Why did Horse Collar BC's fade away?

[OMyMyOHellYes]

The horse collar was typically kept empty, except in an emergency Hence an empty horse collar produces less drag than a partially filled wing.
If one was overweight and needed to keep air in an horse collar, the trim was very adversely affected and swimming horizontally was very difficult (ascending vertically was easy, indeed).

So not really a BCD for diving control, but more of an emergency floatation device. If so, then nothing to compare between the two.

That seems to be a point that is somehow missed if the focus is wrongly put on its efficacy as a life vest, a purpose that the BCD is not intended to do.

I suppose a DSMB would be more comparable to a HC than a BCD... Wait. Negatively buoyant flippers for flotation?

 

[jadairiii]

As others have said, technology and comfort. I was certified on a horse collar BC (no power inflator), owned a USD horse collar with a power inflator, then that magical day happened...I saw a ScubaPro BCP, bought it and never looked at a horse collar again!

Later upgraded my BCP to an At-Pac in 1978. And this is when some agencies wouldn't let their instructors dive a back inflation BC.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Nice story, but a bit inaccurate. Back plate and wing predated the jacket by some years. It was considered obsolete when the jackets did take off...
Then, as many "vintage" techniques, it has been re-evaluated.
I still own and use a plastic back plate plus wing which predated the "modern" jackets.
Here you see the 1977 Scubapro catalog featuring an horse collar BCD and a BP+wing...
No jacket yet, it arrived a couple of years later. Please have also a look on pages 16-17 to that integrated Scubasystem device, which did merge the tank and the buoyancy control device inside a n ice, streamlined fiberglass shell.

http://www.angelofarina.it/Public/Scubapro/Scubapro-Catalogue-1977.pdf

I know about the At Pak and the Dacor rigid ballast tank model that needed to be flooded before you descended.
There was a law suit over the At Pak because it put a diver face down and they drowned. The Dacor model was too complicated and required a class so it never took off.
There were some divers experimenting with home made gear and some I heard even tried to figure out a way to mount a horse collar around the back pack to get it off the front of the diver.
I purposely abreviated the timeline because all this would have just complicated the post, so I just went straight to jackets, which has by far been the longest lasting technology.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I purposely abreviated the timeline because all this would have just complicated the post, so I just went straight to jackets, which has by far been the longest lasting technology.

Well, my point was exactly this: the longest lasting technogy is not the jacket, it is the BP+wing, which was already a commercial thing three years before the first jacket was marketed (which I had the privilege of testing before its launch, but was truly horrible - I gave SP a very negative feedback. I was even allowed to keep it for free, but I refused and sent it back).

 

[BRT]

I know about the At Pak and the Dacor rigid ballast tank model that needed to be flooded before you descended.
There was a law suit over the At Pak because it put a diver face down and they drowned. The Dacor model was too complicated and required a class so it never took off.
There were some divers experimenting with home made gear and some I heard even tried to figure out a way to mount a horse collar around the back pack to get it off the front of the diver.
I purposely abreviated the timeline because all this would have just complicated the post, so I just went straight to jackets, which has by far been the longest lasting technology.

I certified in an At Pak. It was really hard to keep vertical on the surface. But I was wearing a weight belt. The At Pac was designed to be filled with lead shot which would have changed the balance a lot.

 

[Pressurehead]

See my Fenzy horse-collar in my picture...
Later modified as your one, with a Cressi power inflator and removing the 0.3 liters air tank on the stomach.

We used the Fenzy BC, only for dives > 18M when diving twin 63s in the 80s..

The Navy swimmers vest was better than nothing. The first horsecollars were better than the swimmers vest. The first real jacket that was not a POS was a Scubapro.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Well, my point was exactly this: the longest lasting technogy is not the jacket, it is the BP+wing, which was already a commercial thing three years before the first jacket was marketed (which I had the privilege of testing before its launch, but was truly horrible - I gave SP a very negative feedback. I was even allowed to keep it for free, but I refused and sent it back).

Jackets have been around for about 48 years I think.
When did the very first jacket come out?

 

[scubadada]

I bought my 1st gear in 1972, Scubapro. The tank was on a backpack with a harness. The vest was separate. The big advance was that it used a low pressure inflator and had a modern inflator hose. It worked very well. I don't know if there were any BCs available at this time. I still have my MK5/109.

 

[DAJ]

Jackets have been around for about 48 years I think.
When did the very first jacket come out?

While there were some previous attempts, 1978 is when the first “modern” jacket was released.

 

[DAJ]

Back when I had hair in the early 80s. These were great back then.