Who came up with the "modern" backplate?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Just a curiosity and nothing more, but who was it that came up with what we know now as the modern doubles style plate?
I heard that the very first one was a semi crude home made one from a stop sign....maybe from the late 80's?
Who was the first company to produce a commercially available doubles plate and when was that?
Who were the subsequent followers and in what order?
I'm just trying to get a historical perspective of this particular piece of gear.

 

[eelnoraa]

I wonder if you can make a plate to any shape, size, material you want, what would be an ideal backplate design? For single, double, warm water (wet), cold water (dry)

 

[ams511]

This thread may help you out. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hogarthian-diving/173033-who-invented-first-backplate-wing.html

 

[huwporter]

This is the story that I always heard (this text was on the Dive Rite web site up to about 10 years ago): History of the Back Plate | kurzypotapania.com. You'll probably hear multiple different stories though.

Cheers,
Huw

 

[KDAD]

Some of the earlier plates for rec use were made by Fred T and Gary Hoadley. Those plates date back to the late 90's/early 2000's. Gary made my aluminum backplate. I think that some of the earlier plates were made by commercial guys but I can't say for sure. Information on some of the earlier plates is limited.

Gary has not made a plate for about 10 years now so you can see that they really do not wear out.

Edit: I see in the link in AMS511 post that the plates date quite a bit further than some of the 'pioneers' that I listed.

 

[ams511]

I see in the link in AMS511 post that the plates date quite a bit further than some of the 'pioneers' that I listed.

That was an interesting thread. If you read the whole thread it seems backplate and wings have been around since the early 1960s and that push back from the certifying agencies (will not hold the head of an unconscious diver out of the water) held back their adoption and caused them to be abandoned until rediscovered in the late 70s by Flanagan and the cave diving community.

 

[KDAD]

Interesting thread, AMS511. I notice that FredT was one of the posters there (#22). I think around that time plates were hard to come by and some guys (Fred and Gary) were making them on a small scale commercially as alternatives to any others that may have been available. Part of me enjoys the vintage diving gear - my daughter's first plate when she's ready will be an old plastic plate that came with a 1967 VOIT tank that I got.

 

[divad]

I thought this was the post "modern backplate"

which would make it the most modern backplate.

 

[tbone1004]

Dive Rite introduced the first commercial backplate in 1980, wasn't the first plate, but it was the first commercially available plate with the standard 11" center spacing. They also came out with the STA in the 90's I believe for Lamar's wife. First plate was made by Greg Flanagan in 1979, and that was the stop sign, though it was a surplus sign, not one stolen from the road. The Dive Rite plate was based on this design.

 

[uncfnp]

I thought this was the post "modern backplate"

which would make it the most modern backplate.

Modern retro!