Post by Crusty Old Diver on Jan 3, 2020 11:28:30 GMT -8
Thanks for allowing me to join this forum. I look forward to learning as much as you folks are willing to teach me.
A little about me. I started diving with real scuba gear in the late 60's at the ripe old age of 9. I say real scuba gear as at age 8, I attempted attempted to build a "Giant Snorkle" by threading a water hose through a bleach bottle with a hole cut in it which served as a surface float for the hose, and I cut off an old ping pong ball snorkle and inserted into the other end of the hose for a mouth peice. Obviously it did not work except at less than about a foot of depth because of the pressure differential.
I consulted a man by the name of David Howard whom was one of our neighbors, and whom also served as the local scoutmaster and would later become my 6th grade science teacher. Mr. Howard was also a certified scuba diver thorugh the YMCA. He explained that I could not breathe as the air pressure had to be close to equal, or greater than the surrounding water pressure on my lungs. After this revelations, I promptly removed the snorkle mouth peice from the water hose, taped it into a beach ball which I had cut a hole in, put a net around the whole contrapstions and used cinder blocks for ballast to sink the rig. I snuck into the American Legion swimming pool one night and with the help of a couple of accomplices, I jumped into the deep end end sank quickly to the bottom...low and behold, I could breath in and out for a couple of minutes until the CO2 build up would send me to surface. It didn't take long for our local residents to catch us snaking in the pool at night and once caught. Naturally, my parents were curious as to how I got such and idea in my mine, and of course I had to blame Mike Nelson of Sea Hunt and the fine submariners on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I then promptly threw Mr. Howard under the bus for teaching me the finer points of pressure differentials. I was in touble but was facinated....
I had my first use of a commercially produced self contained underwater breatihing apparatus the following summer. Mr. Howard took the scouts to the pool and gave us what we would today call a Discover Scuba Course. We were confined to the shallow end of the pool in about 3 feet of water. He had 2 sets of scuba gear. One was a tripple (I believe 33 cut ft) tank set up with a double hose regulator. The other was a single 72 cu ft tank setup with a single hose regulator. Though I was only 9, i wanted to use the double hose set up even though it was heavier. A year later I bought the Mistral from him and 3 years later bought the single hose AMF Voit 40 Fathom with a steel Exhaust T was absolutel sure that I was now a real frogman!
While visiting my older brother for a few weeks whom was attading Law School at the UT Austin, I got finally got certified though NASDS in July of 1973 by Don Brod, Owner of Texas Skin Diving Schools in Austin Texas. (Don let me sweep floors and do other things around the shop while I was in town so that I could purchase some proper fins and a proper mask & snorkel. Since then, in addition to my real profession, I have earned several other certifications through other agencies. My highest level of certification was as a PADI divemaster back in 1993. I worked as a Dive Master and as a Scuba repair person for some local dive shops, ran my own charter service fro spear fishing enthusiasts, did some light commercial diving work and have just generall had fun doing it these last 52 years. I have also owned a lot of different sets of dive gear through the yers....
Today my wife ad I own top of the line scuba gear with all of the bells and whistles, underwater camera gear, video equipment, etc., however, I suffer a sense of nostalgia for my earlier diving days and the the stuff that we used back then....I want to get back to the days before SPG's and dive computers....hence, the reason that I am here....thanks again for letting me join.
A little about me. I started diving with real scuba gear in the late 60's at the ripe old age of 9. I say real scuba gear as at age 8, I attempted attempted to build a "Giant Snorkle" by threading a water hose through a bleach bottle with a hole cut in it which served as a surface float for the hose, and I cut off an old ping pong ball snorkle and inserted into the other end of the hose for a mouth peice. Obviously it did not work except at less than about a foot of depth because of the pressure differential.
I consulted a man by the name of David Howard whom was one of our neighbors, and whom also served as the local scoutmaster and would later become my 6th grade science teacher. Mr. Howard was also a certified scuba diver thorugh the YMCA. He explained that I could not breathe as the air pressure had to be close to equal, or greater than the surrounding water pressure on my lungs. After this revelations, I promptly removed the snorkle mouth peice from the water hose, taped it into a beach ball which I had cut a hole in, put a net around the whole contrapstions and used cinder blocks for ballast to sink the rig. I snuck into the American Legion swimming pool one night and with the help of a couple of accomplices, I jumped into the deep end end sank quickly to the bottom...low and behold, I could breath in and out for a couple of minutes until the CO2 build up would send me to surface. It didn't take long for our local residents to catch us snaking in the pool at night and once caught. Naturally, my parents were curious as to how I got such and idea in my mine, and of course I had to blame Mike Nelson of Sea Hunt and the fine submariners on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I then promptly threw Mr. Howard under the bus for teaching me the finer points of pressure differentials. I was in touble but was facinated....
I had my first use of a commercially produced self contained underwater breatihing apparatus the following summer. Mr. Howard took the scouts to the pool and gave us what we would today call a Discover Scuba Course. We were confined to the shallow end of the pool in about 3 feet of water. He had 2 sets of scuba gear. One was a tripple (I believe 33 cut ft) tank set up with a double hose regulator. The other was a single 72 cu ft tank setup with a single hose regulator. Though I was only 9, i wanted to use the double hose set up even though it was heavier. A year later I bought the Mistral from him and 3 years later bought the single hose AMF Voit 40 Fathom with a steel Exhaust T was absolutel sure that I was now a real frogman!
While visiting my older brother for a few weeks whom was attading Law School at the UT Austin, I got finally got certified though NASDS in July of 1973 by Don Brod, Owner of Texas Skin Diving Schools in Austin Texas. (Don let me sweep floors and do other things around the shop while I was in town so that I could purchase some proper fins and a proper mask & snorkel. Since then, in addition to my real profession, I have earned several other certifications through other agencies. My highest level of certification was as a PADI divemaster back in 1993. I worked as a Dive Master and as a Scuba repair person for some local dive shops, ran my own charter service fro spear fishing enthusiasts, did some light commercial diving work and have just generall had fun doing it these last 52 years. I have also owned a lot of different sets of dive gear through the yers....
Today my wife ad I own top of the line scuba gear with all of the bells and whistles, underwater camera gear, video equipment, etc., however, I suffer a sense of nostalgia for my earlier diving days and the the stuff that we used back then....I want to get back to the days before SPG's and dive computers....hence, the reason that I am here....thanks again for letting me join.