in pressure between incoming and exhaled air, which is necessary to reduce breathing resistance. This produced the regulator used for many years by divers. No one could make and sell a double hose regulator without paying royalties to the holder of the patent rights and these fees increased the cost of the regulators.

The need to bring exhaled air back to the inhalation point is accomplished in a single hose regulator by placing both the inhalation and exhalation point in the combination mouthpiece/demand regulator. Initial objection to this idea was that exhalation bubbles passing in front of the divers mask would interfere with the view. Experienced divers who had used dive masks with a surface air supply knew from experience this was not a valid argument. The Sport Diver was the first single hose regulator marketed. It was manufactured and distributed by Divers Supply in Wilmington, California, in the early 1950s.

Concurrently, or within a year of the Sport Diver, a similar single hose scuba was manufactured and sold in Australia as the Dolphin. For personal reasons the developers of both units did not patent their dive regulators. Anyone could, therefore, manufacture and sell single hose dive gear. Some alleged improvements have been made on the regulators that have been granted patents. These include, but may not be limited to, downstream valve systems, tilt type demand control valves and probably others. The patented improvements cannot be used by anyone other than the patent holder. For safety, the Sport Diver system was designed with downstream valving systems. However, the basic idea of the single hose regulator can never be patented. It can be used by any manufacturer without paying royalties that will increase the cost of the most important piece of dive gear.

 

[BladesRobinson]

Here is some additional history I was able to find online...

FROM: Weird Gear

The first octopus second stage was a part of the Viking-Norseman two-hose regulator from 1960-63. Nicknamed the "beer can" because of its cylindrical shape, this unit also included a built-in reserve valve. The octopus, then known as the Air Tap, was a small diameter corrugated hose attached to an extra low-pressure port. A buddy in need would pull the mouthpiece to release air. Apparently safety didn't sell in the 60s, because it was a commercial failure.

Occasionally a product fails simply because it was ahead of its time. The first commercial one-hose regulator, the Scuba King was made by diving pioneer E.R. Cross in 1954. It sold for $39.95 and that included a 38 cubic foot tank. Apparently there weren't enough bargain hunters around, because it was a failure in the marketplace. After Cross halted production, the remainder were sold out of a pickle barrel in a Los Angeles surplus store for $5 each. Today they are rare, valuable collector's items.

Introduced in 1957, the US Divers Aquamatic was an early single-hose regulator, sold as a cheap substitute for divers who couldn't afford a two-hose model. It was light, compact, and had the first downstream second stage. A year later, the Deluxe Aquamatic added a built-in snorkel with a rotating knob to switch from it to the regulator. The snorkel fell off too easily, and one couldn't switch over while in the water. It wasn't until the introduction of Sportsways Waterlung, the first with the "hockey puck" configuration, that single hose regulators went mainstream.

The Demone Demon claimed to be the first hydrodynamically designed regulator. Produced from 1962 through 1965, it had two second stages, one to be used as a backup if the other failed. Two slim hoses of the single-hose configuration were encircled by corrugated hoses, which routed exhaust bubbles behind the diver's back. This negated one of the major advantages of a one-hose regulator: ease of exhalation. The diver had to push exhaled air through the dead air space of that long, corrugated hose.

Another online source at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=uH..."E. R. Cross" "single hose regulator"&f=false
...indicates that E.R. Cross developed his single hose regulator in 1951.

 

[Peter Guy]

I have no idea who first came up with the "Octopus" idea but I do know that my father and his LDS owner friend learned of them in the very late '60's or early '70's and modified their rigs to have them. I've asked my 93 year old Dad about that and he vaguely remembers reading or hearing about adding the 2nd reg from someone in New York. And yes, it was called an Octopus at that time.

 

[mdb]

We were selling secondary second stages @ the old Healthways in the early 70's.

 

[Scott L]

I got certified in 1983 and it was never mentioned in training. A rather long delay in implementaion by the training agencies I would say...

 

[SailNaked]

Was certified in 82 and we had them standard on the rental rigs (I did not have one on mine because I was poor). and of course it was part of our course to use one. (Naui definitely used them in 82).

my memories of my father diving in about 1970 did not include a secondary but his old regulator had a place for one.

 

[rigdiver]

Probably NASDS introduced the octo or "safe second" so they could sell you another piece of equipment. They were not the National Association of Slick Diving Salesman without merit.