Why did Horse Collar BC's fade away?

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The shape of the bladder is quite irrelevant. It will adapt to the containing bag.
It must just be a little bigger than the container bag.
So, when overfilled , it will fully use the internal volume of the containing bag, without being stretched and risking to explode.
There is no need that the shape of the bladder is conformal to the shape of the containing bag.
I also used a tube for tires, it is heavier but more elastic the PVC annular.
Yeah you're right. It will adapt to the size and shape of the outer bag. The problem is that the outer bag material is fairly thin nylon so wrinkles, overlaps and twists show up horribly. I'm not concerned about "wrinkles in my stylin'" but the wrinkles cause stress cracks. The trick is to get it not to big and not to small, just right. I'll probably end up throwing the first one away before I get it right.

Once fitted right, it's amazing how much pressure they can hold. We used to do a demonstration for new students. Two balloons in pillow cases brought up from sixty or seventy feet. Both balloons started out at as close to the same size as we could get them blowing them up. (Hint: The "Blower Uppers" looked silly trying to blow the things up and hang onto them at the same time. Plenty of the balloons broke free and took off for the surface in uncontrolled ascents) Both are put inside pillow cases.

One pillow case is left loose at the end. The other is tied close to the inflated balloon. Then both are held onto as we surfaced. The one inside the loose pillow case expanded until it popped. The one inside the tied and restricted pillow case was tight against the pillow case but it couldn't expand. The pillow case would blow out and the balloon would squirt out the hole and blow up.

A BC, even one of the old Horse Collars can take quite a bit of internal pressure because the air bladder is restricted by the outer cover. Of course, "quite a bit of pressure" doesn't include multiple atmospheres so the BC will blow up without over pressure valves.
 
Comfort. Better balance and crotch strap.
Having learned with one (1979), one of my guilty pleasure is going on a snorkel boat and watch guys do a giant stride with one hand on mask an snorkel, and NOT holding the collar down with the other... o_O
 
Well, I ran into a supply problem with the PVC material for the new internal air bladder. It's available but I have to buy a minimum of a truck load of it! I bought a waterbed mattress instead! The donor for the pattern was an old SeaQuest Whitewater Horse Collar BC. It's a little bigger than my other one, with 30 pounds of lift. The external bag is in good shape with bright colors but the internal air bladder is shot. It's leaky and brittle.

The old internal air bladder was 14 thousandths thick and the new material is 16 thousandths thick so it's a pretty close match. It should be interesting!
 
I'm making progress on the new air bladder.

This was tracing out the new material from the old bladder. Since I was using a water bed mattress, I decided to do the trace against an edge so one seam would already be sealed.
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The overnight pressure test failed so off to the bathtub!! I didn't have the shoulder valve screwed down all of the way so it passed after all and was ready to have the head hole cut out and glued/heat sealed.
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The head hole came out kind of lop sided and lumpy but it sealed up fine so I'll use it. Now I just have to cut out the other three holes. An over pressure valve will be low on the right side, another dump valve on the right shoulder and the CO2 inflator on the left rear. I added a double layer reinforcement at all of those points. Then all I have to do, is stuff it all back inside the outer bladder and seal the thru openings. More fun!
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Success! I was able to complete the Horse Collar project. The hold up was the CO2 trigger "manifold bolt". It needed a new one but to get one, I would have had to buy five hundred of them! I was finally able to procure a couple form a life jacket manufacture. It passed it's pressure test and is ready for the water. I upgraded it with a pressure inflator and a pull shoulder dump valve. The overpressure relief is new too.
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The orange one is rated for 31 pounds of lift while the blue one is 40 pounds.
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The harness is a parachute style and I added pouches to the waist belt. it looks complicated but it's not. Step in, pull the tab to tighten up the crotch strap, buckle the waist belt and that's it.
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I don't suppose we can order these from you...?
 
No, sorry these are not for sale. I know there is one company still manufacturing new Horse Collars...I think they're called Aquatec. They're all in black though. Why is new diving gear these days mostly all drab colors?
 
That is some useful information. Thank you!
 
Blame fishies with sharp teeth. They love bright contrasty colors and silvery hardware. It looks like fishing lures to them!
Yeah I knew about shiny things but never saw any indications that they like right colors too.
 

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