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Post by bigdave on Dec 20, 2004 8:31:39 GMT -8
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 20, 2004 12:32:04 GMT -8
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Post by bigdave on Dec 20, 2004 13:30:58 GMT -8
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Post by pnuytten on Dec 20, 2004 20:41:41 GMT -8
Bill: Had to smile about the 'knobs' on the seamless gum rubber suits made by Art Browne. They were an example of a solution for which there wasn't really a major problem! They are intended to act as suit equalizers or, more importantly, to prevent the hood from sealing on the ear and causing 'reversed ears' - a fairly common problem with thin, smooth hoods and no underhood. The common explanation was that the hood 'sealed on the ear' - but, actually, it pressed the tragus ( the rear-pointing projection in the outer ear that is separated from the antiragus by a deep notch) into the 'ear-hole' and made a seal. This caused the sealed - off area of the outer ear and the ear-canal down to the ear-drum to be at a lesser pressure than that of the eustachion tube - which usually had some fraction of ambient pressure present. When you performed a Valsalva ( block your nose and blow) to equalize, the eustachion tube would flood with full abient pressure gas and the eardrum would rupture outwards - hence the name 'reversed ears'. To use the 'knobs': You make a tiny hole in the forward part of the thin-walled knob - insert a double barbed brass home aquarium air pump tubing connector - the knob stretches around it and holds it tightly or you can secure it with a few wraps of light monofilament fishing line. To that you attatch about 10 inches of quarter inch surgical tubing. (on both sides, of course)Same drill in the mask - make a small hole with a hot needle - stick in the connector - join the surgical tubing to it and Voila! - a eardrum and suit squeeze eqalizer - blow out through your nose and air enters the hood and suit. On the ascent, it bubbles out through the mask skirt, instead of the usual exit at the face seal. Good idea, huh? Actually, more trouble than it was worth and, practically speaking,not really neccesary. Want air in the suit? Use a straight skirt mask ( Squale, Champion, etc.,) tuck the skirt 'ears' just slightly under your hood at the temples - just before you clear your ears. blow a small amount of air into the hood. On a rapid descent, blow lots of air into the suit or you come up looking like a giant hickey! A lot of the early dipped latex hoods had these knobs - Dunlop, International Divers, and lmany others. Another advantage of the straight skirt was was the feather edge would seal over the dry suit face seal to skin transition without leaking, if you wanted the mask on the outside. Most pre-formed flange masks leaked like a sieve, there. So that's wassup with the Browne 'knobs' - (Oh, yeah . . .you could even buy the 'Knobs'with glue flanges on them- separately, in a kit with tubing, connectors, etc. As I recall, they were light blue! Healthways, probably.) PN
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Post by cstmwrks on Dec 21, 2004 6:08:43 GMT -8
Hey PN !!, Thanks for the input on the suit "knobs"..I suspected is was some kind of eardrum protection device. I had no idea it was like the scuba queen hoods. Thanks for this bit of info!
Bill
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 21, 2004 7:04:51 GMT -8
>I don't recognize the suit, but the seller has auctions of some interesting antique gear with some frequency. (Check his closed auctions.) <
Thanks for the info - he does have some very interesting stuff.
I did some Googling and found what is probably the answer to my own question. The clue was in the word "Pinguin", which is part of the image filename.
According to one source, a two-piece rubber drysuit called "Pinguin" (Penguin) was used by the military in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). In a second, German-language source, I read how 6 people founded a diving group in Buckow in the GDR in 1963. It was equipped then with 3 sets of breathing apparatus, 1 Pinguin drysuit, 2 underwater compasses, 1 pilot's compass, 3 pairs of fins, 2 masks and 1 depth gauge. Both sources mention problems with donning or doffing the suit.
David
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Post by John C Ratliff on Dec 21, 2004 9:05:48 GMT -8
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Post by cstmwrks on Dec 22, 2004 15:18:38 GMT -8
WOW, this forum has been great!! as a result of a few posts here I've been getting lots of helpful and some times VERY useful bits of information on these old seamless dry suits from the 50's. Thanks to all who have responded!!
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Post by nemrod on Dec 29, 2004 18:44:03 GMT -8
I am looking in an old SkinDiver and there is an adv for Aquala Dry suits which seem to be like the Totes.
Sure would like a modern version of this. Why do drysuits have to be so bulky? For warm water just as enviro protection and to stay dry a thin suit that is form fitting like a dive skin with maybe a lycra or lifa type garment underneath for some insulation/loft would be interesting instead of those balloons currently in fad. You could still hook the LP inflator to it etc and a back mounted valve to dump excess. Nemrod
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 29, 2004 23:58:11 GMT -8
>Sure would like a modern version of this. < Years ago, I wrote to a British diving magazine suggesting this very thing. The editor responded by agreeing that modern drysuits tend to be overengineered, with lots of features that aren't strictly necessary but seem to appeal to the gadget-minded. The other point he made was that a thin drysuit would be more vulnerable to tearing. There are currently three sources of new drysuits made out of unlined rubber. One is Bill's replica two-piece and now tunnel-entry drysuits at: users.iglide.net/mrbodean/moldedlatex.htmlAnother is Aquala, which makes an "historical" suit designed for the "historical diving enthusiast" with tunnel entry and without valves. They also do a tunnel-entry light commercial suit without valves. Details at: www.aquala.com/aquala.htmlThe third source is Expectations, which offers a one-piece suit with a zipped shoulder entry. See: www.expectations.co.uk/sh/default.asp?detail=9423Drysuits have evolved over the years and so have people's perceptions of them. In my copy of the Lillywhites catalogue of 1964, there is a picture and description of the Siebe-Heinke Dip dry suit, which came with black booted trousers and jacket and yellow hood and cummerbund for use by "divers, swimmers, water skiers and yachtsmen. Trousers only for fishermen". So such suits served multiple purposes then, creating a wider market. There were only three sizes: small, medium and large. Nowadays, individual items of equipment seem to have become more specialised in their applications. Fins are not just categorised according to their design, whether open-heel or full-foot, but also according to their purpose, whether swim training, snorkeling, freediving, scuba or bodyboarding. The same goes for other gear, including drysuits, and so it does seem odd that an inexpensive, light, featureless version of the drysuit for surface swimming and watersports hasn't emerged on the market. I recall somebody on a watersports newsgroup once mentioning that there was a drysuit for canoers in the 1970s which was a simple unlined rubber outfit. Maybe such designs will eventually come back as "retro" gains in popularity! David
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Post by nemrod on Dec 30, 2004 10:04:10 GMT -8
I was not thinking so much a sheet rubber or latex suit but instead a form fitting dry suit from that 1.0 MM superstreatch neoprene. For additional warmth in moderate temps one could wear these new types of polypropylene undergarments that wick moisture and provide loft. The suit would have an inflator and a dump valve but it would fit SNUG like a wet suit. The suit would be inteneded for long imersion diving in warm water and other activities. A small diameter perforated tubing(s) could be sewn into the seams to help transport air for equalization from the inflator entry area to help prevent squeeze. Such a suit could be streamlined and sleek and require minimal bouyancy control.
Retro is a force in many sports and activities and even style. From watches to motorcycles to cloths (y'all remember that they had hip huggers and flares in the 70s) and cars and all that because things from earlier times are simpler but also because the stuff actually worked better or maybe it is just the good old days thinking.
Change the subject sorta, go see the movie, the Aviator which portays Howard Hughs. The aircraft he designed and the other designs of that era as well as so many other things including furniture and appliances, things were so more modern then than now. As a A&P I doubt that we could build machines of such complexity that required so much human imput in todays throw away world. I guess that is it with me is that so much of today is designed to be thrown away. Old diving equipment is the same way, yeah there was junk back then too but much of it was meant to last for years, to be repairable and field maintained. AND, we are proof of that because we are still using the stuff. Yeah, the Apecks are good regs for example and the Suunto computers are cute but will anyone remember that stuff 40 years from now--NO!!!!!!!, but I betcha there will be people still diving Mistrals and other vintage dive gear. Thanks for the links, I will check them out. Nemrod
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Post by nemrod on Dec 30, 2004 10:48:24 GMT -8
Sorry for a second post but is the Aquala of today which is located in Shreveport La. the same Aquala that is featured in several adds in 1960s SkinDiver and has a Calif. address? Just curious. Nemrod
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 30, 2004 11:35:06 GMT -8
>the same Aquala that is featured in several adds in 1960s SkinDiver and has a Calif. address< It is indeed, although the company has changed hands - and locations - several times over the years. Click on the "History" button when you reach www.aquala.com/aquala.htmlThere are five pages of information about the evolution of the company from its beginnings in Los Angeles. The company name derives from Aqua + LA (=Los Angeles). Hope this helps. David
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Post by nemrod on Dec 30, 2004 12:32:47 GMT -8
Well, then I gues that the La now fits perfectly because that is the state abbreviation for Louisiana and of course Shreveport is in Louisiana. I grew up on a small lake in the woods of N. La. that was spring fed and had depths to 35 feet. In the summer and fall when there was no rain for a long period the viz would reach an easy 20 feet or more though more often it could be 0 to 5! It was pretty cool sitting on a sandy bottom at about 15 feet and looking up at the surface covered by giant lilly pads or watching our ski boat go over head. Sure, I wished I was the kid in Fipper but now I realize I had it pretty darn good diving off my own dock in my back yard and actually owning dive gear and having a kid two years my elder who also had dive gear living next door and his parents were old and retired and took us on several trips to dive! I was lucky I now know. Of course, my mother and sisters would sit on the dock and chew their fingernails until we surfaced!! I bought dive gear from a shop in Shreveport and also a small shop in my hometown way back then and they filled my tanks as well. Nemrod
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Post by cstmwrks on Jan 2, 2005 7:13:26 GMT -8
Nemrod & David, Not to let the cat out of the bag but in about 90 days ( give or take ) the USA and the rest of the world will see the introduction of a first in dry suits. In 2005 you will be able to purchase an unlined molded dry suit in two ply rubber. Many color options and sizes as well as customizable in size. ( thats right.. custom molded suit ) Neck , waist, chest and back entry as well as those nasty zippers. I do not know for a fact yet but the first run of suits may have a silver color inner rubber lining and outer colors will be basic black, red, blue and then on to orange, yellow and olive green. Made for anyone who wants to stay dry.. canoe, kayak, surfer, fisherman or hydrophobe. When the first suits go on the market it will be on eBay.
Bill Customworks
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