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I hear a lot of the older divers who come into my shop
lamenting the loss of the 'good ole days' of diving. Funny, but I sure
don't remember it that way.
I began diving in 1958. I learned to dive at YMCA
summer camp on Catalina Island in California. Diving, diving
instruction and diving equipment was a lot different in those days,
but I certainly don't remember it being better.
Most of the instructors in those days were ex-military
divers. Courses were often run in a military manner and were designed
to weed out potential divers. We actually had to do push ups with our
full set of gear on, including our tank and weight belt, when we made
a mistake. There also was a punishing swim test involved before you
could even try the gear. We had no buoyancy control devices in those
days and no submersible pressure gauges. You had to swim constantly
when you were diving or you sank to the bottom.
The diving gear in those days was pretty crude
compared to the sophisticated equipment that we have today. The masks
and fins were made of rubber. They didn't last long and weren't as
comfortable as the newer masks and fins that are made of composites
and silicone. They were also heavier than modern gear. A lot of the
weight belts that we used were Army surplus pistol belts or cartridge
belts that were filled with tire balancing weights. Many of the other
weights were home made.
The regulators were two hose units that were extremely
uncomfortable to hold in your mouth and hard to breathe from. They
also required an underwater feat of gymnastics to clear the hoses of
water if you flooded them. My first regulator was home made. A lot of
us who were constantly short of money would build our own regulators.
In my shop I have a copy of the July, 1953 edition of Popular Science,
which has the plans that we used to build these regulators. They were
war surplus demand oxygen aircraft regulators that we had to modify to
work underwater. They were not elegant, but they worked. Few divers in
those days had "real" scuba tanks, at least in my circle of
diving friends. Even if you had a real steel tank, it was tough to
find a place to get it filled to 2,200 psi. We used fire extinguisher
cylinders a lot. They were only rated to 1,800 psi and it was not
unusual to see guys diving with two, three or even four tank rigs to
get a little more bottom time. In the California town that I lived in
there were no dive shops, so we used to get our tanks filled at the
local fire station.
Wetsuits were something else in pretty short supply.
Few of us had them. There were a few war surplus dry suits around, but
they were bulky rubber affairs that sealed with a huge rubber ring
around the waist or bunched together in the front or back. They were
also relatively expensive. We tried everything to keep warm. Sweat
pants and shirts were a big favorite and some of us even tried
smearing our bodies with grease or lard like the English channel
swimmers. None of it worked all that well. Turning blue in the
50-degree California water was a usual occurrence and usually signaled
a break in the diving.
These days I use a silicone mask and snorkel with a
purge valve. I have a regulator that weighs less than the hoses on my
first double hose regulator. I have BC jacket with integrated soft
weights. I dive with a computer. All of my gear is designed and
selected to make my diving easier and safer. I, for one, do not miss
the "good ole' days" at all.
Randall Rush is the owner of Treasure Divers of Miami
dive shop. He has been a sports diver since 1958 and a commercial
diver since 1969. He may be contacted for questions, suggestions, or
comments on line at <www.treasuredivers.net>
or by telephone at 305-251-2710.
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